Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The mystery of 787 number 66 part deux

Well there seems to be a little bit more clarity on ZA135 (LN 66) and whether this airplane is in for storage or if it is being prepared for delivery.  Yesterday the a picture by Moonm showed ZA135 (LN 66) with engines hanging but with all the windows and doors sealed.  There was considerable debate what this meant and if it was a sign that this airplane still had to go through change incorporation.  Today local Everett photographer Matt Cawby flew around Paine Field and some of his photos showed ZA135 being worked on outside building 40-51.  Of particular interest is that this airplane now has some of the window and door seals removed.  The window masking is still on (presumably in preparation for painting).  This is a good sign that Boeing intends to move this airplane into the standard pre-delivery work and test flights.  Another less obvious sign is that Boeing moved one 787 from one flightline stall to another. ZA381 (LN 36) for China Southern went from stall 102 to stall 201.  Stalls 101 to 109 have been used by Boeing to prepare 787s for delivery. It's conceivable that stall 102 is where ZA135 will be parked as it is prepared for delivery.  Lastly, Matt's photos shows the wheels of the airplane uncovered as opposed to those that are being stored around Paine Field.  This indicates that Boeing will be moving the airplane from its current spot soon.  Where to is another question. The next movement of this airplane will give a more clear indication of the future of this airplane and whether Boeing has indeed turned the corner in 787 production.  It is very, very close.






6 comments:

greg said...

"god sign"?

Johanny said...

Seems to have been confirmed by Boeing in this article...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-06/boeing-meets-787-goal-with-first-jet-to-skip-modification-center.html

Will said...

What is the 2nd aircraft parked over there

graeme77 said...

Is it purely my error or have these 8 pre-delivery aircraft not flown since June 1 more or less? Is that not unusual? I would have expected at least one of these birds to be in the air each day, but none have flown for quite a while - but then again - I may be right off the mark here...

Rob said...

Jon Ostower reports in the Wall Street Journal that line 66 only had about 300 tasks left to do when it rolled out. In contrast the very early builds had about 6000

Michael Lowrey said...

The 5 frames LCAL had on order are now listed as an UFO.