Thin margin of error for Boeing 787 first flight, delivery

Published 11:15 am Tuesday, June 16, 2009

For months, Boeing officials have said the 787 will fly by the end of June and will be delivered by the end of March 2010.

Boeing risks pushing back the 787’s entry into service the closer that first flight is to the end of June, reports Aviation Week.

Boeing’s Pat Shanahan spoke to reporters at the Paris Air Show today, outlining the last steps before the Dreamliner’s first flight.

“We now are preparing to conduct final testing to verify that the airplane is ready to enter the flight test program,” Shanahan said, in a statement. “From there, we will go through taxi testing and then the airplane will take to the sky. That will be an emotionally intense day for everyone who had a part in reaching this key milestone.”

The company is expected to conduct flight readiness tests on the 787 this weekend before final gauntlet and then taxiing tests.

With only two weeks left in the month, Boeing is rapidly eating up any wiggle room it allowed, based on Shanahan’s statement.

The company has given itself 8 ½ to 9 months for flight tests, far shorter than previous test programs. At a media day in late April, Frank Rasor, Boeing’s director of flight test operations, said the company had built a 10 to 15 percent margin of error into flight tests – about the same as Boeing gave itself on the 777.