Mitsubishi ships first 787 wing boxes

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, May 13, 2007

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., announced Monday that it has shipped the first wing box for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

Mitsubishi produces the composite-material wing boxes at its Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works factories. The company held a ceremony May 13 to celebrate the first shipment.

Loaded onto a ship from an adjoining pier, the box was headed to Central Japan International Airport. A modified Boeing Co. 747 Dreamlifter will fly the wing box from Japan to Everett where the 787 will go through final assembly.

In deciding to outsource the 787’s wings, Boeing made a major shift in airplane manufacturing. To read more about Boeing and Mitsubishi, http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/02/09/100bus_corliss001.cfm.