787 production continuing

Well after a restful (somewhat) Labor Day weekend here's some 787 news. Production is continuing on production standard aircraft and now there is more room in 40-26 to build those production aircraft. ZA004 is due to move out soon if it has been moved out already from the final assembly line to hangar space that Boeing has leased from ATS at Paine Field. ATS is Aviation Technical Services and does heavy checks and other maintenance services to airlines and cargo operators. I think Boeing would put two of the 787s in the ATS hangars in order to perform the side of body fix without effecting current production of the 787. ZA006 should be moving out later this week either to the flight line or to another hangar spot (not sure if it would be a Boeing or ATS hangar). Also of note is that some of the aircraft do not have their engines on. This is to make the installation of the modification easier though the engines are still on ZA002 and ZA004, they were not on ZA005 and ZA006.

This would leave Boeing with three 787 in production at their final assembly line in Everett: ZA100 (LN7) in position 3, ZA101 (LN8) in position 2 and ZA102 (LN9) in position 1. Some parts for ZA104 (LN10) such as the wings and tail section have already arrived but when all the parts are delivered, that airplane will be quickly moved into position 1.

Boeing's LCFs have been busy conducting flights across the supply chain. Now some of these flight could be training flights and/or repositioning of shipping fixtures but undoubtedly there is also some movement of the fuselage sections between suppliers in Europe and Japan and GA in Charleston, SC.

GEnx hanging off 747-8F

Photo Courtesy of the Boeing Co.

Update: See fleetbuzzeditorial.com posting of pictures of the first 747-8 with it's engines:

747-8F with engine pics

Boeing said today that they have installed the GEnx-2B engines off the 747-8F. This airplanes is moving through it's assembly and testing activities pretty fast. In fact the GEnx will most likely fly on the 747-8 before it flies on the 787 which is the airplane it was meant for (forget about the engines that are flying on the GE 747 test bed).

Speaking of which it sounds like the 747-8 will fly before the 787 perhaps around early to mid November and the 787 will follow a week or two later.

Boeing's Press Release is below:

News Release Issued: September 2, 2009 8:00 AM EDT

Boeing Hangs GEnx-2B Engines on the 747-8 Freighter

EVERETT, Wash., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) continues to make progress on the assembly of the 747-8 Freighter, as mechanics completed the installation of the new GEnx-2B engines on airplane No. 1 in final assembly at the factory in Everett, Wash.

"We are another step closer to bringing the 747-8 Freighter to market," said Mo Yahyavi, vice president and general manager of the 747 program. "This production milestone is a reflection of the strong working together relationship among Boeing, GE Aviation, Middle River Aircraft Systems and Spirit AeroSystems."

The GEnx-2B continues its progress through its engine certification testing. It recently completed the first phase of flight testing on GE's 747 flying testbed.

"The GEnx-2B engine has performed very well during more than 1,500 hours of ground certification tests and 100 hours of flight testing," said Tom Brisken, general manager of GE Aviation's GEnx program. "We look forward to watching the GEnx-powered 747-8 Freighter take its first flight, ushering in a new era of improved aircraft efficiency."

The GEnx-2B is based on the GEnx-1B engine launched with the 787 Dreamliner. The GEnx-2B engine has been designed for the 747-8 and rated at 66,500 pounds of thrust.

"The 747-8 and the GEnx-2B are a perfect match," said Keith Leverkuhn, vice president and general manager of Boeing Commercial Airplanes Propulsion Systems. "The combination of these two technologies will provide our customers with improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions and noise as well as lower cost of ownership."

With the GEnx-2B engines, the 747-8 Freighter will be 17 percent more fuel efficient than the 747-400 Freighter, resulting in a 17-percent reduction in carbon emissions. It also will have a noise footprint that is 30 percent smaller than its predecessor, making it a QC2-compliant airplane on both departure and arrival.

The 747-8 Freighter is expected to make its first flight in the fourth quarter of this year, with first delivery scheduled for the third quarter of 2010. Boeing has secured 78 orders from leading cargo operators for the new 747-8 Freighter. Cargolux, Nippon Cargo Airlines, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates SkyCargo, Guggenheim and Korean Air all have placed firm orders for the airplane.

Breaking: Scott Carson retiring from Boeing on 12/31/09, James Albaugh to take over BCA

As I reported on this blog last week I heard rumors that Scott Carson may retire from Boeing. Well the rumors were correct and Boeing announced Carson's retirement effective at the end of this year. Boeing IDS (Integrated Defense Systems) Head James Albaugh will take over Scott Carson's role as head of BCA effective September 1, 2009. Dennis Muilenburg will take over Jim Albaugh's role as head of IDS also effective as of September 1, 2009

Given the delays to the 787 program this is not much of a surprise and it may not be the last reshuffling of BCA management. I expect more turnover both within BCA and the 787 program. However, much of this probably won't happen until after the 747-8 and the 787 both have started their test flight programs.

Read Boeing's announcement below:

Boeing Executive Scott Carson Announces Retirement; Albaugh Named Commercial Airplanes Leader, Muilenburg to Head Integrated Defense Systems

CHICAGO, Aug. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott Carson announced today that he will retire from the company at the end of the year.

Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney has named Jim Albaugh, 59, to Carson's leadership role at Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), and Dennis Muilenburg, 45, to succeed Albaugh as president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). Both appointments are effective Sept. 1.

Carson, 63, has led BCA since 2006 after two years heading up the unit's sales organization, where he was credited with reinvigorating sales of Boeing commercial airplanes and related services to airline customers and leasing companies around the world. He previously served as BCA's executive vice president and chief financial officer, where he led the finance and business strategy organizations, as well as information systems and services. He also held leadership positions in the company's defense business and was the first president of Connexion by Boeing.

"The Boeing board of directors and I appreciate Scott's long record of accomplishment across many disciplines, functions and businesses, and the enduring contributions he has made to Boeing through 38 years of service," said McNerney. "Thanks to his leadership and operational experience, Boeing Commercial Airplanes has performed extremely well in a tough business environment and remains positioned solidly for continued market success."

McNerney said that Carson and Albaugh will work together to ensure a smooth transition of customer and other business relationships, and that Carson will also assist on special projects for the company through year end. He will continue to lead the United Way of King County's 2009-2010 fund-raising campaign, even after his retirement.

Albaugh, a 34-year company veteran with extensive experience in development programs and manufacturing, has led Boeing's defense, space and associated services businesses since 2002. Under his leadership IDS revenue has grown from $25 billion to an expected $34 billion in 2009, and now accounts for roughly half of Boeing's annual sales. Prior to his most recent assignment, he led Boeing's growth in space and communications, including network-centric operations, global missile defense, combat systems, and system-of-systems technologies. He began his career with Rockwell's aerospace and defense businesses, which Boeing acquired in 1996.

"Jim is a seasoned and effective aerospace executive with substantial experience leading and integrating technically complex businesses and programs from initial development through full production and delivery. His program management and engineering focus will help ensure the success of BCA's key development and production programs," McNerney said. "On top of that, as a Washington state native and the leader of more than 9,000 IDS employees working in the Puget Sound region, he is familiar with the people, issues and programs in the area. He is the ideal leader for BCA at this time," he added.

Muilenburg moves to his new position from Integrated Defense System's Global Services & Support unit, where he served as president of the $8 billion business that provides global after-delivery support for military platforms and systems, as well as a broad array of defense and government services. Prior assignments include leadership of the Combat Systems Division and Future Combat Systems, the company's development program for the U.S. Army. He also led the overall engineering development of Boeing's program to modernize global air traffic management systems.

"Dennis is ready to step up and lead the IDS team," said McNerney. "His experience in technology integration; track record delivering large-scale programs on time and budget; and work with customers in new, developing markets will help us generate new momentum and long-term growth," he added.

Albaugh holds bachelor's degrees in mathematics and physics from Willamette University, and a master's degree in civil engineering from Columbia University. He will relocate soon to the Seattle area.

Born in Iowa, Muilenburg earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from Iowa State University and a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the University of Washington. He will continue to be based in St. Louis and spend substantial time in the Washington, D.C. area.

A replacement for Muilenburg will be named at a later date.

Boeing releases updated schedule and conference call

UPDATE (9:30PM): Flightblogger posted a nice summary of today's events concerning the 787:

Flightblogger's 787 Update

Also I enquired with Boeing as to the disposition of the first three 787s. The Boeing response is below:

No decision has been made on those airplanes. There are a number of ways they could be used, including for testing on other programs.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with these three airplanes after the flight test program is done. Perhaps they could donate one to the Smithsonian and get a tax write off on that airplane? It would look great next to the 707 at the NASM Annex at Dulles!

UPDATE (1:15PM): In response to how long it would take to install the fix on the 787 I got the following response from Boeing:

For the airplanes already assembled, it will take approximately three months to complete the modification on each airplane. That includes the initial preparation time. That said, the static airframe, ZA001, ZA003, ZA004 and ZA005 are currently being prepared for the modification. In the future, when airplanes entering assembly, the retrofit will occur during the final body join process.

With regard to ZA002, ZA006, ZY998, ZA100 and ZA101:

Preparations on these airplanes will begin very soon but we are not going to provide a specific schedule on an airplane-by-airplane basis.

Boeing has released their schedule for the 787 though it's purposely devoid of exact dates it generally conforms to what was reported earlier by Flightblogger.

Press Release Summary:
1) 787 first flight to take place by the end of the year 2009
2) 787 first delivery to take place by 4th quarter 2010
3) Airplanes 1 through 3 are commercially valueless and will be reclassified from current inventory to R&D - Boeing will take a $2.5bn pre-tax non cash charge against earnings in the third quarter
4) Side of body fix has completed initial testing and is finishing up detailed design
5) Test aircraft are being prepared for installation of the fix
6) Installation of the fix should begin in the next few weeks.
7) Boeing 787 program not in a forward loss position meaning that it will be a profitable program

Takeaways from the conference call:
1) With the new schedule, Boeing has one year to test, fix and certify the 787 for commercial service. They had added extra margin to preserve this new schedule.
2) Modifications to aircraft LN 1 through LN 15 (plus ZY997 and ZY998) will take place at Everett and after that the modifications will take place a supplier facilities.
3) Boeing currently talking to customers on the 787 schedule and getting their input and feedback
4) Production at the 10/month rate won't be achieved until late 2013; 2nd production line will support the 10/month rate but the single line will only achieve the 7/month rate. Suppliers have the current capacity to supply 10/month. Interestingly enough he only talked about Charleston and Everett. No other locations for the 2nd line.
5) 787-9 first delivery pushed back to late 2013 (I wonder if the 2nd line will be dedicated to the 787-9?) - Answer - According to Guy Norris this will be the case, the 2nd line will be dedicated for 787-9 production.
6) The side of body stress condition is now accurately modelled and the fix is modelled as well. The fix entails adding 4 to 5 reinforcements to each stringer. The pacing items for the fix is the limited accessibility to the areas that the reinforcements and the number of technicians that can be inside installing the fix.
7) With the exception of the side of body issue, Boeing is pleased with the way testing has gone, especially gauntlet testing. Airplanes 1 and 2 are ready for flight pending the installation of the reinforcements.
8) There are no takers for the first three 787 (LN 1 through LN 3) due to the extensive modifications and rework that they had to go through, thus they are not commercially valuable and their expenses and value will be charged to R&D and taken off current inventory. Airplanes 4 though 6 does have commercial value (though less than $2.5bn) and will be sold to VIP customers after refurbishment. The program on the whole is not in a loss making position and the charge off is a one time event that will taken against 3rd quarter earnings.

HEre are other articles that have been posted since the call and they all have some information on stuff that I might have missed:

Fleetbuzz Editorial-787 schedule
787 Podcast from IAG
Guy Norris' August 27, 2009 Update

Boeing Announces New 787 Schedule and Third-Quarter Charge

Boeing Press Release is below. There will be a conference call at 10AM today and will listen to it and try and get as much information as I can. The schedule jives with what Flightblogger had posted earlier.

CHICAGO, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) today announced that the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner is expected by the end of 2009 and first delivery is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The new schedule reflects the previously announced need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft, along with the addition of several weeks of schedule margin to reduce flight test and certification risk. The company projects achieving a production rate of 10 airplanes per month in late 2013.

"This new schedule provides us the time needed to complete the remaining work necessary to put the 787's game-changing capability in the hands of our customers," said Boeing Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney. "The design details and implementation plan are nearly complete, and the team is preparing airplanes for modification and testing."

Based on the revised schedule and other assumption updates, the company has determined that the 787 program is not in a forward-loss position.

However, separate from the updated program profitability assessment, the company has concluded that the initial flight-test airplanes have no commercial market value beyond the development effort due to the inordinate amount of rework and unique and extensive modifications made to those aircraft. Therefore, costs previously
recorded for the first three flight-test airplanes will be reclassified from program inventory to research and development expense, resulting in an estimated non-cash charge of $2.5 billion pre-tax, or $2.21 per share, against third-quarter results. This charge will have no impact on the company's cash outlook going forward.

The 787 team working the side-of-body reinforcement has completed initial testing and is finalizing design details of new fittings that are expected to ensure full structural integrity of the joint. The static test procedure that uncovered the issue will be repeated and the results fully analyzed before first flight is conducted. Fatigue testing also will be performed on stringer components to validate the long-term durability of the modification.

The first 787 test airplane and static test unit have been prepared for the new fittings. Installation is expected to begin within the next few weeks.

Boeing will discuss this announcement during a webcast starting at 10:00 a.m. EDT today. That webcast is accessible through http://www.boeing.com/. The company will update its 2009 financial guidance in October when it reports third-quarter results.

End of August and the 787 summertime blues

Well we're quickly approaching the end of August, the end of summer and hopefully the end of a period that Boeing would like to forget. If it weren't for the side of body issue the 787 would be flying around Boeing Field now for about two months. Now we have to wait about another three month for that happen (if Flightblogger is correct) and another month from now to hear Boeing's revised schedule. Too much is now riding on this for them to get it wrong. So with that in mind let's try and look ahead to what's yet to come.

As some of you may know, Boeing big wigs flew into Everett last week from Chicago and I believe the big topic of conversation was the 787. But I am hearing that Scott Carson might be retiring at the end of this year. Coincidence or not we'll see but right now it's just a rumor. I wonder if it's another coincidence that Boeing filed building permits today for the North Charleston site. Me thinks not! Boeing needs the second line to recover the lost ground in 787 production so the second line is inevitable (I said so a year ago) and I think Boeing will add additional autoclave capabilities to the 2nd line. The question will be where will the 2nd line go? At this point, if I'm a betting man it will be North Charleston but that will hinge on the vote by Boeing Charleston workers weather to decertify its union on Sept. 10th. If it is decertified then I think North Charleston is a shoo in despite what concessions Washington State and the IAM would give to Boeing. Boeing needs to have uninterrupted production if they are to catch up with deliveries. IAM going out on strike every 3 to 4 years will only get in the way of that.

Now articles are out that Air Berlin is considering cancelling it's order for 25 787-8s whether this is a bluff to wring out more concessions from Boeing is unclear though it sounds like Air Berlin is making an issue of the delays as a cornerstone of their arguments. That's a little surprising as they would be grateful for the delays as Air Berlin has a lot of capacity right now and they would probably need to add capacity in the future after the world economy recovers and air travel with it.

Now let's see what's happening on the tarmac at Everett. Well not too much there there is a big pup tent in the middle of the Boeing flight line where several of the 787 that will be in line for the fix will receive it. Out on the flight line there are 4 787s: LN2 (in ANA livery), ZY998 the fatigue air frame, LN6 and another test flight 787 in the Boeing 787 livery which I suspect may be LN 5. I think LN 4 is probably in 40-26 and LN 3 is still in 40-22 and LN 1 in the paint shop. That means that LN 7 and LN 8 probably have made or will make a line move soon to clear way to start final assembly on LN 9. The parts of this aircraft are in Everett.

Guy Norris also reported that tests are still going on on LN 2 on the Boeing flightline. He also has a great article on Boeing's moves in Charleston as well.

Guy's August 25 787 update
Guy's Boeing-Charleston Article
Air Berlin Mulls 787 Cancellation

Lastly, is Wall Street turning bullish on Boeing and specifically the 787? According to Scott Hamilton at Leeham & Co. a couple of Wall Street analyst now have a brighter outlook on the 787.

Scott's article on 787 forward loss.

Boeing may take first steps to locate 2nd 787 line in Charleston, SC.

According to KING5 (local TV station in the Seattle area). Boeing will file building permit applications as early as tomorrow to expand the Charleston, SC plant which they had just purchased from Vought a month ago.

While there has been no definitive decision about the location of a 2nd production line, the move maybe a precursor to an announcement that Boeing intends to locate the 2nd line in South Carolina. The 2nd production line will be sorely needed if Boeing is to catch up to promised deliveries of the 787 that were delayed due to the on going issues within the program.

Another scenario (in my mind) is that it would be used as leverage to win concessions from the unions, Washington State and the City of Everett. In other words a bluff. While I may not be the best at Texas Hold 'Em, I would say that Boeing is has a pretty good hand for the time being. This story is far from over and I would not expect the Boeing announcement on the 2nd line until after flight testing on the 787 is under way.

Boeing to file building permits.

Does flying on an A380 mean lower fares for passengers?

When Airbus started marketing the A380, the argument made by some is that because you're packing so many people into a more efficient aircraft (for it's size) that air fares should go down. Well I wanted to to see if that was true. When Emirates started running it's A380 from Dubai to JFK direct it was was hard to compare air fares as there wasn't any competition on that non stop route (unsurprisingly Emirates reallocated that flight to the Dubai-Toronto route).

Now that Air France is on the verge of starting a Paris-New York flight on an A380, it does give this blogger an opportunity to comparison shop the airfares.

For my comparison I kept a few things static across the different carriers I looked at: Flying out December 15th and returning December 22nd. Air fare is the lowest for a single adult.

The comparison would be against AFoo7 (outbound to CDG) and AF006 (inbound to JFK). Both these flights are on the A380.

The total air fare for this flight (from the Air France Web Site) is $824.10.

I compared that against the following Air France flights between JFK and CDG:
AF007/AF006 (A380-800) - $824.10

AF023/AF022 (777-200ER) - $781.10

AF011/AF010 (777-200ER) - $886.10

AF009/AF008 (777-200ER) - $762.10

The following American Airlines Flight between JFK and CDG:

AA044/AA045 (767-300ER) - $679.00

The following Air France flights between Newark Liberty (EWR) and CDG:

AF019/AF018 (A330-200) - $885.10

The following Continental Airlines Flights between EWR and CDG:

CO056/CO057 (767-400ER) - $680.00

CO054/CO055 (757-200) - $680.00

Now a couple of things. This does not necessarily mean that the A380 flight is more expensive to operate on the New York - Paris route just that the air fares that the paying public pay is more expensive compared to most of the other flight options flown on older equipment. Indeed the A380 flights is the third most expensive in the New York-Paris market out of the 8 daily non stops. One explanation is that the other two Air France flights AF011 - 9:45PM and AF019 - 7PM are prime time flight as is AF007 - 7:10PM. CO54 leaves at 8:45PM also prime time while AA044 leaves at around 5:50PM a little before the prime time flight hours to Europe. Also I did not include Delta as they code share their Paris flights on Air France and the air fares are the same.

What about across the Pacific?

Ok to make sure that I wasn't seeing things, I did a similar comparison between Sydney, Australia and LAX. I compared the fares on QANTAS flight using the A380 (QF012/QF011) vs flight offered by QANTAS (on a 747-400) and it's competitor. I assumed in all cases that departure date from LAX on Nov. 25, 2009 and returning from Sydney on Dec 2, 2009. The airfare is for a single adult roundtrip on non stop service. Here are the results:

QANTAS Flights:

QF012/QF011 (A380-800) - $1913

QF108/QF107 (747-400) - $1404

NOTE: QF012 departs LAX at 10:30 PM and QF108 departs LAX at 11:45PM, a difference of only 1h hour and 15 minutes but a difference in price of over $500!!

VAustralia Flight:

VA002/VA001 (777-300ER) - $844.10

This flight departs LAX at 8:10PM.

United Flight:

UA839/UA840 (747-400) - $894.10

This flight departs LAX at 10:17PM

Delta Flight:

DL17/DL16 (777-200LR) - $2635

This flight departs LAX at 10:50PM

Of the five round trip flights analyzed here, the A380 flights is the 2nd most expensive with the Delta flights flown on a 777-200LR being very expensive (by over $700). But very interestingly is that a QANTAS flight that leave an hour and fifteen minutes later is over $500 less in air fare! If I were going to Australia and trying to save some dough well the choice is clear and I would take the QF108 flight (if I am so intent on flying the Qantas product).

In summary the hype of the A380 for the paying passenger really doesn't live up to the reality on the competitive routes. Qantas even beats it's own pricing on one of its most lucrative routes as does Air France when you compare the A380 fares vs the non A380 fares in the same market. The A380 doesn't deliver value to the flying public.

Flightblogger: Boeing preparing revised 787 plan

On the heels of ZA002 performing it's slow and medium speed taxi tests (last such tests for a few months), Flightblogger revealed today that Boeing is in the final stages of preparing a document called Z18 (18 for the 18th revision) which outlines construction and schedule of each 787 in the pipeline for Boeing and each one of it's partners.

Flightblogger reveals that first flight for ZA001 may take place between late November and early December. This would equate to a five month delay to the 787 program on top of the other delays. First delivery to ANA would be 4th quarter of 2010. Boeing has yet to reveal it's schedule and should do so in about 5 weeks or so.

The Z18 document is intended to make sure that everyone (Boeing, suppliers, and even customers) are on the same page with regards to assembly production and delivery of each of the 787s that Boeing is committed to delivering including all financial considerations.

The wrinkles are not going to put a wrinkle in Boeing's 787 plan.

With regards to the wrinkle issue, Flightblogger says Boeing is applying the fix to the affected airframes while it has stopped winding fuselage barrels for airplane 30 on out. The permanent fix has yet to be developed though in my communications with Boeing it seems that they would need add additional plies to the affected areas when applying the composite tape before autoclaving the structure. The affected area is the stringer edge step. Until the permanent fix is determined, the resources in Grottaglie will be reallocated to preparing the 13 sections at that worksite for shipping to Global Aeronautica. This will accelerate the preparation of the existing barrels and when Boeing and Alenia are ready to start winding barrels for airplane 30 on out, those resources will be shifted back again to get that work flowing again. It looks like that there won't be any schedule disruptions due to the wrinkle issue.

Flightblogger also says that starting with airplanes 11, 12 or 13 Boeing and it's partners will implement NC 5 (for Net Change 5). This is a standardization of the structural, wiring and systems design across all the suppliers so that travelled work is kept to a minimum and commonality is maxed out when the parts arrive in Everett for final assembly.

It is here where Boeing is hoping (I believe) that there will be no more travelled work in the production system going into Everett and this would form the basis of the production ramp up. Flightblogger says that parts for airplane 10 (LN10) should start arriving at the end of this month. I would expect that airplane 4 and 5 which are in 40-26 would be moved soon to another location so that LN 7 and LN 8 can move down the line and LN 9 can start final assembly though this is be slowed until the side of body fix in installed and tested. Boeing still wants to modify as few planes as possible after the wing-body join.

Flightblogger: What is Z18?

747-8 is alive with power and 787 update

Boeing's first 747-8F came alive with power on on last Friday morning in Everett. The new est member of the 747 family will also be the longest airplane in the world at over 250ft (beating the A340-600 by over a yard - take that Airbus!). The aircraft still has to run through a host of check out and assembly activities before being pulled outside to the Boeing flightline. There a whole host of information put out including Randy Tinseth's blog (Randy's Journal). So far it's looking like the 747-8F is having a smoother assembly and testing flow compared to its smaller cousin the 787. Boeing was expected to conduct taxi tests on ZA002 but had postponed it to an unspecified issue. The flight test team will probably try again tomorrow or Wednesday.

Big Time (Randy's Journal)
Guy Norris' 747 power on post
Guy's 747 follow up
Flightblogger RC501 Power On

Power on for this airplane is a big deal as Boeing can now start to retire technical risks associated with the design.

787

Now onto the 787. As mentioned earlier, Boeing had postponed the taxi test for ZA002 with no explanation given. I suspect that there was some issue that is expected to be resolved as the flight test team will have another crack at it tomorrow according to Guy Norris.

Guy Norris: August 14 787 Update
Guy Norris: Taxi test postponed
Flightblogger: Brakes put on taxi test

On the heals of Flightblogger's story about the stop work order on sections 44/46 at Alenia, Randy Tinseth also posted a fairly detailed explanation of the issues and Boeing's response to it.

787/Alenia

In his blog entry, Randy Tinseth reassures that the issue is not going to cost the 787 in terms of financial implications or schedule and as I reported earlier, there won't be any weight or aerodynamic penalties either. He also goes to say that the issue has not cropped up on the 6 test flight aircraft that have already been assembled and would not have caused a delay in first flight.

Another moment to groan...another 787 structural flaw

My good friend, Flightblogger, aka Jon Ostrower has done it again. He broke the news that Boeing had issued a stop work to Alenia manufactured fuselage barrels due to wrinkles that formed in the stringers of the fuselage barrels for airplanes 7 through 29. Flightblogger cited a Boeing memo (on Boeing letterhead) that was obtained and dated June 23rd. The flaws are traced back to the manufacturing process of the two barrels (section 44 and 46) in Grottaglie, Italy. According to Boeing, a fix has been identified and the patched should be applied soon. The patched would be applied to the the outside of the fuselage to provide structural strength in the areas supported by the stringers.

Boeing told me that the patch fix is permanent to airplanes 7 through 29 and with airplane 30 the fix is incorporated by adding additional plies of composite tape to the skin prior to going into the autoclave during the manufacturing process. The patch won't incur any weight or aerodynamic penalties. Boeing said they have no timetable for the resumption of manufacturing at Alenia.

What is a little disconcerting is that the stop work order was issued on June 23rd which is the same day that Boeing announced the postponement of first flight due to the side of body structural flaw. While Boeing announced the side of body issue, there was no mention of the wrinkling issue found in the fuselage barrels. Now according to an article in Bloomberg by Susanna Ray, Boeing spokeswoman said that “It didn’t have any material impact on the program in schedule or cost, so there was no reason to discuss it publicly.” Clearly Boeing has been burdened by bad news after bad news on this program and is trying to limit the amount of negative publicity on the 787 program. However with news like this coming out the way it did, Boeing's credibility has dropped another notch.

Flightblogger Report

Bloomberg 787 report

Other 787 News

Guy Norris is reporting that taxi test for ZA002 can conduct it's ground taxi tests as early as this weekend pending a safety walk down. Guy also said that this will be the last taxi tests conducted by any 787 until the side of body fix is installed on ZA001. Other than that the next major event to happen will be the installation and testing of the side of body fix on the static air frame (ZY997). The parts are supposedly on the way to Everett if not already there.

Guy's August 13th/14th update

Earlier this week Flightblogger outlined the location of the the aircraft in at Everett:

ZA001 - In the paint shop where it will undergo the installation of the parts to fix the structural issues.
ZA002 - Boeing flight line where it will conduct ground taxi tests and then will be prepped for installation of the fix.
ZA003 - In building 40-23 (747 assembly line) waiting for side of body fix
ZA004 - In building 40-26 (787 line) waiting for side of body fix
ZA005 - In building 40-26 behind ZA006 waiting for side of body fix
ZA006 - Boeing flight line waiting for side of body fix
ZA100 - In building 40-26 behind ZA005 continuing final assembly activities and waiting for side of body fix
ZA101 - In building 40-26 behind ZA100 starting final assembly activities
ZA102 - Wings, horizontal and vertical stabilizers and rear fuselage in back of building 40-26.
ZY997 - In building 40-22 undergoing repairs and waiting for side of body fix
ZY998 - In building 40-23 (747 assembly line) waiting for side of body fix

Read Getting Oriented

Boeing is "weeks away" from issuing a new schedule; Preparing test fleet for fix

According the Chris Musoke, Boeing's 787 chief engineer, they're weeks away from issuing a new schedule for first flight and delivery of the 787. He was speaking at the meeting of the Organization of Black Airline Pilots in Atlanta.

As proof that there is progress towards testing and implementing a fix on the side of body join, Flightblogger says that ZA001 has been moved inside to prepare for installation of the parts and that ZY997, the static test airframe, has scaffolding surrounding the aircraft in preparation of installation and testing of the fix. The parts needed have already been manufactured and shipped to Boeing for ZY997 and ZA001. If this fix does the trick, the parts will be manufactured and installed in all the other aircraft in the supply pipeline as well as those already assembled.

Access to the areas to be fixed will be very tight and will require technicians to get to the areas through an access door into the center fuel tank and several access holes. The first two flight ready 787, ZA001 and ZA002 have already have had these areas closed out and cleaned for testing which means that they would probably have to go though a close out procedure again and have the tanks washed out. The other four airplanes won't have that issue but this should be all minor compared to the problem that has to be fixed.

Flightblogger also reports that assembly activities are continuing on production standard 787 though some assembly activities will be put on hold until the fix is verified and the parts are installed. Airplane 8 has already started final assembly and parts for airplane 9 will start arriving later this week starting with the wings. Also reported that starting with airplane 15, the fuselage part (section 11) of the fix will be installed at Global Aeronautica in Charleston with the wing box part (section 12) of the fix being installed at Everett when the fuselage and wing box are joined in final assembly.

Flightblogger also reported that ZA004 has completed gear swing tests inside building 40-26. ZA003 is probably still inside the 747 assembly building and either ZA005 or ZA006 is outside on the flightline.

Flightblogger: Prepartations start for wing-body fix

July 30 787 Update

Now that we're at the end of July I thought that it would be a good time to look at some articles that have recently come out regarding the 787 since the earnings call last week. Many people were disappointed that Boeing doesn't have any new schedule ready as of now. They said that the new schedule will be ready during the third quarter (of this year I think) so we'll see by September 30th what will happen.

Start things off, Flightblogger reported that because of the need to modify the brake control monitoring software due to overheating of some of the braking elements during a high energy (trying to stop a heavy and fast aircraft), there is a conflict between Boeing and Crane who wrote the code over who should pay for it. Crane claims that they delivered into Boeing the software they needed and that their production costs already exceeded their initial projects without and of the needed redesigns. There are a lot of revealing comments in Flightbloggers posting.

Flightblogger: Boeing and Crane

Next up, Guy Norris reports that despite the wing issues, Boeing is still doing some ground testing on the 787. Guy reported that Boeing is continuously testing upgrades to the 787 software during a Wedge Regression Test (don't ask me what that is).

Guy's July 24th 787 Update

Third, Mike Mecham, Joe Anselmo and Guy Norris talked about Boeing's lack of a schedule for the 787 and the implications (financial and otherwise). they cite skeptical analyst who believe that the schedule will move further to the right as well as the possible implications regarding costs associated with the fix and testing that has to be done.

Aviation Week's 787 Schedule Elusiveness

Batting clean up, is Dominic Gates and the Seattle Times with further analysis of the side of body issue and the seriousness of the problem (which appears to be more severe then initially revealed). In the article, Dominic Gates says that there was damaged done not just to the wing boxes (the main wing structure) but also to the center wing box which is in the fuselage. Damage occurred not at ultimate load (150%) but at a load much lower than that which explains why Boeing decided (for good reason) not to proceed with flight testing. The flight envelope would have been so limiting that it would have been useless to fly any test flights since the data collected would have been minimal. It seems from reading the article that Boeing would have to reinforce not only the wing side but the fuselage side of the side of body.

Seattle Times: 787 Wing flaw extends to inside of plane

Fifth, Boeing had moved ZA001 to the paint hanger for preliminary work before the installing the reinforcement fix. Flightblogger had said that Boeing did plan to move ZA001 into the paint hanger for the fix and that the fix may be installed as early as mid August. Aircraft ZA001 has since been moved back out to the flightline. Parts for ZA102 (third production 787) has already arrived save for the rear fuselage (as far as I know). Final assembly should be getting underway soon. My last note is that the large cargo freighters (LCF) have been making a lot of runs as of late though as I said before, it's hard to know what's, if anything, is being transported unless you have someone there photographing the loading and unloading of the aircraft.

Lastly, Boeing just completed the transfer of Vought's 787 operations today and will now be known as Boeing Charleston.

News Release Issued: July 30, 2009 2:00 PM EDT

Boeing Completes Acquisition of Vought Operations in South Carolina

SEATTLE, July 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) announced today the completion of the acquisition of the business and operations conducted by Vought Aircraft Industries at its South Carolina facility, where a key structure for the 787 Dreamliner is built. The acquisition agreement was announced originally on July 7.
The newly acquired facility, located in North Charleston, will be called Boeing Charleston. Boeing Charleston will be managed by the 787 program as a wholly owned subsidiary. Boeing Charleston will continue to perform fabrication, assembly and systems installation for 787 aft fuselage sections, which are made primarily of composite materials.

ZA101 to start final assembly soon

The second production 787 ZA101 bound for ANA will soon enter final assembly at Boeing's Everett plant. The forward fuselage section for this aircraft was delivered on Friday, July 24th and the main fuselage section was delivered this afternoon, Sunday, July 26th. This sections join the wings along with the tail/rudder and the horizontal stabilizer that are already in building 40-26. The rear fuselage has yet to be delivered but should be soon. Final assembly activities should get underway soon. Flightblgger had earlier reported on this as well as saying that parts for the ninth 787 won't arrive until sometime in August and parts for the tenth plane won't arrive until sometime in October. The slow down is attributable to the side of body structural issue that Boeing revealed on June 23, 2009.

Seattle Times: 787 May Not Fly This Year

In an article that echoed Flightblogger's post yesterday, Dominic Gates of the Seattle Times reported that the 787 may not be ready to fly this year due to the required fix needed to the side of body join. I reported earlier that the detail design of the fix itself would take two months followed by manufacture and testing of the fix. Adding to the complication is accessibility to install the new parts. The design of the parts can also complicate the ramp up to full production of the 787 because of the time needed to retrofit the parts in airplanes already assembled as well as those still back in the supply chain. Boeing wants to avoid retrofitting too many assembled aircraft.

However, looking at the LCF flights that Boeing and Evergreen have been flying, there seems to be quite a bit of activity. Granted some of these flight might be training flights and/or repositioning of transport fixtures for the various parts, the activity could also mean an increase in activity especially with regards to build up of the main fuselage section which is still an issue in terms of the build up time.

Seattle Times: 787 May Not Fly This Year

787 Tid Bits from Boeing

With today 2nd quarter earnings release from Boeing we also got a little bit more information on the status of the 787.

1) Boeing will release a revised schedule sometime during the 3rd quarter (of this year).
2) Boeing has identified a fix and have conducted some very initial testing
3) The fix they have chosen is straight forward
4) Boeing is looking at ways to carefully implement the fix in the aircraft. This confirms Flightblogger's earlier post that the accessibility to the area needed to install the fix is going to be difficult. Boeing says that they won't sacrifice quality of the 787 for speed though.
5) The new delays will be putting pressure on the 787 profitability (though I'm not sure if that's overall profitability or short term profitability).
6) McNerney says that the787 issue is a local issue with a localized fix needed. This is not an issue with the overall wing design.
7) Boeing says that certification work is still ongoing.
8) Positive news - ZA003 and ZA004 have had power on

Flightblogger: 787 Wing Fix Update

Flightblogger got another scoop on the 787 wing fix. It still boils down to the fact that Boeing is in the middle of designing the interim fix to allow certification of the 787 wing at the 150% load limit.

But a major consequence of the wing issue is the delay of final assembly of future 787s. Assembly has not stopped but has been slowed in order that Boeing has time to design, manufacture, test and implement the interim fix on the airplanes already in production without having to do too much of that work in Everett. Flightblogger is reporting that ZA101 which is the 2nd production aircraft will start final assembly before the end of July with production plane 9 starting final assembly around the fall time.

Flightblogger says that the interim fix could be installed in ZA001 as early as mid August and it would take about a month to for each airplane that has been assembled. A major concern is that the space on the assembled aircraft is already tight and will be difficult to access in order to install the fix. With about 40 airplanes throughout the supply chain that wold need the fix, Boeing and the suppliers need to figure out how best to implement the interim fix.

Also of importance is designing the permanent fix and figuring out when in the production cycle to implement that modification into the airplane. That will be important as Boeing and it's partners would not want to continue to do this remedial fix forever.

Flightblogger: 787 wing fix one month later

Now here's another interesting and somewhat related consequence of this structural issue. Roll Royce is designing a new low pressure turbine for the Trent 1000 engines in order to lower the sfc (Specific Fuel Consumption) of the engine which came in higher than expected.
It is now possible for the production standard 787 starting with ZA101 for ANA to be delivered with the improved Trents. In speaking with knowledgeable industry sources, they felt that Boeing and Rolls Royce can deliver the improved Trents starting with ZA101 (now in final assembly) and that ZA003 and ZA004 will also have the improved Trents for flight testing but not ZA001 or ZA002. Whether that actually comes to pass is anyone's guess but if the start of flight testing is delayed until early winter, it's a good bet on that happening.

747 and 787

UPDATE 2: Boeing sent out a press release about Z005. This is a scheme that will be painted on the other three test flight airplanes as well to save time and money. Also ZA005's GEnx engines are back with GE so they can add modifications to the engines.

EVERETT, Wash., July 21, 2009 -- The fifth Boeing [NYSE:BA] 787 Dreamliner flight test airplane has been unveiled sporting a special Boeing livery.

Painted white with blue accents, the new livery incorporates visual and color elements from the distinctive blue-and-white Boeing Commercial Airplanes livery seen on the first 787 flight test airplane and other new commercial models. The simplified paint scheme will be applied to the three remaining unpainted flight test airplanes (Nos. 3, 4 and 6). Airplane No. 2 has been painted in the colors of launch customer ANA of Japan.

The modified livery, which saves time and expense compared to the full Boeing livery, will remain on the airplane until the flight test program is completed and it is refurbished and delivered to a customer.

The airplane’s two GEnx engines have been temporarily removed and returned to GE Aviation so that planned minor improvements can be made.
# # #
Neg. K64750-03 and K64750-02
Contact:
Marc Birtel

787 Communications+1 425-266-5822

UPDATE: Flightblogger just updated his site with information on ZA005 which is the first 787 with GE engines. It was painted in a modified Dreamliner scheme however the aircraft doesn't have it's engines on and will be returned to building 40-26.

Flightblogger ZA005 post


Well some more news out of Boeing today. The first 747-8 is in position to start the final body join with the forward section, center section and wings and the aft section. In the picture released by Boeing, you can see the length of the newest member of the 747 family. Also note the landing gear in the foreground of the photograph.

My guess for the 747-8F first flight is around September-October time frame.

Here's Boeing's Press Release:

News Release Issued: July 21, 2009 8:00 AM EDT
First Boeing 747-8 Freighter
Takes Shape
EVERETT, Wash., July 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) took a major step closer this week toward completing the assembly of the first 747-8 Freighter as mechanics at the factory in Everett, Wash. loaded the forward and aft fuselage sections to join with the wing and center section.
"It is exciting to see this airplane taking shape," said Mo Yahyavi, vice president and general manager of the 747 Program. "The 747-8 is the largest commercial jet airplane we have assembled. This final body join provides us the first real look at the size of the 747-8 Freighter."
The 747-8 Freighter is 250 feet, 2 inches (76.3 m) long, which is 18 feet and 4 inches(5.6 m) longer than the 747-400 Freighter. The stretch provides customers with 16 percent more revenue cargo volume compared to its predecessor. That translates to four additional main-deck pallets and three additional lower-hold pallets. The 747-8 Freighter is the new high-capacity 747 that will give cargo operators the lowest operating costs and best economics of any freighter airplane while providing enhanced environmental performance. Boeing has secured 78 orders from leading cargo operators for the new 747-8 Freighter. Cargolux, Nippon Cargo Airlines, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates SkyCargo, Guggenheim and Korean Air all have placed orders for the airplane.
Contact:
Peter Conte
Everett Programs
Communications
+1 425-294-6102
Peter.b.conte@boeing.com
More
information: http://www.boeing.com/commercial/747family/747-8_background.html
Photo
and caption are available here: http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=64&item=64
SOURCE Boeing
SOURCE: Boeing
Web site: http://www.boeing.com/

787

Matt Cawby got a picture of what appears to be ZA005 out at the fuel dock at Everett. The aircraft is sandwich between a DHL 767F and a Korean Air 777-300ER. Flightblogger had earlier reported that ZA005 had gone to the paint shop (ZA006 is on the 767 building) so this aircraft must be ZA005 which is the first 787 with GE engines. Interesting to note the paint scheme which is not any customer airline livery like ZA002 and not the Dreamliner scheme that is on ZA001 but it seems to be a generic Boeing the "787" on the tail. Wish that DHL 767 can move out of the way!!!

Matt Cawby's pic of ZA005

Matt also got a picture of the fatigue test airframe (ZY998) outside of building 40-51 on Sunday. Testing on this ariframe probably won't start until the side of body fix is installed but it is outside as it left the 747 line.

Matt Cawby's pic of ZY998

Lastly, I got unconfirmed word last night that design of the side of body fix would take about 2 months not including time to manufacture and test the fix on ZY997 (static test airframe). It does seem that first flight may not take place until late this year and first delivery may not occur until the third quarter of 2010 though we're all still waiting for Boeing's official word on that.

One Small Step....

Today marks the 40th anniversary of a mind boggling milestone. 50 years ago people would not believe that humans had the capability and the drive to send human to the moon and return them safely back to Earth. But it was feat that was done and repeated 5 more times not counting the two flights to the moon that preceded Apollo 11. This is an important milestone not only for the US but for the human race. It reminds us that anything is possible and the the realm of the impossible can be actually overcome by human endurance, persistence, ingenuity and intelligence. It redefined our view of not only ourselves and our capabilities but also our view of the universe.

Today the US and other nations are looking at the moon again and further out to Mars but it won't be any easier or less expensive compared to the feat 40 years ago despite advances in computer technology, safety systems and materials. NASA is aiming to return US astronauts to the moon by 2020 though they have a very long way to go and numerous technical challenges yet to overcome with the Ares I, Ares V, Orion CEV and the LSAM vehicles that will get them there. It now all depends on our willingness to expend time, material and, more importantly, money if we want to get there. The President and Congress has the fate of this endeavor in their hands just as they did back in the 60's. I hope we have the perseverance to see it through.

On a personal note, 20 years ago in March 1989, Neil Armstrong paid a visit to Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It was special moment for me as an a student and someone who has held a lifelong fascination and interest not just in aviation but space. Meeting and talking to Neil Armstrong is something that I still replay in my mind. What is fascinating the most was his ease at speaking to us and the fact that he wanted to share in experiences. It was as if he felt at home and comfortable surrounded by aspiring engineers at the school. The discussions not only focused on Apollo 11 but also what he did before and after NASA (like the Rodger's Commission to investigate the Challenger Accident). One particular memorable story didn't even have anything to do with Apollo 11 but about his time as a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base. He was flying in the front seat of a two seat jet aircraft (forgot the type) with none other than Chuck Yeager in the rear seat. Well they had to land because of an unspecified emergency and after they landed found themselves stuck. Neil Armstrong remembers Chuck Yeager laughing in the back seat because Armstrong got themselves stuck in the mud and couldn't get free no matter how much thrust he throttled. A great story by a man who is not embarrassed to talk about it. It also bought home how involved he was with other great of aviation and how he himself helped advance aviation and spacecraft design himself.

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

Flightblogger: More video and pics from yesterday's 787 taxi tests

Flightblogger, Jon Ostrower, obtained more pics and video from yesterday's taxi tests of ZA001.

More video and photos of the taxi test.

Also check out Randy Tinseth's blog where there are more photos and a great video. You tell how quiet the 787 is as it's doing the RTO going past the camera!!

Right Down The Line

Editorial: 7/7/09: A good day for the 787

Two year ago Boeing rolled out the 787 on 7/8/07 in a huge media event emceed by Tom Brokaw. Boeing was very proud of what they had accomplished to that point. The two years that followed was not something they wanted to crow about. Neither was the announcement in late June about another delay to the 787 that heard collective groans from airline executives, Wall Street, shareholders, Boeing employees and aviation enthusiasts around the world waiting for this plane to finally soar.


This last delay seemed more insulting, the cherry on the top of all the other delays (that's optimistic being after the cherry you can't add another layer) since it came so close to first flight and only a week after Scott Carson pronounced his confidence that ZA001 would fly by June 20, 2009. It was like Boeing was the gang that couldn't shoot straight. However the public perception, people have to understand that designing, building and testing airplanes, especially one with as much new cutting edge technology that the 787 has, is no easy feat.

Yesterday was a good day for the 787 program coming two years after rollout. It was a good day for two reasons:

1) The 787 finally moved on its own power in a series of low speed taxi tests which included low speed RTO (rejected takeoff) tests. These tests continued into Tuesday evening around 10 PM. These taxi tests followed the successful conclusion of final gauntlet testing which concluded on the evening of July 2nd before the 4th of July weekend. You can read Boeing's discussion of the final gauntlet testing here.



2) By far the biggest news and, in my opinion, the best news came from Charleston, SC when Boeing and Vought announced the sale of Vought's 787 work share and assets to Boeing. This makes Boeing more responsible for the fabrication and integration of 787 assemblies compared to what they originally envisioned in 2003 when they launched the 787 program. A lot of the 787 program is experimental and new. This not only includes the technology but the production system that Boeing had decided upon. Now this is where risk management comes in. Boeing's purchase of Vought's 787 unit and their purchase of Vought's share of Global Aeronautica is an exercise in risk management. They recognize the weakest link in their supply chain and in the end effected the necessary actions by which they could more directly control the situation. To be clear, Vought had made great improvements at the facility in Charleston as demonstrated by improved build quality and greater completion (less traveled work) of the 787 rear fuselage being sent to Everett. However, where the risk lay was in Vought's precarious financial situation and doubts about them being able to effectively and efficiently ramp up production. Vought had its doubts, Boeing had it doubts and the result was today's announcement.


Today's action by Boeing demonstrates that Boeing will not let this program fail. The projected costs of purchasing Vought's 787 site is estimated to be about $1 billion ($580 million paid to them directly plus the release of Vought from repaying advances that Boeing had given Vought for its 787 work). Clearly this kind of cash outlay represents Boeing determination to make the 787 program the cornerstone of the company for the foreseeable future. They cannot let this program fail. Now some will point to the assumption of Vought's 787 operations as proof positive that the 787 production model of outsourcing and systems integration is drastically flawed. Boeing purchase of Vought's share of Global Aeronautica is another example of Boeing proactive risk management.


But then how can they explain that other suppliers are doing well within this new production framework? MHI, FHI and KHI continue to build and deliver their work packages and are reducing traveled work. Spirit has been the brightest spot amongst the supplier partners with no more traveled work in the forward fuselage sections that are sent to Everett. And Alenia which had some quality problems very early on is performing very well. This indicates that, after the teething problems and the learning curve ramp up, Boeing's supplier partners are doing well and is vindicating the production model for the 787. Boeing did fail initially in overestimating the capabilities of the supplier base to quickly design test and build the composite structures and other breakthrough technologies for this aircraft and this is what put them in the hole. They had redeploy assets to get the supply base back in line thus from a risk management perspective the reacted accordingly and I believe they will continue to do so. I don’t think they’ll bring in more of the manufacturing work in house save for Global Aeronautica if they don’t show substantial progress ahead of the production ramp up.

Lastly, there continues to be speculation if this move will lead to the 2nd production line (it’s a matter of when not if) being located anywhere but Everett. (Scott Hamilton wrote a piece yesterday regarding the 2nd line). There is a lot of compelling arguments for locating the 2nd line Charleston which has been wrote about ad nauseum and thus I won't repeat it here but I do beleive that Boeing will decide later this year to locate the 2nd line in Charleston for the those reasons. Once the 2nd line is established and producing 787s, Boeing 787 backlog would be eased considerably, though that will all depend on the supplier's ability to produce enough throughput to supply both lines at the same time. If successful, it all started with Boeing taking control of the situation in Charleston with Vought.

787 finally moves on its own power

Another UPDATE (7:00 pm EDT): Boeing confirmed to me that they did low speed RTO (rejected takeoff) tests but they did not do any high speed runs today.
Video from KOMO News in Seattle:



BREAKING: Flightblogger just tweeted that ZA001 also performed high speed taxi tests today and RTO test without the nose wheel leaving ground. This is unexpected.

I just got confirmation that ZA001 has started taxi tests and is now driving around Paine Airport on its own power.

Flightblogger also has pics on his blog which also confirms that start of taxi tests. When these tests are complete, ZA001 will have to wait until the side of body join fix is designed and manufactured before it can go on to high speed taxi tests and RTO (Rejected Take Off) tests and then first flight. Still no word on that front.

Flightblogger: First 787 Taxi Pics

Boeing: Boeing Announces Agreement to Acquire Vought Operations in South Carolina

Just hot off the press from Boeing:

Boeing Announces Agreement to Acquire Vought Operations in South
Carolina

-- Accelerates productivity and efficiency within 787 supply chain
--Bolsters Boeing capability to develop and produce large composite structures
-- Vought continues relationship with Boeing on range of programs

SEATTLE, July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) announced today that it has agreed to acquire the business and operations conducted by Vought Aircraft Industries at its South Carolina facility, where Vought builds a key structure for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner airplane.

The Vought facility, located in North Charleston, performs fabrication and assembly of structures and systems installation of 787 aft fuselage sections, which are made primarily of composite materials. After the transaction, Vought will continue its work on many Boeing programs, including other components of the 787, as well as structures and components on the 737, 747, 767, 777, C-17 and V-22 through operations located elsewhere.

"Integrating this facility and its talented employees into Boeing will strengthen the 787 program by enabling us to accelerate productivity and efficiency improvements as we move toward production ramp-up," said Scott Carson, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "In addition, it will bolster our capability to develop and produce large composite structures that will contribute to the advancement of this critical technology."

"We take great pride knowing that we have been able to satisfy the technological and physical demands of the 787 program alongside much larger companies," said Elmer Doty, president and CEO of Vought Aircraft Industries. "However, the financial demands of this program are clearly growing beyond what a company our size can support. We are pleased that we will continue our 787 involvement at a component manufacturing level, as well as provide ongoing technical capabilities that have helped make Charleston a world-class composite facility."

Through the agreement, Boeing will acquire the North Charleston facility, its assets and inventory and will assume operation of the site, and the parties will resolve all matters related to Vought's prior work on the 787 program. The cash consideration to be paid to Vought at closing is approximately $580 million. In addition, Boeing will release Vought from its obligations to repay amounts previously advanced by Boeing. Separately, Boeing entered into new agreements with Vought for work packages on the 737, 777 and 787.

This transaction is anticipated to close in the third quarter following satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including consent from Vought's lenders.

Once acquired, the North Charleston facility will be managed by the 787 program. "We look forward to welcoming the South Carolina team to Boeing and continuing our relationship with Vought to bring the most value to the 787 and our other programs," said Carson.

Forward-Looking Information Is Subject to Risk and Uncertainty
Certain statements in this report may be "forward-looking" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "targets," and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions about future events that may not prove to be accurate. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. As a result, these statements speak to events only as of the date they are made and neither Boeing nor Vought undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by federal securities laws. Specific factors that could cause Boeing's and/or Vought's actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those set forth below and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in each company's respective filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission: the failure of conditions precedent to the closing of the transaction or the failure of the transaction to close for any other reason; the failure of the parties to experience the expected benefits of the transaction; the effect of economic conditions in the United States and globally; the impact on accounts receivable, customer financing portfolios and allowance for losses of customer defaults and changes in customer credit ratings, credit default rates and collateral values; the impact on revenues and operating results of changes to indices included in indexed price escalation clauses included in contracts with commercial airplane and defense customers; the successful execution of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Integrated Defense Systems backlog; the effects of customers cancelling, modifying and/or rescheduling contractual orders; the timing and effects of any decisions to increase or decrease the rate of commercial airplane production; the timing and effects of decisions to complete or launch a Commercial Airplanes program at Boeing; Boeing's ability to successfully develop and timely produce the 787 and 747-8 aircraft; the ability of suppliers and, as applicable, subcontractors to successfully and timely perform their obligations; the effect of political and legal processes; changing defense priorities; and associated budget reductions by U.S. and international government customers affecting defense programs; relationship with union-represented workforce and the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements; the continuation of long-term trends in passenger and cargo traffic and revenue yields in the airline industry; the impact of volatile fuel prices and the airline industry's response; the effect of declines in aircraft valuation; the impact of airline bankruptcies; the extent to which Boeing and/or Vought are called upon to fund outstanding financing commitments or satisfy other financing requests, and the ability to satisfy those requirements; the continuation of historical costs for fleet support services; the receipt of estimated award and incentive fees on U.S. government contracts; the future demand for commercial satellites and projections of future order flow; the potential for technical or quality issues on development programs, including the Airborne Early Warning and Control program, International KC-767 Tanker, other fixed-price development programs, or commercial satellite programs, to affect schedule and cost estimates, or cause Boeing and/or Vought to incur a material charge or experience a termination for default; the outcome of any litigation and/or government investigation in which either company is a party, and other contingencies; returns on pension fund assets, impacts of future interes t rate changes on pension obligations and rising healthcare costs; ability to access external capital resources to fund operations; the amounts and effects of underinsured operations, including satellite launches; and the scope, nature or impact of acquisition or disposition activity and investment in any joint ventures/strategic alliances, including Boeing's Sea Launch and United Launch Alliance, and indemnifications and guarantees related thereto.

Contact:
Jim Proulx, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Communications, +1 206-850-2102
Russ Young, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Communications, +1 425-246-6661
Lisa Quirindongo, Vought Communications, +1 203-430-3550
Lynne Warne, Vought Communications, +1 615-974-6003
More information:
http://www.boeing.com/
http://www.voughtaircraft.com/
SOURCE: Boeing
Web site: http://www.boeing.com/http://www.voughtaircraft.com/

787 Update - July 7, 2009

A quick round up of the latest goings on:

1) ZA001 finished final gauntlet testing. Boeing wrapped that up on the evening of July 2nd.
2) Boeing will perform low speed taxi tests and that may occur as early as today though Flightblogger said that it may have occurred last night. Nevertheless, low speed taxi tests are right around the corner. The high speed taxi and RTO won't occur until after the side of body fix is installed onto ZA001. After the low speed taxi tests Boeing will continue ground tests on the 787 fleet to mature the systems so they just won't be closed up and doing nothing while they implement the fix.
3) Flightblogger said that a formal Boeing-Vought announcement on the Boeing purchase of Vought's 787 operations could come as early as this morning.
4) Flightblogger found out the registration forthe next two 787s: ZA003 will be registered as N787BX and ZA004 will be registered as N7874

Boeing: Final Gauntlet Testing started on ZA001

Boeing has confirmed to me that final gauntlet testing has begun on ZA001 and is currently on going. Boeing will have a better idea of when taxi tests will start after the completion of the gauntlet tests. Since tomorrow is a holiday for the US due to the July 4th holiday the test team may elect to continue testing on Friday if it's warranted.

Matt Cawby: Dreamliner 2 starts its engines

Matt Cawby got pictures of ZA002 (Dreamliner 2) initial engine runs that took place yesterday.

ZA002 initial engine runs

Flightblogger: Boeing to buy Vought's 787 Operations

Flightblogger got a major scoop today by saying that Vought (owned by the Carlyle Group) has agreed to sell Boeing the 787 operations in Charleston, SC where the rear fuselage section is constructed. Now this deal has not been made public but will be done so in a short amount of time. Jon said that sources have indicated that this acquisition can give Boeing the momentum to start a 2nd 787 production line in Charleston which has been hinted at in the past and should allow them to get production running to 10/month by 2012 according to Boeing's plans.
This deal will bring Boeing back into a much more involved role as manufacturer of the 787 then their initial plans when the program was launched in 2003.

With this Boeing would not be directly responsible for the manufacture and integration of the complete rear fuselage section (47/48) as well as the vertical stabilizer (tail). They're also heavily involved in Global Aeronautica, owning a 50% stake in that venture which they also purchased from Vought.

Now if Boeing decides (as I believe they will) to start a 2nd line in Charleston, one issue people are going to bring up is the lack of skilled aeronautical workers in the area. It should be noted that when Boeing started the 787 final assembly line in Everett many of the MT (manufacturing techs) were new hires who did not have direct aerospace manufacturing experience but who had skill sets that would be of use on the final assembly line after undergoing an intensive period of training and testing before being hired to work on the 787 final assembly line. I do think that Boeing will set up a similar education and training facility to train 787 MTs in South Carolina for the 2nd assembly line similar to what they did for the 787 line in Everett.

Boeing buys Vought 787 facility