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MULTIMEDIA EXTRA: Listen to Chief 777 Test Pilot Suzanna Darcy-Henneman provide an audio briefing on the 777F flight test program from May 21, 2008 - 20 minutes.

With 777F first flight just days away, Chief 777 test pilot Suzanna Darcy-Henneman and right seat test pilot Van Chaney are getting ready for a busy summer.

Once the Freighter takes to the sky for the first time, "The airplane will take off out of Paine Field, go up and down the Olympics several times around Mt. Rainier for some great beauty shots and into Boeing field."

Darcy-Henneman, who was also at the controls for the 777-200LR first flight, as well as its record breaking flight, is looking forward to the moment during first flight when she and her first officer are able to catch their breath and take stock of what they have achieved. Before that, Darcy-Henneman adds, it's all business.
 
The 777F test aircraft will be based at Boeing Field in Seattle for the remainder of the flight test campaign.

"All the rest of the takeoffs and landings will be in and out of Boeing Field." Darcy-Henneman added.

The flight test program will consist of two aircraft, both destined for launch customer Air France Cargo. Both will be flown for total 300-350 hours and about double that number for ground testing.

Initially the first 777F, which will wear Boeing colors for the flight test program will fly six days a week, with the seventh for maintenance, with ten and a half flight crews responsible for the program. The second aircraft will fly five days a week and the sixth will be used for maintenance. Ground testing will require a minimum of two crews. Boeing expects the combined 900-1,050 test hours to last around two and a half months.

Eighty percent of the flight test program will test smoke detection and smoke penetration, which is typical of a freighter flight test program.

For testing the performance of the aircraft, maneuver load alleviation (MLA) has been built into the flight control software to reduce the need for structure that would otherwise be required to accommodate higher operating weights.

The flight control system moves the center of lift inboard to reduce the bending moment at the root of the wing. The system is activated at 44 degrees of bank and works by extending the outboard spoilers and ailerons to move to center of lift inboard. The surfaces would be slightly extended at 44 degrees and 1/3 extended in a 66 degree banked turn.

The aircraft is expected to travel to Phoenix, Arizona for high and hot testing later this summer.

As for other exotic locales Darcy-Henneman said, "The airplane would love to go to Farnborough, we would too, but we will be busy at home testing."

Special thanks to Addison Schonland for hosting the 777F briefing.

In full:

A contractor performing work on behalf of Alenia Composite (an Alenia Aeronautica Company) at the Global Aeronautica facility in South Carolina failed to follow proper procedure.  The contractor was an experienced aviation mechanic not local to Charleston S.C.  The individual was immediately terminated. 

This error resulted in a production issue that has since been repaired. Global Aeronautica was able to continue to perform some scheduled work in parallel.  As a result of the necessary repair time, the delivery of the fuselage section to Everett has been delayed by The Boeing Company.  Global Aeronautica is currently awaiting a revised delivery date from The Boeing Company.

Delivery of the fourth 787 flight test aircraft has been delayed due to damage sustained to the center fuselage at the Global Aeronautica facility in Charleston, SC, Boeing has confirmed.

Sources in both Everett and Charleston tell FlightBlogger that the repair, which was completed this past weekend, centers around damage caused to section 44, a monolithic bonnet structure joined to the center wing box fabricated by Italy's Alenia Aeronautica.

"An Alenia Aeronautica employee had an issue not following proper procedures, we've had a production issue that has resulted," said Boeing. "The repair has been completed and the issue has been resolved."

Boeing is currently assessing the schedule situation adding that, "we will know soon" when the center fuselage will be delivered.

Alenia North America, which holds a fifty-percent share in the Global Aeronautica joint venture with Boeing, was unable to comment on the incident by press time.

Boeing underscored that the incident was isolated and unrepresentative of the production system but declined to provide specific details about the incident.

According to sources, incorrect fasteners were improperly installed in the wrong holes causing damage to the composite structure during the join process in Charleston. When installed, each fastener "splintered out the hole" causing significant enough damage to postpone delivery of the center fuselage.

Boeing added that Global Aeronautica would have met the commitment of the completion of assembly and on-time delivery had the incident not taken place. As a result, the center fuselage is being held in Charleston for continuing assembly work to meet the level of completion originally committed to Boeing by Global Aeronautica.

Boeing does not currently have a timeline for the delivery of the center fuselage for Dreamliner Four to Everett.

Indications of the delay arose last week when the nose and center fuselage sections were removed from the delivery calendar without explanation.

Boeing and Global Aeronautica have a "zero tolerance for fiber breakout" for composite structure prompting the time-consuming repairs to section 44, says a veteran engineer familiar with the problems.

Boeing acknowledged that the follow-on impact of the delay to the flight test program and overall FAA certification, if any, is unclear.

The completion of the 787 first power-on sets the stage for the next phase of the Dreamliner's march toward first flight. The milestone was met to the day according to sources familiar with the schedule.

The initial power-on testing began on June 11 and wrapped up yesterday. The testing, according to one program source, went more smoothly than initially anticipated. The program staffer stated that, "This is one thing [Boeing] thought was going to be a major issue in our program." The staffer added that Boeing never expected problems to crop up in the supply chain.

Gauntlet testing is next on the agenda for Dreamliner One. The aircraft's computer system will be fooled into thinking its flying to simulate every imaginable phase of flight, as well as a myriad of potential failures.

"That's really when the fun starts, we can really see how stable the airplane is. So, are there any problems that need to be resolved?" 787 VP and General Manager Pat Shanahan said in mid-May. "Guess what, there will be lots of those," he added. "And the idea is none of them will be severe...I expect people run in every half hour and they'll drop their grenade, then we'll dispatch the right people and we'll go resolve those issues."

For months, Boeing had planned its timeline around the completion of first power-on for ZA001. With this task now complete, the fatigue aircraft (ZY998) will be moved this evening (June 20) to the 767 line, then later to the fatigue rig for testing. The open assembly station will allow ZA002 and ZA003 to move to the third and second assembly stations respectively.

CONTINUED BELOW (WITH EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS)

EVERETT, Wash., June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) has completed the Power On sequence for the first 787 Dreamliner, marking the completion of the next major milestone on the path to first flight later this year.

Power On is a complex series of tasks and tests that bring electrical power onto the airplane and begin to exercise the use of the electrical systems. The 787 is a more-electric airplane with the pneumatic, or bleed air, system being totally replaced by electronics.

"The team has made great progress in bringing the bold innovation of the 787 to reality," said Pat Shanahan, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. "There is plenty of work to be done between now and first flight, but with every step forward we grow more and more confident."

The Power On sequence began in early June with a series of pretest continuity checks to verify that the wiring installed in the airplane had been connected properly. Upon completion of those checks, the Boeing team plugged in an external power cart and slowly began to bring full power into each segment of the system, beginning with the flight deck displays. From that point forward, the pilot's controls were used to direct the addition of new systems to the power grid.

Read the full release

This is a breaking story and will be updated as details become available.

GAO Statement

I've been working on two new features for the pre-Farnborough issue of Flight, one on 777 and the other on the 747-8. While researching yesterday, I came across a very interesting fact. With the help of the Way Back Machine, the historical archive of the entire internet, I found that the range of the 777-300ER has increased almost 11% (7,175 nm to 7,930 nm) since 2001! The maximum takeoff weight increased 25,000 lbs in that same time as well without a change in fuel capacity. To boot, the 777-200LR had a 6% increase in range too.

See for yourself.

WICHITA, KS -- This is likely to be the first, and hopefully the last, FlightBlogger blog post from inside an active tornado warning which is in effect for the Wichita area.

Dreamliner Four forward fuselage, also known as Section 41, will be delivered to Everett next week on June 19. It will be the first 787 nose section with 100% completion of assembly.

It's worth comparing these photos to those of Dreamliner Three from the Everett Final Assembly Line taken mid last month.

Click on each image for a high resolution version.

CONTINUED BELOW

WICHITA, KS -- Spirit Aerosystems showed off its forward 787 Section 41 today and invited the media onboard Dreamliner Four, the first nose section to be delivered with a 100% completion of assembly. The first photo features, from left to right, Dreamliners Four, Five, Six and Seven.

CONTINUED BELOW

UPDATE 3 - 5:25 AM - 6/12:

WICHITA, KS -- Just feet behind the football field sized door of Building 40-26 at Boeing's Everett, Washington facility, a small group of program staff Wednesday began breathing life into the first 787 Dreamliner.

The aircraft was powered-on for the first time, marking the beginning of a check-out process to validate the systems integration of the 787.

Boeing has confirmed the testing has begun and has issued this statement:

"We're pleased the process has begun, and we are confident we'll meet the milestone in June."

Boeing added that the power-on process is to last between 10 days and two weeks and is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

At the most recent delay announcement in April, Vice President and General Manager of the 787 Program Pat Shanahan outlined a series of key milestones that would occur by June 30.

To track program progress, those milestones included the move of the static and fatigue structural test aircraft to test locations, the beginning of final assembly of Dreamliners Three and Four, hardware airworthiness qualifications and the completion of power-on testing.

To date the static test airframe has moved to its test facilty, final assembly of Dreamliner Three is well underway and many major structures for Dreamliner Four have arrived in Everett. Once the fatigue test airframe is moved later this month, Dreamliner Four can begin final assembly as the body join station becomes available.

In May, Shanahan underscored the importance of the power-on testing:

"We'll have a good understanding of how well we've done systems integration and it's really at that point we understand what kind of airplane we have and a bunch of risk gets retired.

"So, if you called up July first and said, "Pat, how's it going? What do you know about this airplane?" I'll know significant amount more about the airplane and our ability to meet schedule on July first. We'll have taken all our work in the lab and put it in one airplane, so it's a big deal for us."

Shanahan, who took the helm of the 787 program in October 2007, was on hand for the commencement of power-on testing Wednesday.

Indications of commencement of power-on testing were running rampant earlier this week in Everett with the arrival of lit beacon signs on the factory floor reading When illuminated, production test in progress, as well as a newly erected perimeter around Dreamliner One Warning - Power On Testing - Authorized Personnel Only - No Entrance - No Exceptions.

According to several program sources, flat panel TV monitors have been set up on the factory floor showing a live video feed of the cockpit instruments.

Boeing, taking all appropriate precautions for their early power-on tests, had the facility fire department on hand.

This is a developing story and will be updated as details become available.