787 Production Update - June 2014

Thus far through the end of May Boeing has delivered 33 787s.  With 7 months to go in the year, Boeing needs to ramp up the delivery rate if it is to deliver 110 787s by the end of the year.  That means they have to deliver 77 aircraft in the last 7 months...11/month delivery rate.

May Review

 

May was a disappointing month.  I was expecting at least 10 deliveries and Boeing managed 7. If the theme sounds familiar it's because it is.  There is an expectations that Boeing delivery rate will match the 787 build rate which currently is at 10/month though the airplanes that have emerged from final assembly still have minor travelled work that needs to be completed.  An interesting side to the delivery story for May though.  Boeing, it seems had delivered 2 787s to Air India last month while the official tally on Boeing's Order and Delivery website show that they delivered 1 to the carrier.  Sources have confirmed to me that Boeing did indeed make contractual delivery of ZA232 (LN 28, VT-ANC) though this aircraft still remains in Charleston.  The reason for this is still unknown.

 

June Preview

 

Boeing has ramped up 787 flight activity significantly and has delivered 4 787s through the first 10 days of June.  Some of these deliveries were slated for May but had rolled into June.  Boeing will need to deliver at least 7 more 787s which, at least for now, looks like they can accomplish easily.  They currently have 11 787s that are in production testing or that are ready for delivery.  I do think that 8 to 9 of those can be delivered this month.  Boeing should deliver the first 787-9 to Air New Zealand on June 30th pending a decision by the FAA (see below).  ZB003 (LN 169, ZK-NZE) has been flying lately and should be ready for delivery in the next couple of weeks.  Boeing will probably run a few more flight than they typically do in order to work out all the bugs and make sure that the aircraft has sufficient maturity to enter airline service.

 

787-9

 

Flightglobal revealed that Boeing is asking the FAA for a waiver in order to deliver the 787-9. The request is related to two items that are not compliant with the certification standards that Boeing and the FAA agreed to concerning the 787-9.  Boeing is scheduled to deliver ZB003 (LN 169, ZK-NZE), the first 787-9, to Air New Zealand on June 30th.  The two issues are 1) a capacitor in the ram Air turbine (RAT) that failed during a flight test.  This capacitor needs to be redesign and certified for use on the aircraft.  The second issues relates to a dial on a control panel in the cockpit of the aircraft.  The dial is altitude select knob that is used in the vertical flight mode.  The dial can be inadvertently rotate 1 or 2 stops beyond the desired setting if the pilot just presses the knob and thus violate altitude range set by the ATC.  There is a lack of sufficient torque that is causing this issue.  This will be watched closely to see what the FAA will do but it is concerning especially since the 787-9 flight testing has gone so well.  Boeing doesn't want to deliver this aircraft late even by a few weeks let alone a few months.

 

Most of the 787-9 testing appears to have been completed though Boeing still has to undertake F&R/ETOPs flight testing using an production aircraft equipped with the GE  GEnX-1B engines.  I anticipate that ZB167 (LN 181, N38950) should take to the air within the next 10 to 14 days and should fly a comparable number of hours as ZB197 (LN146, JA830A).

 

Charleston Production Ramp Up

 

Boeing is preparing to ramp up the 787 production at Charleston to 3/month from the current 2.  This switch should take place in early to mid July.  Boeing is currently loading a 787 into Position 1A every 12 to 13 days. They will need to load one every 10 days but the number of available assembly spots to conduct assembly activities has been reduced to 6 from 8 as two positions are undergoing construction (Position 1B and Position 6).

 

ETOPS 330

 

Boeing did get some good news from the FAA last month when the approved the 787-8 for ETOPS 330.  This means the 787-8 can operate from an airport that is no further than five and half hours flying time in case of an emergency.  This means the carriers can fly more direct and fuel efficient routes, especially over the Pacific and fully take advantage of the 787s capabilities.  It is now up to the local civil aviation regulators to approve or deny the airlines that are under their oversight to fly the 787 under ETOPS 330.  The 787-9 will not receive this certification until much later but it will probably be Boeing's next major certification as Air New Zealand is eager to have the aircraft certified for ETOPS 330.  I do not know when Boeing plans to achieve ETOPS 330 certification for the 787-9.

 

Full 787 List

Current 787 Production List

Delivered 787 List

787 Monthly Delivery Tracking

787 Customer Delivery

787-9 Flight Test Hours

Current 787 Operators

Projected 2014 787 Deliveries

 

787 Production Update - May 2014

Boeing is progressing well to deliver 10 787s this month.  Today (May 23rd), Boeing delivered Air India's 14th Dreamliner, moving them more than half way to completing the carriers 27 aircraft order.  This is also probably one of the last early build airplanes that will be delivered for a few months (ZA232, LN 28, VT-ANC). They have delivered 5 787s thus far in May.

Rumor has it that Boeing will be looking to deliver anywhere from 2 to 4 more early build 787s including one to Korean Air.  Late last year, Korean Air placed an order for a single 787-8, which is unusual as they have an order for 10 787-9.  This order was for a single early build 787-8.  Why they bought only one is still a mystery given their extensive route network.  It is entirely possible that this aircraft will be solely used on Korean's domestic network.

For the rest of month, Boeing should be able to deliver 5 more this month. I had previously mentioned that ANA should get one delivered this month but now it will be delivered in June. This will also include the first 787-9 delivered to Air New Zealand on June 30th.

Boeing should deliver to Air India, Ethiopian, British Airways, Norwegian (ILFC), and Hainan.  Next month should see the same number of deliveries as this month.  It appears that Boeing will be looking to try to deliver more than the 110 787s that they have stated in their guidance.the number could be closer 120 but it will all depend on production execution.  Additionally 12 of these aircraft should be 787-9.

Full 787 List

Current 787 Production List

Delivered 787 List

787 Monthly Delivery Tracking

787 Customer Delivery

787-9 Flight Test Hours

Current 787 Operators

Projected 2014 787 Deliveries



 

May 787 deliveries still slow half way through the month

With less than 2 weeks remaining in the month, Boeing has delivered only 3 787s to customers including the 1st to Air Canada.  The total seems anemic but Boeing has been known to finish the month strong by delivering 78s in the last 7 to 10 days of the month.  I don't think this month will be an exception but the company won't be able to deliver 12 aircraft that I predicted earlier.  I do see them delivering 10 in May including the ones that have already been delivered.

Here's my revised delivery projections:

Air India - 2 (ZA232, ZA244)
ANA - 1 (ZA136)
British Airways - 1 (ZA455)
Ethiopian Airlines - 1 (ZA265)
Hainan Airlines - 1 (ZA437)
ILFC/Norwegian - 1 (ZA579)

This number is still 1 short (actually .5 airplanes short) of what Boeing needs to deliver for the remainder of the year if they need to meet their goal of 110 787 deliveries.

While there has been a number of B-1 flights earlier this month, Boeing still has to increase the tempo in order to prepare for June deliveries.

To date Boeing has delivered 143 total 787s, 29 in 2014 and 3 thus far in May.

Lastly, ZA436 (LN 151, B-2738) flew back to Everett today from Boeing Field.  It seems that he flight testing it was conducting to certify software changes on a production standard aircraft is complete.  The aircraft will probably be cleaned up and prepared for customer test flights be fore being delivered to Hainan.
Full 787 List

Current 787 Production List

Delivered 787 List

787 Monthly Delivery Tracking

787 Customer Delivery

787-9 Flight Test Hours

Current 787 Operators

Projected 2014 787 Deliveries

 

787 production update

As we approach the Holiday week, Boeing will be going into a slow down mode as is the custom around this time of the year.  There have been moves of late which I'll highlight here.

Boeing has moved out ZA274 (LN 88, SP-LRE) for LOT and ZA184 (LN 89, JA830J) for Japan Airlines.  They moved ZA513 (LN97, JA819A) for ANA into the body-wing join in 40-24 to start final assembly.  This is the last aircraft that will start final assembly in 2012. I expect it to be delivered sometime around middle to late February 2013.

Boeing also moved ZA232 (LN 28, VT-ANC) to the EMC to begin the change incorporation process for this airframe prior to delivery to Air India sometime next year.

I have also updated the tables to reflect the firing order for airplanes 116 to 130. The highlight of this list is ZB001 (LN126) which is the first 787-9 to go into final assembly.

There are a couple of things that caught my attention when I saw the list.  Boeing is assembling this aircraft on the 40-24 surge line and not on the main assembly line in 40-26.  Second, Boeing has diverted the final assembly of the 787-8s from 40-24 and is concentrating the production of customer aircraft in 40-26 and 88-03 in Charleston.  This is obviously in case they run into issues during final assembly of the first 787-9 that there aren't any bottlenecks in 787-8 production.  They are leaving themselves enough margin, it seems, to address issues with assembling the 787-9.  There will be a 3 airframe margin in front of the ZB001 and at least a 4 frame margin behind the aircraft as it makes it way through the final assembly stations in 40-24.

I don't have any information on follow on 787-9 frames just as yet but Boeing is believed to be planning for a 3 aircraft test fleet for the 787-9 with the test program lasting about 6 months.  I roughly estimate that ZB001 should enter the final assembly building around June 13, 2013.  Boeing has said the aircraft will start final assembly during the summer.  Since this is a brand new variant, I am assuming at least 6 weeks for final assembly and another 6 weeks for ground testing before first flight.  This would mean that this airplane can be flying around the middle of September, 2013.

On the firing order nothing stands out though we do get to see the first 787 for JetStar going through final assembly as well as the first 2 787s for Royal Brunei Airlines.  The Royal Brunei Order is listed as unidentified on Boeing's Order and Delivery website but they did order  787-8s with Trent-100 engines.  The airlines says that they are expecting to take delivery of the 1st 787 in early September 2013. This list as it stands now would cover deliveries through early September, 2013.

Flightblogger talks 787 production and horizontal stabilizers

Now that Alenia has effectively shut down 787 production for another 2 weeks....flightblogger revealed in a new post that the Italian company actually may have shut it down for much longer. The reasoning.....there hasn't been a 787 line move since October 3. There were to have been two more line moves in the month of October whch did not occur. The reason is the needed rework of the horizontal tail assemblies that Alenia is responsible for. Boeing has a whole slew of people in Italy trying to get them back on track but it seems that Alenia's troubles probably run very deep.

With all the issues surrounding the horizontal stabilizer, Boeing chose to mocve the line which left ZA231 without a the tailplane. It was being reworked when the line moved and is now installed on airplane 27 (ZA178).

This has thrown 787 final assembly into a tailspin (pun intended) as the horizontal stabs for airplanes 26 to 29 are being reworked as well as those that are already on the fully assembled production airplanes. Stabilizers meant for certain palnes are being installed on others. This won't be a problem as it is a common part, of course, but it does illustrate what the problems at Alenia has caused downstream in the production process.

Here's how things are laid out in building 40-26 in terms of HTP-airframe

Airplane 25 --> HTP #25
Airplane 26 --> HTP #29
Airplane 27 --> HTP #26
Airplane 28 --> HTP #27
Airplane 29 --> HTP #28
Airplane 30 --> HTP #30 --- this is where Boeing will be back to a normal assembly routine.

As evidenced by the number of 787s on the Boeing flightline where the HTP has been disassembled, it is evident that the problem is quite serious with many of them requiring rework prior to delivery. Boeing has set up a tool to allow easy access to the areas of the HTP that need rework but it's clear that the first 23 production airplanes will have quite a bit of work ahead of them before they are delivered next year. Flightblogger's article is a great read and does raise some flags with respect to Alenia. My sense is that if there is way Boeing can extract it self from Alenia it will. They have already indicated that the HTP for the 787-9 will probably come back in house and I think this is a certainty.

Flightblogger: A Closer Look: Inside the 787 delivery hold and horizontal stabilizer issues

Boeing Statement on ZA006 First Flight

Boeing Photo

Boeing released a statement announcing the first flight of the final test 787. However the first test flight was cut short due to a cooling fluid issue according to a Tweet by Flightblogger. The press release doesn't mention the flight being cut short. It mentions the flight lasting a little over an hour as well as reviews the 787 testing to date. Over 65% of the test conditions needed to certify the Rolls Royce powered 787 have been completed according to Boeing. Boeing has also completed 15 cycles on the fatigue test air frame (ZY998) and need to complete 10,000 by the time first delivery is made to ANA in mid February. Boeing is also looking to increase the production of 787s. The 28th 787 (ZA232) to be built just entered final assembly and the next one, ZA233, will enter final assembly 10 days later on Oct. 14th. This could mean that Boeing is attempting a 3/month production rate. Because of the production 787 already built, Boeing has started to store 787 in an area called Kilo North which is a newly constructed ramp area just south of the Future of flight Museum. Three 787s (ZA150, ZA151, and ZA176) were moved to this area over the weekend.

Flightblogger also has a couple of posting up with regards to today's flight:

Flightblogger: Sixth and final 787 test aircraft completes abbreviated test flight

Flightblogger: Liquid cooling squawk tied to abbreviated ZA006 first flight

Sixth Boeing 787 Makes First Flight, Testing Program Making Good
Progress

EVERETT, Wash., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The final Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner to join the flight test fleet made its first flight today from Paine Field in Everett, Wash. The airplane, ZA006, is the second 787 equipped with General Electric GEnx engines to fly.

Captains Christine Walsh and Bill Roberson were at the controls during the 1 hour and 4 minute flight. The airplane landed at Boeing Field at 12:45 p.m. (Pacific time).

"It's great to have our last flight test airplane join the fleet," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. "We have been focused on completing the testing required for certification of the 787 with Rolls-Royce engines, because that is the first model we deliver. A great deal of the testing that we've done also applies to the 787s with GE engines and won't need to be repeated," said Fancher.

There is, however, a smaller portion of testing that is unique to the engine/airframe combination. In general, this portion includes noise testing, extreme weather operations, function and reliability, and extended operations. In addition, testing to verify the airplane handles the same regardless of engine type and that the systems work on both models is required.

Some additional flight tests will be performed on one of the production airplanes, the ninth 787 to be built, but it is not considered a full-time member of the flight test fleet.

787 Testing Progress Report

In addition to achieving first flight of ZA006, the Boeing test team has completed a number of flight test milestones in recent weeks.

Boeing wrapped up a series of natural and artificial icing tests, meeting all requirements with no changes required. Pilots reported that the airplane continues to handle well even in the presence of ice.

Flight loads survey testing, which demonstrates the pressure distribution on the airplane structure throughout the phases of flight in a variety of configurations, also has been completed. The team conducted this testing on ZA004 primarily at the airport at Victorville, Calif. Analysis of this testing continues.

A dramatic series of tests that stress the airplane's brakes, called maximum brake energy testing, was completed in late September at Edwards Air Force Base, also in California. ZA001 conducted this testing as well as a series of extreme takeoff and landing conditions including minimum takeoff speed testing. Earlier in the month, ZA001 completed wet runway testing at Roswell, NM.

ZA003 flew to Glasgow, Mont., to complete community noise testing. All results were within expectations.

As a result of these tests and others, all takeoff performance and handling characteristics testing is complete for the initial version of the 787. Additional testing will be required for 787s equipped with GE engines.

The 787 flight test program has logged more than 1,900 hours over 620 flights and completed more than 65 percent of the flight test conditions for 787s with Rolls-Royce engines.

Equally important to the testing required in the air is the ground testing required to certify a new airplane. Boeing has completed well over 4,000 hours of ground testing on the same airplanes that are in the flight test program.

In addition, fatigue testing has started at a test rig in Everett. Fifteen flights have been simulated. Federal regulations require Boeing to conduct twice as many flight cycles as any airplane in revenue service. Boeing plans to have completed 10,000 flight cycles prior to first delivery.

"We continue to be extremely satisfied with the performance of the 787 in its testing operations," said Fancher. "This airplane handles wonderfully and will be a valuable tool for our customers."

How long ZA006 will be out because of the issue that cropped up during flight is unknown at this time.

Dreamliner 6 flies...for an hour

ZA006 the sixth and final test flight 787 finally has flown after a lengthy delay due to numerous unspecified issues that plagued the aircraft in the month leading up to today flight. The airplane took off at 11:43 AM local time and flew for exactly one hour before diverting to Boeing Field at 12:43 PM. According to Flightaware.com, the airplane was supposed to fly for about 2 hours before landing at Moses Lake and then take off and fly direct to Boeing Field. Boeing later said to the Seattle PI (Aubrey Cohen) that maintenance issues forced the flight to be terminated early. Apparently the gremlins that has plagued its first flight are still around.

At this point in the test flight program the 787 should be mature enough that there wouldn't be a need for extensive flight control checks or testing especially if ZA006 has flown with modification arising from issues discovered during the test flight program to date.

This airplane is minimally instrumented and will undertake ETOPS testing as well as HIRF (High Intensity Radiated Field) Testing, and electromagnetic effects testing.

In the meantime, Flightblogger and Guy Norris each have put up posting about ZA006 as well as some flight testing updates. ZA001 and ZA002 should be back in the air tomorrow and ZA004 should be flying again sometime this weekend.

Flightblogger: Better Know a Dreamliner - Part Six - ZA006

Guy Norris: 787 - show time for ZA006

Production has restarted on the 787 final assembly line in Everett with ZA232 (LN 28) moving into the first position to be assembled.

In other 787 news, the 787-9 seems to be getting popular amongst current 787 customers. ANA and know Vietnam Airlines are now customers for the larger 787 mainly because of the better projected performance of this version over the 787-8. Vietnam Airlines converted its 16 787-8 into the 787-9. ANA converted 15 of it 55 787-8 into the 787-9. This version of the 787 is due to be delivered to Air New Zealand at the end of 2013.

787s move around Paine and ZA006 first flight on 10/4

Boeing repositioned a few 787s around Paine Field this past weekend with two RAM and one JAL 787 moved to a new parking site known as Kilo North. There are still a couple of 787s stored in front of Boeing main assembly building as well including a JAL 787 and one for LAN. Of the 10 787s built for ANA three are in the Hangar being readied for delivery ZA100, ZA101 ad ZA102) while 6 more are out on the flightline and one more on the flightline tent getting its side of body modifications done.
Matt Cawby got some great photographic documentation on these moves that occured yesterday:

Matt Cawby's Oct. 2 Blog Post

There should be a line move tomorrow where the 11th 787 for ANA (ZA116) and the 28th 787 (ZA232) will be moved into position on the final assembly line at Everett. Boeing is resuming final assembly after a pause to allow suppliers to catch up and to put the supply chain in a position to meet the production ramp up that is to occur around this time. Boeing hopes to be putting out a little less than 3 787s a month starting with ZA232.

Even more important is tomorrow, the final test 787, ZA006, will have its first flight. No flight time has been mentioned but in the past Boeing has flown the 787 on its first flight at around 10AM PST (1PM EST). The aircraft will be flown to Boeing Field where it will conduct a few days of ground tests before resuming flight testing. I hope to have more on ZA006s first flight tomorrow.

What are the 787s doing?

Well some of you reading this blog might be wondering about the activity (or lack there of) of test flights on the 787 test fleet. Here's a run down:

ZA001 - Having it's left engine changed (reason unknown); should return to flight around 10/5
ZA002 - In ground tests; should return to flight around 10/5
ZA003 - Maintenance; should return to flight on 9/30 (tomorrow)
ZA004 - Thrust reverser and misc. engine upgrades and additional instrumentation being added; should return to flight on 10/9
ZA005 - Engine change; should return to flight on 10/12
ZA006 - Undergoing flight readiness review for first flight; first flight on 10/4 (not 10/2 anymore)

Interestingly, ZA006 is in the paint hangar for an unknown reason but is still scheduled for its first flight.

Flightblogger, in between tours of various 787 supplier facilities, had time to put up a 787 post.

Some notable news:

• ZA101 (LN 8) has received its Trent 1000 engines
• ZA102 (LN 9) performed gear swing tests
• ZA102 has received a partial passenger cabin (between doors 1 and 2 and another section between door 3 and 4).
• ZA001 has successfully completed the max energy RTO tests
• 787 production is set to resume after this weekend with LN 28 (ZA232) for Air India set to start final assembly. This should mark the start of production at just under 3/month.

You can read more in his blog:

Flightblogger: 787 News in Brief: Trent 1000s, ZA006 first flight, float concludes, 787s 8 & 9, RTO in the bag, plus 737 and 747-8

Guy Norris also has a 787 update on the Aviation Week blog roll Things With Wings. He elaborates on ZA006's road to first flight as well as on the activities surrounding the other 5 test flight airplanes.

Guy Norris: Second GE 787 Set to Fly

Until the 787's are back in the air again, here a re some Boeing videos on the 787 for your viewing pleasure:

All Videos Courtesy of Boeing

787 fatigue test begin and 747-8I taking shape

Photos Courtesy of Boeing

Boeing announced yesterday that it has started fatigue testing on ZY998 which is the fatigue test dedicated air frame. This airframe will undergo 3 years of testing nonstop that will simulate over 160,000 flight cycles on the 787. Boeing needs to have 3 months of testing done prior to certification thus the start is timely for the 787 certification program. Mike Mecham of Aviation Week has a great article with details of the 787 fatigue test program. Boeing also put out a video and a blog post which is linked below. Here's Boeing's press release:

Boeing Begins Testing on 787 Dreamliner Fatigue Airframe
EVERETT, Wash., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) has begun fatigue testing on the structural airframe of the 787 Dreamliner at the Everett, Wash., site. Fatigue testing involves placing the 787 test airframe into a test rig that simulates multiple lifecycles to test how the airplane responds over time.

"Unlike static tests, where loads are applied to the airplane structure to simulate both normal operation and extreme flight conditions, fatigue testing is a much longer process that simulates up to three times the number of flight cycles an airplane is likely to experience during a lifetime of service," said Jim Ogonowski, structures vice president, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

While the structural test program already has validated the strength of the airframe,
fatigue testing looks at long-term, continued use. This is the natural progression of testing on a new airplane and part of the process to achieve U.S. Federal Aviation Administration certification.

Video of the fatigue test can be found at http://bit.ly/9zV4jM.

Mike Mecham: 787 fatigue test start

Boeing Video of fatigue test 787

Randy Tinseth: A Day in the Life

Moving on to other 787 related news, Flightblogger revealed in a blog post that ZA102, the 9th 787 built has received its Trent 1000 engines and is moving towards its first flight. These engines are the package A engines. Early in August a package A Trent 1000 had an uncontained failure which lead to the current delivery delay. It was that engine that was meant for ZA102.

Further, sources have told me that ZA102 is slated to make its first flight in the first week of November. Boeing wants to carry out functionality and reliability testing as well as ETOPS testing on a production standard 787. ZA101 will also be used for testing but only for ground testing. Preparation for ZA006's first flight continue with testing on going on that aircraft including leak checks with a fuel load and testing of the NGS in the fuel tanks. That airplane is still scheduled to fly on Sept. 24th.

Lastly, Boeing will resume final assembly activities on new 787s with ZA232 (LN 28) due to start final assembly on Oct. 4th.

Flightblogger: 787 Number Nine Gets Its Engines

The 747-8I program continues to move forward with the forward fuselage structure completed and moving on for sealing and testing and then onwards for systems integration and assembly with the rest of the 747 fuselage. The first 747-8I should be rolled out by the end of this year or very early next year with first flight in early 2011. Here's Boeing's Press Release:

Boeing Assembles First 747-8 Intercontinental Forward Fuselage

EVERETT, Wash., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) achieved another significant milestone for the first 747-8 Intercontinental Sunday night with the assembly of the airplane's forward fuselage. The 89-foot, 2-inch (27.2 meters) fuselage section, featuring the airplane's signature upper deck, was moved from the assembly tool for sealing and testing before beginning systems installation.

The 747-8 features a stretched fuselage compared to that of the 747-400. It is 18 feet, 4 inches (5.6 meters) longer than its predecessor. Much of the stretch -- 13 feet, 4 inches (4.1 meters) -- is located in the forward fuselage. The remaining additional 5 feet (1.5 meters) are located aft of the wing. The 747-8's stretched fuselage provides for 51 additional seats to accommodate 467 passengers in a typical three-class configuration and 26 percent more cargo volume.

The Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental is the new, high-capacity 747 that offers the lowest operating costs and best economics of any large passenger airplane, while providing enhanced environmental performance.

Boeing Video of 747-8I Forward Fuselage

Boeing Video of 747-8I Wings

787 Flight Test Time Exceeds 1,800 hours; ZA006 starts its engines; Boeing possibly moving more 787 production in house

Lotsa headlines since I haven't posted over the last week.

There's been a good amount of progress with the test flight program over the past week with 4 of the 5 787 flying from remote locations around the world. ZA001 has been flying out of Edwards AFB and later Roswell Air Center for take off and landing trials. ZA002 was in Iceland until last Wednesday getting crosswind testing under the 787's belt. ZA003 is still in Yuma, Arizona undergoing its hot weather flight testing. ZA004 is still doing flight loads survey testing out of Victorville, California. ZA005 is the only 787 to stay at Boeing Field though it was rejoined by ZA002 by mid week.

Thus far the test flight team has accumulated over 1,800 flight hours and in the first 9 days of September has flown over 130 hours which is on pace to put the 787 at 400 flight test hours if this current trend continues. That would be the most flight hours flown in one month since May which saw over 329 flight hours flown. Boeing has been flying the 787 with more frequency lately and they seem to be making good headway with the test flight fleet.

ZA006, the last of the test airplanes finally turned on its GEnx-1B engines for the first time. This aircraft's first flight has been delayed by about four months due to many small unspecified issues that cropped up. The airplane is expected to go through gauntlet testing soon and the latest I've heard for first flight is September 24th. This aircraft will be testing electromagnetic effects, high intensity radio frequency testing and ETOPS (extended twin engine operations) testing.

An article by Dominic Gates of the Seattle Times is reporting that Boeing is expanding its composite development and manufacturing center in Puget Sound area. This expansion, initially will support the manufacture of test sections for the 787-9 but may be used to supply the horizontal stabilizers (part that Alenia has built and whose workmanship issues have helped pushed the 787 entry into service into 2011) and wings when Boeing is planning increase the monthly output of 787s to 10 per month though the article says that Boeing Japanese and Italian suppliers will continue to manufacture those parts. Boeing is saying that no decisions have been made with respect to bringing more manufacturing in house.

Additionally, Dominic reported that a separate facility will be built in Salt Lake City, UT to build the vertical tail fins for the 787. Currently, the Boeing facility in Frederickson, Wa is only facility to manufacture the vertical fins. With the planned increase in 787 production to 10/month, this facility will provide the vertical fins to support that increase.

Dominic Gates: New Boeing plan: Expand work in Seattle

Early in the month, Flightblogger had a blog post reporting that Boeing will be retiring the large tooling tower that is used to assemble the 787 in the first position on the 40-26 final assembly building. The tool, known as MOATT, has apparently not lived up to its expectation and instead Boeing will use cranes and other traditional assembly processes to snap the 787 together. Additionally Boeing is working through the horizontal stabilizer issues at Alenia especially making sure that the workmanship issues do not reappear as well as reworking the first 26 horizontal stabilizers if they need rework. Currently, Boeing is in a production hold with airplane 27 in final assembly. Airplane 28 is not expected to start final assembly until later this fall thus allowing the rest of the supply chain to catch up and to eliminate travelled work going into Everett.

Flightblogger: Boeing continues search for 787 production equilibrium

Lastly, there is an interesting article out on Boeing San Antonio and the work they'll be doing to prepare 787s for delivery to customers. The summary is that some of the 787s will be flown to San Antonio in order to incorporate final system and mechanical changes into the 787 before the aircraft gets their interiors and are delivered to customers. Boeing has planned that San Antonio would do some of the change incorporation work based upon the flight tests that are now on going. There's no date when the first 787 will be sent for change incorporation but some airplanes will undergo change incorporation in Everett while some will have it done in San Antonio.

Boeing S.A. to troubleshoot 787

Flightblogger gives details of Boeing's upcoming 787 production hold

Boeing's plan to hold parts deliveries into Everett for the second time this year became more clear today when Flightblogger posted details for the plan. Airplane 27, whose parts will be delivered in about a month, will be the last airplane to enter final assembly for 6 weeks.

The main impetus behind the temporary stop is to allow suppliers to catch up with the rest of the supply chain. There is still a lot of travelled work flowing into Everett mostly coming from Boeing's North Charleston plant. The ultimate aim is to have all parts arriving from suppliers into Everett to have a 100% completion rate starting with airplane 28 (ZA232) for Air India. Flightblogger says that suppliers of items such as doors, floor grids and wiring (with the floor grids being the most critical) are holding up the ability for parts to be delivered fully complete into Everett.

Flightblogger ends with two important points. The first is that when airplane 28 arrives at Everett it will signal that start of production going to almost 3/month. Flightblogger ends with this second (and most important) point:

"Yet, the question remains for Boeing: As the ramp up continues toward building 10 aircraft per month byt the end of 2013, how does the company avoid overwhelming its supply chain forcing additional halting stops and starts on its road ahead?"

This question can only be answered by the supply chain that Boeing is quite dependent on.

Read more:

Airplane 28 to follow six-week hold, 787's chance to catch up

Lastly, Boeing announced that they have settled on a site in North Charleston, SC for it 787 interiors manufacturing facility. This facility will manufacture interior parts such as stowage binds, partitions, cockpit doors and other items. Boeing expects the facility to start construction by the end of the year and should be ready in time to support the final assembly of the first 787 to roll off the North Charleston line by the end of 2011/early 2012. The facility will be 10 miles away from the final assembly line and will ad about 150 jobs to the region. Boeing is also planning to manufacture the 787 tail for North Charleston assembled 787 on site at the South Carolina facility. Currently, the tail is built at a facility in Washington State and will continue to assemble the tails for Everett built 787s.

Here's Boeing's press release:

Boeing to Manufacture Certain 787 Interior Parts in North Charleston, S.C.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C., July 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) today announced that it has chosen North Charleston, S.C., as the location for its new 787 Dreamliner interiors fabrication facility. In addition, Boeing will purchase land from Stone Mountain Industrial Park Inc. BRPH will design the facility, and Pattillo Construction will provide construction services. Employees at the facility will manufacture and assemble airplane interior parts.

"This decision is another significant step toward creating a solid aerospace presence for future generations to come in South Carolina," said Ray Conner, vice president and general manager, Supply Chain Management and Operations, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The selected location for our new interiors facility will provide us with the continued flexibility we need to leverage our production capability and meet the needs of our 787 customers."

The new fabrication factory will be 10 miles (16 km) from Boeing's 787 final assembly and delivery site in North Charleston. The close proximity of the two facilities will help improve the efficiency of the final assembly and delivery process in South Carolina.

The interiors fabrication facility, which was first announced in May, is expected to create more than 150 new jobs.

At the new facility, the Interiors Responsibility Center South Carolina team will manufacture 787 interior parts, including stowbins, closets, partitions, class dividers, floor-mounted stowbins used by flight attendants, overhead flight-crew rests, overhead flight attendant crew rests, video-control stations and attendant modules.

Construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2010.

787 Happenings

Boeing and the FAA continues on the certification flight test path with the test flight fleet accumulating just under 575 flight hours. Interestingly, flights that occurred yesterday were not posted on Flightaware for some reason and flight notifications are not being sent from Flightaware for any 787 flight.

Next week one 787 is going to fly to Colorado Springs Airport for more flight testing around May 11th. I surmise that this trip to Colorado might be for high altitude flight testing. ZA001 should return to flight test today or tomorrow and ZA002 will be flying towards the end of this week. ZA005 is still scheduled to make its first flight towards the end of May while ZA006 will follow by mid June.

Lastly, I have been keeping track of the 787 production and I found out that 4 of 5 787s for LN 26 to LN 30 will be going to Air India. LN 25 (ZA230), LN 26 (ZA231), and LN 28 (ZA232) to LN 30 (ZA234) will be for Air India. LN 27 (ZA178) will be a Japan Airlines bird. I expect that these airplanes will be in final assembly this fall.