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<< Previous   of   Next >> Boeing Co.  (click to enlarge) The first 787 Dreamliner designated for flight test is in a paint hangar at Boeing’s Everett facility. On Wednesday, workers finished installing reinforcements on the airplane’s side-of-body section.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, November 13, 2009 Boeing says 787 fixes are done By Michelle Dunlop Herald Writer EVERETT — The Boeing Co. has finished installing a structural fix on its first 787 jet, which the company said will fly by year’s end. Boeing postponed the first flight of its mostly composite 787 jet in June, after finding a structural weakness in the airplane’s side. Workers at the company’s Everett factory have been modifying the first 787 aircraft to strengthen the area. The modifications were finished Wednesday, the company said. “Completing this work is a significant step toward first flight,” said Scott Fancher, vice president of the 787 program. Boeing remains “confident the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner will occur before the end of the year.” Although Boeing’s 787 jet has garnered tremendous market interest with 850 orders, the Dreamliner’s first delivery has been delayed by more than two years. The company racked up delays as its global suppliers, charged with designing and building major sections of the 787, struggled. Both customer confidence and Boeing’s stock price have suffered as a result of the delays. Modification on the 787 entailed the installation of new fittings at 34 stringer locations within the joint where the wing is attached to the fuselage. Boeing plans to finish installations on the static test airframe and the second flight-test airplane in the coming days. And Boeing continues modifications on the fatigue test airplane and other flight-test aircraft of which there are six. “We will test the modification on the full-scale static test airframe later this month,” Fancher said. “As soon as we confirm the loads are being handled appropriately in the joint we will complete preflight activities on the airplane.” Boeing also is restoring access doors, systems, seals and fasteners that were removed from the first 787. When that task is finished, the flight-test team will perform another set of gauntlet and taxi tests to ensure that all systems are ready for flight. Fancher noted that with the exception of a single high-speed taxi test, all remaining flight-test activities have been completed on the first flight-test airplane. Boeing has less than seven weeks if it hopes to fly the first 787 by Dec. 31. Also this week, Boeing announced that it will break ground Nov. 20 on its second 787 assembly line in South Carolina. Last month, the company selected Charleston over Everett for the new 787 factory, which it hopes to open in 2011. Boeing’s shares closed Thursday at $50.28, down 40 cents. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out (No heading) Gotta wish them good luck with this now. Who would have imagined that they could so easily move an entire aerospace line to a factory across the country, pay their people $14 an hour (to start) and get stellar, marketable results that it takes the $26 an hour mechanics about 15 years to achieve...wow... Because you have to remember, the starting wages here in WA for a mechanic are only $15 an hour and it takes about 15 years of experience to get to that oppressively high amount of $26 an hour. Please let us know how many people are still working the lines in SC 15 years from now at the same $14 an hour, okay? CC At the Big B | Nov 13, 2009 11:58 pm | 3 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal (No heading) Gotta wish them good luck with this now. Who would have imagined that they could so easily move an entire aerospace line to a factory across the country, pay their people $14 an hour (to start) and get stellar, marketable results that it takes the $26 an hour mechanics about 15 years to achieve...wow... Because you have to remember, the starting wages here in WA for a mechanic are only $15 an hour and it takes about 15 years of experience to get to that oppressively high amount of $26 an hour. Please let us know how many people are still working the lines in SC 15 years from at the same $14 an hour, okay? CC At the Big B | Nov 13, 2009 11:58 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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