Some other 787 tidbits

Trying to get some more infomration on a slow new day today.

ZA001 will be taking to the air today for another flutter test flight today.

Matt Cawby reported in a post that ZA102 (LN 9) has finished its side of body modifications that were done in the Everett flightline tent.

Matt Cawby's 787 Update - March 9

This aircraft will be moved in the next couple of days to building 40-24 to one of the 767 slant positions on the 767 final assembly line to finish reassembly activities. The aircraft that is there now, ZA005 (LN 5) will be moved out to the flightline. Speaking of which, Dreamliner 5 and Dreamliner 6 won't be making their first flights until the 2nd quarter so that mean we won't see the GEnx-1B airplanes up until April at the earliest. ZA530 (LN 10) will be moved into the flightline tent to begin its side of body modifications.

ZA002 has landed in Victorville for a few weeks of flight testing then it'll be back to Boeing Field.

Here's Boeing's press release:

News Release Issued: March 9, 2010 3:59 PM EST

Boeing 787 Begins First Flight-Test Operations Outside of Washington

VICTORVILLE, Calif., March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The second Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner, ZA002, landed at 10:53 a.m. local time today in Victorville, Calif. This marks the beginning of the first flight-test operations outside of Washington state for the program.

The airplane will be stationed at Victorville for approximately three weeks. The crew will conduct ground effects testing among other activities.

During ground effects testing, the pilots fly the airplane very close to the runway to gather data regarding the aerodynamic effects and performance of the airplane during the takeoff and landing phases of flight. Quantifying this performance is part of the certification requirements for all new airplanes.

"Victorville's airfield is the former George Air Force Base," said Randy Neville, chief pilot for ZA002. "There is ample ramp space for parking and plenty of on-site facilities. There is a long runway and plenty of level, clear land along the approach to the runway. We can operate there without disrupting air traffic control or other commercial aircraft."

A crew of more than 150 employees will be stationed at Victorville while the airplane is there.These include the flight test engineers and support personnel required to prepare the airplane for each day's flights and to monitor performance and test equipment.

"Our confidence in the reliability of this airplane grows day by day," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. "Taking the airplane out of state for the first time is a big step, but one we're ready for."

Keep the line moving........

Now that Boeing is well into flight testing let's see how production is coming along on future 787s. As always, readers can scroll down to the bottom of this blog to see where the 787s are from ZA001 to the aircraft that is just starting it's assembly at Everett.

Currently inside building 40-26 there are 4 787s in various stages of assembly. LN 14 is at position 4 and LN 17 has just started final assembly. LN 18, a 787 destined for ANA is the next one and will start final assembly on March 1st after a line pulse on February 28th. Airplane 14 will move to the paint hangar at that time and airplane 13 (for ANA) will be moved out to the Boeing flightline.

Around the middle of March, it is expected that airplane 9 (also for ANA) will complete its side of body mods in the flightline tent and be moved to building 40-24 to occupy a spot that is currently taken up by LN 5. LN 5 will be moved outside to the Everett flightline and LN 10 (for LAN) will be moved into the flightline test for side of body mods.

Looking a little forward, Boeing will be looking to assembly airplanes 19 (for Royal Air Maroc) and 20 (for Japan Airlines) in March

787 News

Boeing's production of 787 continues as the flight testing program is well underway. Boeing just started final assembly on the 16th airplane destined for LAN. LN 16 is also known as ZA531 (ZA530 is assigned to LN 10).

The current production and aircraft disposition list is below as well as at the bottom of the blog at all times:



Lastly, Flightblogger is reporting that ZA002 should be flying again around now and that ZA001 should be back in the air around Feb. 2, 2010 (Groundhog Day). Finally, ZY998, the fatigue test air frame is finally being moved to building 40-41 where it will go through 3 years of test to see how the air frame will fair over a life time of service.

Flightblogger: Pre-flight and layup: A 787 and 747 Round Up

747-8 still hasn't moved. At last report Boeing wanted to rerun some gauntlet tests. No word on how the retesting has gone or when taxi tests will begin.

End of the long road for the 787

Tomorrow, weather permitting, the 787 will end an a very long and painful road to first flight. I'll try to keep tabs tomorrow on progress of the weather as it relates to first flight.

Boeing will stream the 787 first flight live on it's web site as well as the newairplane.com web site. But in the meantime, Randy Tinseth, speaking for Boeing on his blog says:

Let's Go!

Great sentiment that is obviously shared! In the meantime Flightblogger has put up a new post describing, in excellent detail, the taxi tests that occurred on Saturday as well as the progress to date as well as a second post describing the test flight regime that ZA001 will be undertaking over the next few months. ZA001 apparently has been fueled for it's first flight.

Read Flightblogger's reports:

Better Know a Dreamliner - Part One - ZA001

ZA001 stretches its legs

Additionally, ZA002 (Dreamliner 2) is progressing towards it's first flight with gear swing tests.

Liz Matzelle captured some great video of this gear swing test:

ZA002 Gear Swing Tests from Liz Matzelle on Vimeo.

Dreamliner 9 is heading to the paint shop at Everett. LN 10 through LN 13, as far as I know, are still in building 40-26 going through final assembly. ZA003 is also going through preps and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see this airplane flying next month.

Finally, Aviation Week has a whole section devoted to the 787 first flight as well as featured blog post from Guy Norris and Mike Mecham.

Aviation Week's Boeing 787 First Flight Special Report

787 Countdown to first flight (resumed) Part 7

It's official: 787's First Flight is Tuesday

Boeing Sets Long-Awaited 787 First Flight