I thought I would start a topic about the 787. It will be rolled out in a few months, with 30-40 in service in just over a year.
Here’s the latest news:
[(http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003626617_boeing20.html)
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The firm-order tally stands at 490, and Bair said some major airlines have newly entered negotiations.
And with orders for the 787 set to pass the 500 mark, Boeing is planning beyond the climactic rollout of the first airplane in July.
Beats the A380!
Has Boeing (probably not Airbus, fer shure!) ever get that many orders for an aircraft before the aircraft even made a first flight?
What’s up with the variant numbers (the -8, -9 and THEN the larger -3)? Why not the -1, -2 and then the -3? And a little bit off topic, but what are they gonna do after the 797? The 808…?
The -3 is the same size as the -8, just shorter range (~3200nm vs ~8000nm). The standard seating figure for the -3 is higher than the -8 due to a lower premium mix (since it’s flying shorter routes it won’t have the big international suites and whatnot).
Have they officially launced the -10 yet? I know there have been a ton of rumors about it, even supposed hints from Boeing execs in speeches and press releases.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_boeing_787.html
Wings, fuselage midsection delivered for first Boeing 787
By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE
AP BUSINESS WRITER
EVERETT, Wash. – An enormous cargo plane Boeing Co. built to fly major components of its new 787 jet has delivered wings and the fuselage midsection for the first Dreamliner to the company’s widebody factory.
The last major component arrived early Wednesday when the Dreamlifter, a modified 747-400, delivered the mid-body fuselage, pieces of which are made in Italy and Japan then joined together at Boeing’s joint-venture partner, Global Aeronautica, in Charleston, S.C.
A day earlier, at 4:10 a.m. Tuesday, the Dreamlifter landed at Paine Field on a flight from Nagoya, Japan, to deliver the wings manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Co.
The crew in charge of unloading the wings had them out of the cavernous cargo hold by sunrise.
A 118-foot-long cargo loader with 32 wheels pulled up to the Dreamlifter after a support vehicle hooked onto the underside of the aircraft’s tail, then slowly opened the rear of the plane as if it were a door.
Inside, the two nearly 100-foot-long wings were propped up high near the plane’s ceiling, secured by tools that kept them in place during flight.
A handful of Boeing workers clapped and cheered as the wings slid onto the platform of the cargo loader, which then whisked them away to the factory about 25 miles north of Seattle where workers will soon begin the final stages of assembling the first 787.
To date, Boeing has sold 567 of its midsize, long-haul 787s to 44 customers. The Chicago-based aerospace company said that makes its Dreamliner the fastest-selling new jet in commercial aviation history.
Boeing has said the 787, made mostly of light, sturdy carbon-fiber composites, will burn about 20 percent less fuel than comparable jets flying today and will cost less to maintain because composites are more durable than aluminum.
Scott Strode, vice president of airplane definition and production for the 787, said a composite wing as large as the 787’s has never been built before.
The plane’s nose and two other fuselage sections arrived last Friday, and the horizontal stabilizer - part of the tail - was delivered in late April.
Boeing officials say the company remains on track to roll out its first 787 on July 8, the calendar equivalent of 7-8-7. The first test flight is planned for late August, and the plane is expected to enter service in May 2008.
Mark…
Do I remember correctly that you CAN’T merge threads?
No, but I can close 'em. 
Close, merge…whatever. Works for me.
Again, Seattle PI, via Google Finance
Aerospace Notebook: Boeing says no delays on new 787
By JAMES WALLACE
P-I REPORTER
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – The top executive of the first airline that will operate The Boeing Co.'s 787 said he has been assured the Dreamliner is on track to arrive on time.
All Nippon Airways of Japan is scheduled to get that first plane next May, and Boeing executives, from Chairman and Chief Executive Jim McNerney on down, have been saying the program will meet that all-important commitment.
Boeing has told Mineo Yamamoto the same thing. And it’s unlikely Boeing would keep any potential setbacks from Yamamoto. He is president and chief executive of All Nippon Airways, the airline that started the ball rolling on development of the 787 in July 2004 with an order for 50 planes.
“There has been no talk about delays or anything like that,” Yamamoto said in an interview Monday in Copenhagen, on the sidelines of the 10th anniversary celebration of the Star Alliance, of which ANA is a member.
After a series of proving flights, Yamamoto said, the airline probably will start passenger service with the plane within a couple of months of that first delivery, initially on domestic routes.
Some industry analysts are skeptical, despite Boeing’s statements otherwise, that All Nippon Airways will pick up that first 787 next May. New airplane programs are filled with risks, and there is no better example of what can go wrong than what happened to Airbus and its A380. Wiring problems with the huge plane have delayed entry into airline service by nearly two years.
Airbus compounded the damage, though, by surprising its customers with the bad news.
Speaking through an interpreter, Yamamoto said Boeing has been straight with his airline, regularly updating it on technical issues that still must be resolved, such as weight.
Last year, Boeing acknowledged the 787 was probably about 2.5 tons overweight.
But Boeing said it has made progress, and the first plane delivered to All Nippon Airways will meet the promised weight.
That will be the seventh plane assembled. The first six test planes will all be overweight, according to Boeing.
Boeing won’t know how much the 787 actually weighs until the first plane is assembled.
“Of course weight is an issue,” Yamamoto said. “But I’m sure we will get over that working together. There are many technical issues that we are working on as part of the program.”
The start of final assembly of the first Dreamliner is only days away at Boeing’s Everett plant. The composite wings arrived Tuesday from Nagoya, Japan. Other large structures were delivered over the past couple of weeks.
On July 8, Boeing plans to unveil the first completed 787. Yamamoto will be among the customers at that event, watching with great interest.
“We are very happy,” he said, when asked to sum up his thoughts about being the first customer for a plane that so far has sold faster than any jet that Boeing or Airbus has ever developed.
Through last month, Boeing had 567 firm orders from 40 customers.
But not Lufthansa. A growing number of the 17 full members of the Star Alliance eventually will operate the Dreamliner.
In addition to ANA, Air New Zealand, Air Canada and Singapore Airlines have ordered it. Shanghai Airlines, which will soon become a Star member, should have 787s in its fleet in time to carry passengers to the Olympics in China starting in August 2008.
But so far, Lufthansa Airlines, launch customer for Boeing’s new 747-8 Intercontinental, has not joined the bandwagon.
In an interview in Copenhagen, Lufthansa Chief Executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber said Germany’s flagship airline is not in any rush to choose between the 787 or Airbus A350.
“If we have all the data available and can conclude our analysis, it could happen in the latter part of the year,” he said of an announcement. “But that is not a necessity. I’d like to do it this year, but it could slip into the first quarter of next year.”
He said Lufthansa is interested only in bigger versions of both planes.
For Boeing, that means the 787-9 and the still undefined 787-10, which would seat more than 300 passengers.
The 787-10 would not be available until at least 2012, but that’s a year before the Airbus A350-900 and three years before the A350-1000.
The A350 is bigger than the 787, and the A350-1000 is almost as big as Boeing’s 777-300.
Mayrhuber said Lufthansa is evaluating data from Airbus on the A350-900 and the A350-1000.
Some industry analysts have suggested that Lufthansa may have signaled its intentions by not ordering the 787 when it became the launch customer in December for the 747-8 Intercontinental, Boeing’s bigger and more efficient jumbo jet.
But Mayrhuber said that is not so.
“I don’t want to take any short cuts (in the evaluation),” he said. “They are both (A350 and 787) in the race.”
Mayrhuber also said he is not worried that Lufthansa remains the only airline customer for the 747-8 Intercontinental. It ordered 20 planes. He noted the freighter version of the 747-8 has been selling well. Through last month, Boeing had 63 orders.
The airline industry is taking more time before ordering the biggest passenger planes from Boeing or Airbus, Mayrhuber said. “There will be a breakthrough and more customers will come,” he said of the 747-8 Intercontinental.
The plot thickens…
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/316032_boeing17.html
Boeing believes that a 787 will spend only three days in final assembly at the Everett plant.
PHOTOS* of the Dreamliner and Dreamlifter.
*Disclaimer: images of 787 Dreamliner are computer-generated.
Now they’ve cured turbulence…
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003718175_boeing23.html
Also looks like they’ve gone with the G1000 on the 787.
So if the control column is supposed to become stiffer as the aircraft gains speed surely it would mean that the pilots can do real flying and fly it upto cruise altutude before engaging the autopilot or would the pilots simply still be push button flying pilots after manually flying upto about 5-10000 ft?
It…is…alive…
Well, kinda…
First 787 Dreamliner emerges from assembly line
P-I STAFF
The Boeing Co.'s first 787 Dreamliner emerged from the assembly line in Everett shortly after midnight Tuesday and was rolled to a nearby facility to be painted.
Aviation enthusiast and pilot Charles Conklin, 30, of Kirkland, took several photos with a telephoto lens, through a fence, outside the perimeter of the Boeing facility. Just as the plane came out of the door, he recalled, he heard the crowd of workers following along break into applause.
“You could tell for the workers it was big moment,” Conklin said. “They’ve been bustin’ butt on this thing.”
The Dreamliner is set to make its official debut at a rollout ceremony July 8 in Everett. The jet is Boeing’s first all-new jetliner since the 777 and will be the first large commercial passenger jet ever developed with a composite airframe.
Boeing has won 634 orders for the Dreamliner, which is expected to make its first flight in late August or early September. After a flight test program with six jets, Boeing has said it will deliver the first production plane in May to All Nippon Airways of Japan.
1981 Comedy Stripes
Thanks for posting the 787 update… aka the Airbus killer! She looks good.
More appropriately , I’d guess Young Frankenstein.
and what’s more:
But tonight, we shall hurl the gauntlet of science into the frightful face of death itself. Tonight, we shall ascend into the heavens. We shall mock the earthquake. We shall command the thunders, and penetrate into the very womb of impervious nature herself.
More likely the original!
Yes, possibly, but I couldn’t help but hear Gene Wilder’s voice when I read Pika’s Post.
(I just hope the Abby Normal wasn’t on the design team!).
True, sorta like the fact that Marty Feldman’s voice will always be associated with certain phrases, such as “What hump?” and “That’s Eye-gor.” Or Inga uttering the unforgettable “He must have an enormous schwanzstucker. Woof!”