787 and 747-8 Update - April 12, 2010

This past weekend it was expected that Boeing was to fly all four 787 (ZA001, ZA002, ZA003, and ZA004). Both Guy Norris and Flightblogger reported this. This would have marked the first time that all four test airplanes would have flown and hopefully it will allow Boeing to start accumulating more test flight hours. Unfortunately, only ZA001 flew during this past weekend.

According to Guy Norris, ZA002 flight that was expected to take place on Saturday is now scheduled to fly on Monday, April 12th as Boeing wanted to conduct more ground tests on the aircraft which has new flight control software installed. It is flight testing of this new version of the software that will allow the FAA to issue the TIA (Type Inspection Authorization) and allow certification flight testing to proceed. The TIA was expected at the end of March and that was delayed from mid February. If the TIA is issued by the middle of April then the 787 program would have lost an additional 1/2 month of schedule margin.

ZA003 second flight was to have taken place yesterday, April 11th but it did not fly. The reason is unknown but this test flights are to signal the start of environmental control systems testing on board that aircraft as well as testing other systems on the aircraft including the RAM air systems.

ZA004 is going into a planned layup and will not fly until the end of April at the earliest. ZA001 is finishing up the last of stability and control flight tests and will now focus on low speed performance flight testing.

According to my accounting, The Boeing test fleet has accumulated almost 460 test flight hours as of April 11th. On April 9th, ZA004 flew the longest 787 test flight to date which is 6 hours and 40 minutes.

Flightblogger also reported on a potential problem with stringers in the rear of the 747-8 upper lobe (hump). The flange of the stringers may be to thin to handle the loads and thus would need to be replaced. Boeing and Vought (contractor) are studying the issue which may need to be resolved by replacing the stringers in question, a costly and time consuming process. Flightblogger says that the 747-8 in the test flight program would continue test flight under restrictions on their g-loads but they would continue. He says that the 747-8 is now entering flutter testing. So far I've show that the 747-8 program has accumulated just under 108 flight hours through April 11th. Flightblogger says that Boeing is thinking about using on of the production aircraft to augment the 747-8 test fleet. This aircraft would not be instrumented for the test flight program like the other three aircraft are but would perform engineering flight tests. The aircraft under consideration is RC503 which is the second production aircraft and is currently in the paint hangar at Everett.

Read Guy's and Jon's articles here:

Flightblogger: 747-8F begins flutter testing as stringers get inspected (and other 787 items)

Guy Norris: Big Weekend for 787

Guy Norris: 787 Update

Now speaking of structural strength, Daniel Tsang of Airways Aviation News put out an interesting article on the side of body fix on the 787. As some of you may know, Boeing had to fix the side of body area due to that area being too weak to handle flight loads. The fix has been installed on 9 air frames and needs to be installed on another 8. All 787s going forward would have the side of body fix installed at the sub contractor prior to delivery to Everett though there would be some installation work to be done on the final assembly line prior to the wing-body join. It is expected that starting with LN 49, the parts that strengthen the side of body would not be needed as Boeing and it sub contractors would have redesigned those areas of the aircraft (the wing box and the center wing box) that would provide the additional strength needed and the installation of the parts would not be necessary. Daniel Tsang is reporting that the use of the parts that provide the reinforcement to the side of body would be a permanent solution though Boeing is looking to simply the production and installation of the parts by tweaking the design. You can read Daniel's article:

Daniel Tsang: Boeing looking at ways to simplify side-of-body modification

Production
Boeing is continuing to make its production milestones. ZA175 (LN 20) started final assembly on March 31st. This aircraft is a major milestone as it introduce a major blockpoint change which incorporates weight saving measures into the 787. ZA531 (LN 16) which is the second 787 for LAN came out of the paint shop painted all white (not in LAN color scheme as had been expected). Today there will be a line move as ZA176 (LN 21) will start final assembly. ZA150 (LN 17), the first aircraft for Royal Air Maroc, will be moved into the paint hangar though I don't know if it'll be painted in RAM colors. There will be another line move on April 26th when ZA115 (LN 22) will start final assembly. At that pace Boeing will be assembling 787s at a 2.5 per month clip which is what they had been expecting. I expect that Boeing will start final assembly on ZA177 (LN 23) and ZA116 (LN 24) in May.

787 Round Up - January 6, 2010

Boeing Photo

Now that we're out of the Holiday's here's some news from around the 787 program.

First off I'm hearing that ZA004 should be out of building 40-24 very soon, perhaps even by tonight. ZA003 is still in the paint hangar which may indicate that ZA004 might fly before ZA003.

ZA001 continues to make almost daily flights and has, to date, racked up over 24 flight hours. ZA001 is flying to get Type Inspection Authorization ahead of certification testing that would be planned to start around mid February. The airworthiness test flights that are currently taking place are to ensure that all the systems perform as advertised as well as to make sure there aren't any flutter issues with the aircraft.

ZA002, which has not flown since Dec. 22, 2009, is undergoing post-flight checks as well as re-calibration and testing of several systems including the Common Core System according to Guy Norris of Aviation Week. There is still no word on when ZA002 will resume flying.

Guy Norris' 787 Test Flight Update

Now that Boeing has gotten the 787 flying, some attention will be turned to 787 production. Flightblogger has put up an article about the side of body modifications for the production 787s going forward. Currently the airplanes are assembled without the mods put in. Starting with airplane 16 (LN 16), which should be in Everett next month, the mods will be partially done at Boeing Charleston on Section 11 (center wing box) and at Everett on Section 12 (wing boxes) prior to the wing body join. This will continue through aircraft 49 (LN 49) and then with aircraft 50 there will be an incorporated redesign of the area that shown the lack of structural strength thus eliminating the need of the modifications that will be present in the first 49 787s.

Flightblogger: Boeing to incorporate Side of Body Mods into Production 787s

Flightblogger also published an interesting blog post comparing the takeoff noise footprint of the 787 vs the 777. Quite interesting and I do think the 787 does have a lower noise footprint vs the 77 but that should be expected. The 777 has a larger diameter engines vs the 787 but the 787 also has other noise reduction designs incorporated into the aircraft.

Flightblogger compares the sounds of 787 vs 777 at Takeoff

One none 787 note. The other airplane that Boeing is going to start test flying is the 747-8. The first one RC501 is still out on the Boeing flightline, presumably undergoing gauntlet testing. Last month I got word that first flight of this airplane is supposed to be on January 14th. While sources have recently told me that it's still the 14th they've also said that it's likely to slip, possibly to the 21st of January. Stay tuned for that one!