General assembly

Aren’t Internet search engines wonderful? Turns out that not only is there something called Assembly Magazine, said magazine also has a long and detailed cover story this month about the process Boeing plans to use to build the 787.

http://www.assemblymag.com/CDA/Articles/Cover_Story/9426d3a40438c010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0____

Among other things, the article discusses the virtues of the large “monolithic” structures Boeing will use to build the 787.

Key Quote: “By going with a one-piece carbon fiber fuselage structure, Boeing will do away with 1,500 separate sheets and 40,000 to 50,000 mechanical fasteners that would have been necessary if it had been made out of aluminum. Granted, there will still be plenty of threaded fasteners backing up adhesives in countless hybrid joints. However, the savings in terms of numbers of parts will still be impressive. In the fuselage alone, the company will reduce the number of fasteners by approximately 80 percent.”