Friday, June 19, 2015

Boeing donates first 787 to Centrair

Well I reported sometime ago that Boeing was going to donate ZA001 to a Japanese exhibitor.  Well the question of whom is solved and it is going to Centrair in Nagoya where parts of the 787 are constructed including the center wing boxes.  I expect the aircraft is expected to depart around June 21 or 22nd for Nagoya.  Here's the press release:

Centrair and Boeing are pleased to announce the donation of the first 787 Dreamliner ever made – a flight test airplane known as ZA001 – to Centrair.
35% of the Dreamliner's airframe structure – the main wing, forward fuselage and center wing box – is manufactured in the Greater Nagoya area and transported from Centrair to Boeing's final assembly plants in the U.S. in a specially converted 747-400 freighter known as the Dreamlifter. Centrair is the only airport in Japan served by the Dreamlifter, which means that ZA001 is coming back to the place that literally gave it wings.
Centrair is delighted that Boeing has chosen to donate the historically significant first test plane, ZA001, to Greater Nagoya, which plays such an important role in the manufacturing of the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing donated the third 787 test airplane, ZA003 to Seattle’s Museum of Flight in November 2014, and the second, ZA002, to Pima Air and Space Museum in Arizona in March this year.
ZA001 first took to the skies on December 15, 2009 from Paine Field, adjoining Boeing's Everett factory, watched by more than 12,000 people. The last flight of this airplane to Centrair is like a "homecoming" for ZA001.
ZA001 will be put on display at Centrair. Through the exhibition, Centrair expects to raise interest in aerospace – and contribute of this "next generation industry" for the Greater Nagoya region. The airport also hopes that it will spur the imagination of the young people of Japan and the next generation of aerospace pioneers.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Yes Airbus won the numbers game but in my opinion they lost. What they needed was 350-1000 and 380 orders which they never got. Boeing on the other hand had every widebody segment represented in the order book. Great job Boeing

Pete Templin said...

The Museum of Flight has announced that the first Dreamliner is expected to take off from Boeing Field between 10am and 11am on Sunday June 21.
http://www.museumofflight.org/event/dreamliner-1-final-departure-boeing-field

Greg.S. said...

Absolutely true, you certainly wouldn't expect them to lose the order race in their own backyard. ..
So they did whatever it took to win..
Even if it meant signing an mou from an unidentified customer, ..so whats the big secret. .The secret is that order will probably never become reality. .
Just ask Kingfisher about their outstanding order...

Traveler said...

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/r-r-makes-progress-on-testing-787-engine-upgrade-414043/

Quoting the article, "R-R has predicted that the Trent 1000-TEN upgrade will provide a 3% advantage on fuel consumption on short flights up to 3,000nm compared to the competing GE Aviation GEnx-1B engine."

Can that be right? Seems incredible that one of two competing engines for an airplane can offer such a substantial advantage over the other.

Unknown said...

Uresh-I don't know if you know the answer to this, but I see there are two planes scheduled for delivery on July 1, one for Qantus, and one for ANA. If they close on the sale early morning their local time on July first which is June 30 Boeing time when Boeing get the money, can the sale go on Boeing's books for a June Quarter sale and on the purchaser's books for a September quarter purchase?

Uresh said...

More than likely it will be local time where they complete the sale which is Everett on July 1.