Sky Talk

Bend it until it breaks

Alenia Aeronautica, the Italian aircraft manufacturer that is partnered with Boeing on the 787 Dreamliner program, said it successfully completed destructive testing on the airplane's horizontal stabilizer.

Earlier structural testing had shown the horizontal stabilizer could meet the design requirement of withstanding stresses up to 150 percent of those ever expected to occur in flight. Alenia engineers then tested the horizontal stabilizer to see just how much stress it could withstand before breaking, which proved to be well in excess of the 150 percent requirement, the company said in a press release.

The testing took place at Alenia's plant in Naples with Boeing engineers and representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration and European Aviation Safety Agency in attendance.

Boeing has said it plans to conduct similar testing on the 787 wings to see how far beyond the 150 percent mark they can be bent before breaking.

-- Bob Cox

It's human to err ... and one did on 787

After weeks of generally good reports on progress on the 787 program, it seems there's now a setback. A worker at the Global Aeronautica plant in Charleston, S.C. last week installed the wrong "fasteners" -- that's generally rivets in the airplane world -- in the wrong places and did some damage to the composite structure of the fuselage of flight test aircraft #4.

Jon Ostrower of Flight reported it first on his blog. The Seattle Times has its own version.

The damage caused by the mistake, which Boeing says has now been repaired, delayed delivery of the fourth aircraft fuselage to Boeing on Monday. So far Boeing hasn't said what impact the mishap will have on its test flight schedule.

Global Aeronautica is a joint venture of Boeing and Alenia Aeronautica of Italy that assembles several major structures of the 787 and installs electrical and hydraulic systems. Boeing recently purchased the share of the operation formally held by Vought Aircraft Industries of Dallas.

See the Star-Telegram story, graphics and online presentation from Sunday on the 787 and particularly Vought's role in building the largely composite airplane.

-- Bob Cox

An airplane built with thread and glue

Check out the Star-Telegram story today on the Boeing 787 and the role of Vought Aircraft Industries in designing, developing and building the next generation, high tech airliner largely using carbon fiber composites. See the cool graphics and flash presentation by our graphics and online folks.

-- Bob Cox

A step forward for the Dreamliner

Boeing says it has completed the "power-on" sequence for the first 787 Dreamliner flight test airplane, a major milestone in bringing the world's most advanced airliner closer to its first flight. Boeing's press release says

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 ith 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.

At each step of the testing, power is allowed to flow into one additional area and gauges are used to verify that the right level of electrical power reached the intended area. "We are very methodical in ensuring the integrity of the airplane's systems," said Shanahan. "In completing the Power On sequence, we have verified both that the electrical power distribution system is installed as designed and that it functions as intended."

An inside look at the Power On testing sequence will be featured on www.boeing.com and newairplane.com beginning Monday at 5 a.m. PDT.

Boeing 787: Easier said than done

Flight International has a good series of stories this week, written by Jon Ostrower, on Boeing's struggles to bring the 787 Dreamliner into production and the reasons for the delays. Good reading for business readers, the casual aviation buff and the true wing nuts out there.

An excerpt:

The globalised world in which the 787 was to be born was flat. However, Boeing has found that the edges of that globe are still quite rough. The same forces that enabled the 787 to be built on a global scale, seamless telecommunications and advanced computer- aided design, could not replace oversight and on-the-ground experience.

What fundamentally set the Dreamliner apart even before it made its public debut in Seattle, was that it was instrumental in the cultural transformation of one of the USA's corporate standard-bearers for innovation on two distinct levels.

The first defines the challenges of designing and manufacturing new commercial aircraft in the 21st century economy. At the core of this challenge is what it means to be an aircraft manufacturer. With ever-rising labour costs driven by increasing healthcare and pension obligations, Boeing looked towards foreign and domestic supplier partners from around the world to share the burden of risk and cost to bring the 787 to fruition.

The balance between using expensive yet seasoned in-house staff or less-expensive labour at well-established suppliers and newly established "greenfield" sites is, in essence, the new existential equation of the global economy that must be balanced in the development of new commercial aircraft.

On the one hand, an airframer cannot neglect its native experience built through years of developing aircraft, and on the other, the cost of developing the aircraft cannot become so prohibitively high that the break-even point for a commercial aircraft programme does not justify its undertaking.

Boeing believed the solution to this equation lay in the most complex global supply chain in the history of manufacturing. Dozens of suppliers and a small fleet of modified 747-400s support a massive global logistical operation.

In its first year of building 787s, Boeing has found that balance tilted away from it. The company has been bitterly disappointed by the performance of its supply chain. Now it is seeking to rebalance that equation, regaining oversight and control as it works to assemble flight-test aircraft.

The second change was more subtle. Boeing's commercial aircraft division at its heart was a business-to-business operation, providing a product to the airlines that, in turn, serves the travelling public. The approach Boeing took for the 787 was, for the first time, to market the Dreamliner as a consumer's aircraft with unique features such as mood lighting, higher cabin pressurisation and a host of passenger experience-enhancing options for airlines to select. The experience of flying was just as important a marketing tool to the airlines as the economics of flying.

We reported yesterday on Vought Aircraft Industries raising additional capital to fund its continued investment in the 787.

- Bob Cox

The high cost of cutting edge

V ought Aircraft Industries will borrow another $200 million from banks to finance its continued work on the Boeing 787 program, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

What's interesting about Vought's filing as well as its fourth quarter 2007 report is they give a lot of insight into the enormous investment Vought is having to make as risk-sharing partner in the development of the 787.

Vought has never publicly disclosed its total investment in the 787, but it spent $276 million last year alone as it completed facilities, installed machinery and began ramping up production of 787 components for Boeing. Most of the new loan proceeds will also be used for 787 spending.

The above referenced SEC filing indicates that Vought does not expect to make a profit on its 787 work until 300 aircraft have been produced, several years from now. Presumably that applies to all the other partners as well, including Boeing.

Dallas-based Vought, along with other 787 suppliers, has been leaning on Boeing to renegotiate their financial agreements. Initially, as partners, they would not be paid until Boeing started delivering airplanes and collecting payments from the airlines. As the costs have risen and Boeing has delayed deliveries, the suppliers have been strapped for cash.

Spirit AeroSystems of Wichita, which builds 787 nose and fuselage sections, recently announced it had renegotiated financing terms with Boeing and has received an initial $124 million payment.

In its SEC filing, Vought says it has reached an "interim partial agreement" with Boeing on a revised payment structure. The company recently sold its interest in Global Aeronautica, a 787 assembly operation in Charleston, S.C. to Boeing for an undisclosed amount of cash.

Vought is building the two rear-most fuselage sections of the 787 at its own Charleston plant. About 400 Vought engineers in Dallas have worked on the design of the 787.

- Bob Cox

Delta to get Northwest and its 787s?

Flight International reporter Jon Ostrower, aka FlightBlogger, has been reading the fine print from both Boeing and the proposed Delta-Northwest merger and has concluded that Delta may already have new Boeing 787 Dreamliners on order to replace its older 767s.

Boeing and Delta have not announced a 787 order, but earlier in the year Boeing received an order for 23 from an unidentified customer. Boeing has huge backlog of 787 orders, stretching out five years and beyond, so the line to buy a new 787 is long. But Northwest, conveniently for Delta, long ago reserved slots on the production line.

- Bob Cox

Vought turns part of 787 role over to Boeing

Boeing Co., moving to straighten out its snarled 787 Dreamliner production line, is buying and taking over a portion of Vought Aircraft Industries role in building the new airplane.

Boeing, the two companies announced, will buy Vought's share of Global Aeronautica. Global Aeronautica, a 50-50 joint venture between Vought and Italian aircraft manufacturer Alenia Aeronautica, was formed in 2004 to assemble major sections of the 787 in Charleston, S.C.

Vought will continue to manufacture two major sections of the 787 fuselage at its own Charleston plant, adjacent to the Global Aeronautica facility.

Vought Chief Executive Elmer Doty said in an interview that the scope of the work required of Global Aeronautica proved to be far broader and more extensive than initially envisioned by either Boeing or Vought.

As a result, Boeing had already had to commit far more engineering and management personnel to the joint venture than expected.

Boeing and Vought "came to a realization gradually over the last year" that change was desirable and, Doty said, Vought initiated the sale of its interest back to the jetliner manufacturer.

"We agreed it was the sensible thing to do," Doty said.

In a statement, Boeing 787 program head Pat Shanahan said: "All three partners in this transaction -- Boeing, Vought and Alenia -- believe these changes will enable the 787 team to continue to overcome supply-chain challenges of the program."

-- Bob Cox

More Dreamliner delays, redesign work likely

  Boeing's ambitious program to design, build and test the 787 Dreamliner on an accelerated schedule long ago fell victim to realities and now the word is that more delays are in the offing.

The understandably grumpy head of one large and disappointed 787 customer, International Lease Finance Corp. Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy, told an investor conference Wednesday that some significant design changes will have to be made, requiring rework on the first two flight test airplanes. Hazy said the design issues surround the center wing box, where the wings attach to the fuselage.

Udvar-Hazy said he doesn't see the 787 making its first flight until this fall and predicts another year will be needed after that for certification. That means the first 787 delivery, to Japan's All Nippon Airways, would be pushed back until the third quarter of 2009, about a year and a half behind the original date of May 2008.

In a statement e-mailed today, Boeing said:

It is a normal part of the development of a new airplane to discover need for improvements, and that is what we are experiencing on the 787. The robust test process in place on the 787 program has confirmed the majority of our designs but we have found the need for some improvements.

The center wing box issue has been addressed. The fix is being installed on Airplanes 1-6 in the Everett factory. Installations have begun on the four airplanes currently in Final Assembly.  All airplanes after Airplane 7 will have the solution incorporated from the beginning.

The fundamental technologies being used on the 787 are proving to be reliable and effective. The material choices and manufacturing techniques for the airplane are sound.

Boeing is working its normal processes for developing a new airplane. The test process is working when issues are discovered and we are reacting appropriately by implementing normal design validation and fixes when we find issues.

Separately, Boeing and Alenia Aeronautica said structural load tests had been successfully completed on the 787s horizontal stabilizer.

- Bob Cox

San Antonio to get more 787 work

As Boeing tries to overcome delays in its 787 Dreamliner program it is assigning a bigger piece of the early workload to its aircraft modification center in San Antonio. Boeing had had said earlier it planned to do completion work on 11 787s early in the program. Now that figure is up to at least 20.

- Bob