Enterprising Pilot Turns 787 Scraps into Works of Art

Photo Courtesy of Michael Kurchina

Ever wonder what happens to the scrap carbon fiber cutouts that results from the production of 787 fuselage sections?  Spirit Aerosystems cuts out 18 window panels from each 787 section 41 it produces for Boeing.  That is 180 carbon fiber "windows" that are discarded each month.

Photo Courtesy of Michael Kurchina

Photo Courtesy of Michael Kurchina

This is where Rouge pilot (the LCC division of Air Canada) Michael Kurchina steps in.  After arranging a visit to Spirits' 787 production facilities in Wichita, KS, Michael was granted permission to take a couple of the carbon fiber window cutouts during his visit.

Photo Courtesy of Michael Kurchina

Michael was also given permission to take the flight deck window cut outs of Air Canada's first 787-8.

Photo Courtesy of Michael Kurchina

This is where Michael turned a hobby into a 2nd career.  He got permission from Boeing, Spirit and Air Canada to receive the carbon fiber window cut outs from the 787s that are destined only for Air Canada on a regular basis which are turned into personalized and polished display plaques.  He produced a few for the Future of Flight as well as for pilots and executives at Air Canada including CEO Calin Rovinescu.

Michael receives regular shipments of the window cutouts from Spirit from the section 41 of Air Canada's Dreamliners via Fed Ex.  The section 41 has 18 window cutouts (9 on each side) thus he has the potential of receiving almost 1000 cutouts coming from Air Canada's 787 order (including if the carrier exercises its options).

When he receives them with a large cut out grove in the middle (from the diamond or carbide cutting tool) which he fills, coast with polyurethane and sands down.  Michael actually codes each panel with the line number, registration, fin number, serial number, variable number and the position on the actual aircraft that the cut out came from.

Photo courtesy of Michael Kurchina

Michael then produces the graphics which includes the aforementioned details on the graphics which is done on Fuji Metallic by Fotobox which is cut out and then laminated.  Michael cuts them out by hand.

Photo courtesy of Michael Kurchina

The cutouts are then mounted in a specially constructed jig.  Michael enlisted the help of Adam Mills who then sprays the window panels with automotive clear coat for protection. After it's dried the clear coat is sanded with three different grits of sandpaper (1000 dry, 1500 wet, and 3000 wet), two levels of polish and finally a rubber edge is then put on around the perimeter of the window cut out.

Michael can be reached at aviatorwindows@gmail.com with regards to interest in his window plaques.  As far as getting the cut outs from 787s other than those going to Air Canada, Michael says he would need permission from Boeing, Spirit (section 41 supplier) and the 787 customer. For now he's not planning for that but it may change if he adds staff and he sees a demand for these unique window plaques.

Here are some videos of how these window plaques are made:

Tornadoes hit Boeing Defense plant and Spirit's plants in Wichita, production of 787 and 737 uncertain

Boeing was dealt a body blow on Saturday when tornadoes ripped through Wichita and severely damaged Boeing's BDS plants as well as the plants for Spirit AeroSystems 737 and 787 operations.

Thankfully there weren't any injuries or fatalities but production of 737 and the forward fuselage of the 787 may be severely impacted due to the power outage and damage caused by the storm.

Right now Spirit is telling employees not to report for work through Tuesday as they are still conducting damage assessments. Spirit is just one of a handful of Boeing 787 suppliers that have had very little issues with producing their work share of the 787. This could set Boeing back though if it does and by how much is still uncertain though Spirit is saying most of their capabilities are still intact. I don't know what they mean by capabilities.

From the photos that Spirit had posted on Flickr, the damage at least externally, looks to be pretty severe. I will try to follow this and report what impact, if any, these tornadoes have on 787 production.

Boeing initiates 3 week 787 production halt; production to resume on Dec. 23rd.

Flightblogger broke news this morning that Boeing has initiated a 3 week halt to part deliveries into Everett. The halt started a week ago when LN 31 (ZA117) did not load into the final assembly tool on Dec. 1st as expected. According to my sources, this airplane is now expected to start final assembly on Dec. 23rd...about two and a half weeks from now. Parts for this airplane have arrived though Boeing is halting parts so that they can minimize "adverse effects" to the final assembly line. It's unknown what the adverse effects may be.

This news comes on top of Spirit Aerosystems announcing that they were temporarily halting production of the 787 forward fuselage sections and reassigning those workers to help with 737 overtime production. Spirit currently has 50 forward fuselage sections either delivered or in the production process in Wichita. It is probably unrelated to the current production halt as Boeing is telling it's suppliers to continue their production and delivery schedules. Flightblogger reported that the main fuselage section for ZA117 has not arrived into Everett leading me to believe that Boeing Charleston might be the source of the current production delay.

This is the 4th production halt this year as Boeing is still attempting to ramp up production of the 787. This only adds to the problems the program is facing in the midst of the power panel fire on ZA002 and the subsequent need to initiate re-design of hardware and software in the 787. It is still unknown when the 787 will return to test flight though I think it'll happen between the first and second week of January.

You can read Flightblogger's post:

Flightblogger: Breaking: Boeing halts 787 part deliveries for another three weeks

Dreamliner 4 to start assembly soon

UPDATE: Another LCF just left Charleston with the main fuselage for Dreamliner 4. See it here.

The nose section for Dreamliner 4 should be in Everett later today thus setting the stage for the start of final assembly. The Dreamlifter is already in Wichita and has filed a flight plan to go on to Everett. No word yet on when the repaired main fusealge section is due in Everett but my guess is by tomorrow.

787 Production Update

UPDATE II (7/30/2008): The start of final assembly of LN 4 has been pushed back to August 4, 2008. The Dreamlifter did not deliver any fusealge section from Wichita. It had a fuselage transport fixture that was returned to Japan yesterday when it flew from Charleston to Wichita then to Everett and then on to Nagoya.

UPDATE (7/28/2008): I just got word that LN 1 should be pulled out of the final assembly building just prior to the start of final assembly of LN 5 (projected to be around end of August). It'll go to building 40-24 (the 767 line) and then around September to the paint hanger to re-paint some of the sections (with all the work in the past year, some of the original paint was sure to have come off with all the assembly activities).

Lastly, one of the Dreamlifters might delivering the forward fuselage for LN 4 to Everett today as it filed a flight plan.


I just got word that the fourth flying 787 (LN 4) will enter final assembly on July 29th; one month later than expected due to the repair to the damage on the main fuselage. This ties closely to what I reported earlier that the two remaining sections (the forward fuselage and main fuselage) should be delivered around this weekend or early next week.

LCFs on the move, possible delivery flights

UPDATE:

The Dreamlifter, reg. number N780BA took off today for Wichita
but soon after takeoff developed a problem with its flap and had to dump fuel
and return to Paine Field. They landed safely.

The 747 Large Cargo Freighters, or LCFs have been on the move. Yesterday one left for a flight to Nagoya. It is unclear if it going to be bringing in any parts but if it is it will bring parts for delivery to Global Aeronautica as Everett is still waiting for parts for Dreamliner 4. It could be returning transportation fixtures back to Nagoya and then fly back with parts for other 787s to be assembled at Global Aeronautica.

Today though a flight plan was filed for an LCF to to fly from Everett to McConnell AFB in Wichita, KS. This is where Spirit Aerosystems manufactures the forward fuselage for the 787. It can be flying there ostensibly to pick up the nose section.

The 3rd LCF is already in Charleston, probably waiting for Boeing's ok to load and deliver the main fuselage for Dreamliner 4 which had been the source of the hold up.

Speaking of Global Aeronautica, they had a 24 hour standdown to review FOD prodcedures. The FAA found violations but did not order the standdown. That order came from management. Given the recent news, this is probably a good idea. See the article from the Seattle Times here.

Finally, Matt Cawby has pictures of the fatigue test site on his web site. This is where the 787 fatigue test airframe will go to start 3 years worth of fatigue testing. Simply put they will simulate a lifetimes worth of flights over the period of three years and see how the airframe responds. Check out his pictures here.

First 787 Completes Power On

Image Courtesy of Boeing

Boeing continues to demonstrate that it's gotten the 787 program back on track. Today Boeing issued a press release announcing that the first 787 (ZA001) has completed the full power on process and now all of the 787s systems are powered on.

Now comes the additional tasks of making sure that all the systems are talking to one another as well as finishing the assembly tasks including loading up the final versions of the software and reattaching the engines.

Boeing will not roll out the 787 to the flight line until September 6th and first flight will not occur until very, very late in October.

Boeing accomplished the very important task 10 days early. They had previously said that power on will occur by June 30th and here they were able to accomplish it by June 20th. One has to wonder if the rest of Boeing schedule is going to be conservative? They will probably need any extra margin built in to the schedule to deal with any major issues. If all they encounter are minor ones then it is possible that the 787 schedule can be moved forward.

On a related note, a LCF flew into Everett last night from Wichita, presumably it was carrying section 41 (forward fuselage) for ZA004 though I haven't been able to confirm that. Boeing has said that they plan to start construction on ZA004 by June 30th and it was revealed on this blog that final assembly is due to start around June 21st though Boeing still doesn't have the center fuselage section for this plane yet from Global Aeronautica.

Also ZY998, the static test frame was scheduled to be moved yesterday but there was no sign of movement out of 40-26. It is possible that this move will occur this weekend thus pushing out the start of final assembly on ZA004 by a few days.

Edit: Jon Ostrower just told me that the LCF didn't bring in the forward fuselage for LN 4 and that section is not due to arrive until next week. Instead it had delivered the HTP (horizontal tail plane) for LN 5