787 round up - July 20

I've been out of commission for a week or so but I with the 787 essentially out of commission as well until the side of body structural issue is resolved there won't be too much information coming out. I am hoping that Boeing will have more information on the 787 this Wednesday when they release 2nd quarter earnings and have their quarterly conference call.

Flightblogger reported a major line move with ZA005 going to the paint hangar and ZA006 going to the 767 final assembly line in building 40-24. ZA003 still appears to be on the 747 line in building 40-23. Curiously ZA004 is still in 40-26 in position 4 on the 787 line and ZA100 is still in position 1. At this point ZA100 should have been structurally assembled so I'm wondering if Boeing is holding ZA100 in position 1 until the structural reinforcements are manufactured and installed. Lastly Flightblogger also reported that the wings for ZA101, the second production 787 are in Everett. No word on when final assembly will begin on that airplane though there are now two open positions in the 787 final assembly line.

Flightblogger: Factory Shuffle

Guy Norris is back with a few updates too! To date Boeing has conducted tests on the Crew Alerting System on the ZA001 (EICAS) and the multifunction displays (MFD). These tests were conducted around Ju;y 9th.

Guy's July 9th 787 Update

Soon after those tests, Guy noted in a July 13th report that ground testing has slowed down considerably but tests were conducted on the stall warning system, electronic engine control interface connections, navigation radios, and verification of the airspeed indication system. All this took place on ZA001 while ZA002 had more engines and systems tests done on her.

Guy's July 13th 787 Update

Finally on July 16th Guy reported that testing seemed to have picked up a bit on both ZA001 and ZA002. ZA001 will check the speed of stowing the aircraft's movable surfaces as well as their position when they're moved. There was fuel system ground verification testing as well as flight control systems checks and functional check outs done last week. ZA002 saw high lift testing being done using the APU and later engine power.

Guy's July 16th 787 Update

Lastly, Flightglobal has a nice article related to the upcoming fight for the 2nd 787 production line. My feeling is that unless IAM, SPEEA, and the State of Washington all do something dramatic, this line will be in Charleston, SC. There will be some great advantages like being able to supply European, Middle Eastern and African customers from the East Coast while South Asian, Far East Asia, and Australia will be supplied from Everett. Another twist is that 787-9 could be in Charleston though with a smaller backlog compared to the 787-8 I don't see this as being cost efficient for Boeing.

Flightglobal article on the 2nd 787 assembly line