Boeing again says 787 to fly this year, notes progress

Published 1:22 pm Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Boeing Co. has finished installing the fix on its new 787 jet, which it plans to fly by year’s end.

“Completing this work is a significant step toward first flight,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. “We continue to be pleased with the progress of the team and remain confident the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner will occur before the end of the year.”

Boeing postponed the first flight of its mostly composite 787 jet in June, after finding a structural weakness in the airplane’s side-of-body area. Workers at the company’s Everett factory have been modifying the first 787 aircraft to strengthen the side. The modification entails installing new fittings at 34 stringer locations within the joint where the wing is attached to the fuselage.

The modifications were completed yesterday, Boeing said. The company expects to complete the installations on the static test airframe and the second flight-test airplane in the coming days.

“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.”

After modifications are complete on the static test airframe, it will be refitted with strain gauges and instrumentation required for testing.

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 successfully completed on the first flight-test airplane.

Overall, the work on modifying airplanes is progressing well, Fancher said.

Boeing has won 850 orders for its 787 Dreamliner and expects to deliver the first aircraft in the fourth quarter of 2010, more than two years late.