Boeing: November 2008 Archives

Monday afternoon in Everett, ZY998, Boeing's 787 fatigue airframe exited the factory paintshop where it had spent the previous five days receiving a fresh coat of white paint.

Many have asked me, "Why does and airplane that will never fly need to be painted?"

Epoxy resin, one of the chief ingredients in composites, is susceptible to deterioration from UV rays from the Sun. Because ZY998 will spend its life testing the airframe structure outdoors, it requires that additional layer of protection.

I asked Justin Hale, Chief 787 Program Mechanic, about the UV light issue earlier this year if paint gets scraped off an aircraft in service, as it routinely does. Here's what he had to say:

Boeing has "Created allowances with missing paint that helps sort through the immediate challenge of the UV exposure and what's it doing to the structure. We've provided allowable damage limits to operate with paint missing. When you do expose composite to UV, it damages the outer layer of the resin. It goes from clear and you can see carbon fibers, then to grayish opaque. It becomes obvious. You can see the damage, just look at it. The repair is fairly simple, you sand out the resin and in most cases it stands that outer layer becomes the protection for everything underneath. Just sand it off and repaint it.

This will be one of the unique realities for 787s when they enter service. It's also the reasons that American Airlines won't be able to have a true bare metal livery on its Dreamliners. Put simply, there's no bare metal. See what's underneath.

After ZY998 left the paintshop it spent several hours on the flight line and allowed itself to be photographed by Matt Cawby, before returning to Building 40-24. As far as I know, it's the first shot of a Dreamliner and Dreamlifter together outside. In the coming years, this will be a routine sight, but for now it's a first.

As Boeing continues to tackle the time consuming replacement of thousands of fasteners, 787 production remains frozen and is pacing a formal assessment of the program's schedule, including a timeline for first flight and delivery.

Though a revised 787 schedule for the start of the flight test program is yet to be determined, Boeing is focusing its efforts for the remainder of 2008 on providing a clean bill of structural health to Dreamliner One.

Boeing declined to comment on the pace of the on-going schedule assessment.

According to sources familiar with the fastener replacement timeline, the expected completion of the fix for Dreamliner One should come by the end of December.

Yet, the on-going fastener replacement is reverberating down the assembly line. Everett, WA-based sources add that no production airframe movements are scheduled for the remainder of the year, resulting in final assembly start for Dreamliner Five, the first General Electric GEnx powered 787, being pushed into 2009.

However, late last week, ZY998, the fatigue test airframe, exited Building 40-24 for the paint shop. The move took place after dark, says one program source, adding that the improperly installed fasteners will be addressed after ZY998 leaves the paint shop.

I went spelunking in the United States Patent and Trademark Office cave and came out with a gem of a find. Its title: AIRCRAFT. Clever, I know. This AIRCRAFT patent (filed by The Boeing Company) claims to depict "The ornamental design for an aircraft." It does not disappoint. There's not a whole lot of textual meat to the application, which is why the visuals are so important.

Patent D0580864 looks pretty radical. Two cabins with stadium style forward sloping seating with a two level lounge area separating the two cabins. It may kill cargo capacity, but it sure looks interesting. It would certainly rule out anyone from the economy cabin using the premiums lavs.

My colleague asked me, what aircraft it was modeled on and I thought for for a moment that it was arbitrary, but it struck me that it bore a striking resemblance to the Sonic Cruiser design from 2001-2002.

I dug a bit deeper into the 5-page patent and the cabin arrangement shows 214 seats in a two-class configuration; premium holds 35 and economy 179. The seat layout fits loosely into the same aircraft class as 787 and A330. What a wild design. I threw this graphic together (with the help of the Flight archives) to give you a sense of the comparison.

Boeing just released its third in an ongoing series of 787 milestone videos on its website. The latest chronicles the completion of destructive testing on the 787 test wingbox. The results of will be analyzed and applied to additional testing on the 787 static airframe (ZY997). The final validation of wing strength for FAA certification will be carried out on ZY997 when the wing is bent to apply 150% of maximum loads.

Boeing has not yet decided if it plans to break the wings of ZY997. One could speculate that the destruction of the test article helped in determining the extent of debris cleanup that might be required if the test was carried out on ZY997 inside the factory. In January 1995, the Boeing 777 was brought to 154% of maximum loads before it snapped in spectacular fashion.

Breaking the wing is not a requirement for certification, but would help in understanding the overall strength of the wing. If the wing survives well past 150% of maximum loads, it would provide a guide for weight reduction because the wing would be carrying too much structure, as well as assisting in understanding the growth potential for future 787 models.

With last week's announcement of the 747-8 delay, got me to thinking. Just how many 747-400s are left to be delivered? Boeing originally intended to build 747-400s and 747-8s side by side on the production line in Everett, but decided a year ago to close out the -400 line before launching -8 assembly.

The last passenger -400 was delivered to China Airlines back in April 2005, leaving nine 747-400 freighters left for delivery.

After poking around a bit and triangulating some data, the remaining nine will go to four cargo operators: UPS (1), Nippon Cargo Airlines (2), Cathay Pacific (4) and LoadAir Cargo (2) of Kuwait. UPS and NCA will receive -400Fs and CX and LoadAir will receive -400ERFs.

The final -400, an Extended Range Freighter, is destined for LoadAir and will be the 1419th 747 built since 1968.

Just released:

SPEEA and Boeing reach tentative agreement on new contracts

SEATTLE - Tentative agreement was reached today between the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001, and Boeing on new four-year contracts covering 21,000 engineers and technical workers.

The two sides reached agreement early Friday. Union negotiators are recommending members approve the agreements. If approved by union members, the agreements will replace existing contracts that expire Dec. 1.

Two contracts are involved in the negotiations. The first covers 14,000 engineers in the SPEEA Professional Bargaining Unit. The second contract covers 7,000 technical workers in the union's Technical Bargaining Unit. While the majority of workers are in the Puget Sound region, the contracts cover employees in Oregon, Utah and California. Both contracts expire Dec. 1.

No details can be released until after union negotiators present the agreements to the SPEEA Professional and Technical bargaining unit councils at a special meeting set for 5 p.m., this evening (Friday, Nov. 14).

Main Table negotiations started Oct. 29.

Source: SPEEA.org

News of the delay just broke. I was getting word over last 48 hours of something big coming out today, it looks like this is it. No word on when roll out of first flight would be. Though one could speculate that first flight would be late 2009 or early 2010.

An industry source tells FlightBlogger that Boeing is expecting 6 747-8F deliveries in 2010 followed by a production ramp up to about 4 per month.

Boeing Adjusts 747-8 Program Production and Delivery Schedule

• Deliveries of 747-8 Freighter to begin third quarter of 2010; deliveries of 747-8 Intercontinental passenger model to begin second quarter of 2011.
• Company working with customers to minimize disruption. Intercontinental passenger model to begin second quarter of 2011.

EVERETT, Wash., Nov. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) today announced an adjusted schedule for production and delivery of the 747-8 Freighter and Intercontinental airplanes.

The revised schedule is based on a production and flight-test plan developed in conjunction with the company's suppliers that provides additional time for addressing issues that have slowed the program's progress. Those issues include supply chain delays driven by design changes to the airplane, limited availability of engineering resources inside Boeing, and the recent Machinists' strike that halted production in the company's factories.

Boeing today confirms that the 737 programme faces a new challenge to return to full rate production. Thousands of small pieces of structural hardware must be replaced because of a lack of corrosive coating.

The airframer says the components, known as nutplates, do not present "an immediate safety of flight issue."

The problem impacts "thousands" of nutplates in each 737 fuselage. The company adds that about 30% will require replacement, a number that runs about 3,000 to 4,000 nutplates per fuselage according to a program source, though the number varies depending on the model of 737.

Boeing is currently ramping up 737 production to its normal rate of about one per day, following the 57-day strike by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). The nutplate quality issue, however, means assembly workers must scramble to replace the parts before each aircraft now on Boeing property can be delivered.

Boeing emphasizes that no 737 will be delivered unless it meets proper conformity standards. Boeing declined to specify what impact the nutplate replacement would have on the pace of production and deliveries.

Boeing says it is devoting significant resources to solving this problem quickly.

Spirit AeroSystems is responsible for development of the 737 fuselage at its Wichita, Kansas facility. Once completed, the green 737 fuselage is shipped by rail to Renton, Washington, for final assembly.

Once completed, aircraft are flown to Boeing Field near downtown Seattle for delivery to customers.

Boeing says that one of three of Spirit's nutplate suppliers had been delivering parts lacking anti-corrosion material, adding that a root-cause analysis will be undertaken in conjunction with Spirit to prevent the problem from recurring.

Spirit was unavailable for comment.

Boeing adds that all non-conforming nutplates that have yet to be installed at Spirit have been returned to the supplier.

Staff from Spirit have been dispatched to the Seattle area to help identify and fix fuselage sections that are not yet in the final assembly phase.

However, the problem is not limited to only those aircraft waiting to be assembled and delivered.

According to Boeing, 737s delivered to customers since August 2007 contained non-conforming nutplates. Boeing's delivery website says that 394 737s were delivered between August 2007 and October 2008.

The company is working with the FAA to address the in-service fleet. Boeing says that only areas exposed to moisture could potentially present problems in the long-term by corroding prematurely.

737-800 Assembly Video after the jump
Photo Credit: FlightBlogger

Boeing's latest delay for the 787 Dreamliner was blamed on a 57-day strike by machinists, but the program's schedule already faces additional pressure by new disclosures about improperly installed fasteners.

According to sources across the program, the number of fasteners needing replacement range from about 2,500 to 5,000 per aircraft or shipset. Boeing publicly estimates that less than 3% of fasteners installed to date will have to be removed and reinstalled.

Boeing underscores that, "the issue is with installation of the fasteners, not the fasteners themselves."

Significant engineering and machinist resources across the program are being devoted to solving this problem inside Boeing and structural partner facilities as quickly as possible.

The challenge to the programme schedule centres on getting fasteners removed and reinstalled, as well as the potential damage to the composite material that could occur.

"The risk involved is that some of the fastener holes will need to be oversized.  This is a common practice on in-production repairs," said one veteran engineer.

"Fastened structure is designed to allow for future reworkability, primarily for in-service repairs."

Boeing faced time consuming repairs on Dreamliner One following the July 2007 rollout when temporary fasteners caused damage after being removed to make way for permanent ones.

Boeing is re-training all 787 machinists in its Everett facility on new fastener installation procedures. Compounding the problem, sources say, is the slow pace of workers returning following the conclusion of the IAM strike. Machinists have until November 10 to return to work, according to the strike resolution. Only machinists who have completed the re-training are permitted to work on the aircraft again.

Those familiar with the fastener situation tell FlightBlogger that the problem originated in two separate types of fastener installation on the four flight test and two ground test aircraft, as well as the more than a dozen shipsets currently at supplier partners.

The first problem stems from the holes drilled to affix titanium and carbon fibre together. When holes are drilled into titanium, a burr is often left on the edge of the entry side of the hole. Because of the extraordinary strength of titanium, when a fastener is installed in the hole, the head will sit on the burr rather than flush against the surface.

With the head of the fastener resting on the burr, the loads will be distributed on that one spot rather than evenly across the surface. In addition, in the event of high side-to-side shear loads, in a worst-case scenario, the high-strength titanium burr could cut the fastener undermining structural integrity.

Titanium is used in key structural areas of the aircraft such as the joined sections in the fuselage and horizontal stabilizer.

Sources say the fastener problem was first discovered on the engine pylons on the static test airframe. The pylons have been removed from all aircraft in Everett and returned to Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas for repair.

All major structure partners, with the exception of the wings supplied by Mitsubishi, are impacted by this problem, including Vought, Global Aeronautica and Alenia.

Citing the extended work stoppage of the 57-day IAM strike, Boeing says the 787 Dreamliner will not accomplish its goal of flying by the close of the fourth quarter of 2008.

Boeing adds that it will not set a new target date for first flight or first delivery while a full assessment of the programme's post-strike status remains ongoing. Boeing's last schedule called for delivering the first 787 to launch customers All Nippon Airways in the third quarter of 2009.

This latest delay is the fifth slip for the first flight of Dreamliner One since September 2007, and suggests the event could occur almost two years after the original schedule target.

Included in the assessment is a costly manufacturing error. Boeing acknowledges a need to reinstall slightly less than 3% of all fasteners throughout its production system.

The fix covers about about two dozen shipsets spread all over the world, which include the four flight test and two ground test aircraft currently in Everett, Washington.

"The issue is with installation of the fasteners, not the fasteners themselves,'' Boeing says.

As a result, the company is conducting a root cause analysis to determine the exact source of the problem. A preliminary examination indicates that unclear specifications for the fasteners resulted in misinterpretations at the time of installation.

As a result, Boeing is reworking those specifications and supplying the workforce in both Everett and the partner base with additional training to ensure this problem does not repeat itself.

Boeing is "not aware" of any other installation issues on the aircraft that would require a reassessment.

The company emphasizes that the 787 programme's quality control system caught this problem before any non-conforming parts were allowed to fly.

Boeing says the problem was discovered two weeks ago during a scheduled inspection of the airframe undergoing static testing in Building 40-23 at the Everett facility. As a result of the findings on the static airframe, Boeing began randomly sampling fasteners across the other flight test aircraft and found the problem to be widespread.

Of those 3% of fasteners, many are either too short or too long. This leads to small gaps beneath the head of the fastener, a design non-conformance requiring reinstallation.

Although the exact number of fasteners requiring reinstallation was not disclosed, Boeing has said that the 787 uses 80% fewer fasteners than an aluminium aircraft of equivalent size. The 767, slightly smaller than the 787, has roughly 1.8 million fasteners per plane. This estimate could place the number of required fastener reinstallations in the thousands across the programme.

Boeing emphasizes that no improperly installed fasteners will travel from supplier partners to Everett, minimizing the additional traveled work.