First visible signs of 787 to arrive soon

The first of the modified 747s that the Boeing Co. will use to ferry parts of its new jet around the world should arrive at Paine Field next month.

When it gets here, “that will stop traffic, no doubt,” said Mike Bair, the senior vice president in charge of 787 development. “It is something.”

The arrival of the 747 Large Cargo Freighter will be one of the first tangible signs in Everett that the 787 program is on track, Bair said. Boeing’s new jet is “real and it’s going to be here quickly.”

Bair spoke with Puget Sound-area reporters prior to departing for this week’s Farnborough International Air Show, outside London. He was set to brief industry leaders on the 787’s progress today.

Boeing plans a fleet of at least three modified 747s to carry major pieces of the 787 to Everett from manufacturing plants in Japan, Italy and South Carolina. The planes are a key part of the global assembly line Boeing has created for the plane. The regular flights should start in February or March.

The modifications – which involve tripling the interior cargo space and creating a hinged tail for easier loading – have been done by a contractor in Taiwan. The first flight should take place there in August, Bair said.

After that, the plane will fly to Everett for flight testing, he said.

The development program was affected by last fall’s monthlong strike by the Machinists union, Bair said. Although the modification was done overseas, most of the key parts for the plane were fabricated at Boeing’s machine shops in Auburn, which shut down during the walkout.

“It was a big scramble to get that back on track, post-strike,” Bair said.

He said he’s a little concerned that the first plane won’t get painted before it arrives in Everett. “If it comes in with its motley green, it’ll really look ugly.”

Bair said Boeing is not 100 percent sure what the final employment total will be on its 787 assembly line in Everett.

The company will need to see exactly what it takes to build the planes before settling on a final number, he said. It won’t be “grossly different” from the early projections of 850 to 1,200 workers, he added, but “you really don’t know until you know.”

Bair’s briefing at Farnborough was expected to be upbeat.

“Overall production is picking up steam,” he said during the pre-airshow meeting. “There are lots of parts being made in lots of places around the world.”

Fuji Heavy Industries in June completed assembly of the first major piece of the jet – the center wing box, which is the structure where the wings connect to the body. It went surprisingly well, Bair said. “All the holes lined up. There wasn’t a single shim.”

Bair announced Monday that officials will be putting the wing box to the test in Seattle by battering it to check its strength.

The test piece measures approximately 17 feet from front to rear spar and 50 feet from airplane centerline to the tip of the composite structure.

It is 4 feet deep at the thickest section. and weighs 55,000 pounds.

Fuji, which built the test piece, is ahead of the other partners, but the rest “are either building production pieces or testing,” he said. “Everybody’s practicing on one or two sections.”

Bair said he sympathizes with Airbus’ problems getting its A380 superjumbo into service, but said he isn’t losing additional sleep over the prospect of similar problems delaying deliveries of his new jets.

He said Boeing is “pretty confident” it has planned for all the foreseeable contingencies.

Bair said his big worries are unforeseeable incidents: an accident involving one of the LCFs, or a broken drill bit that causes delays in key titanium pieces being milled in Portland, Ore.

“What if somebody’s autoclave blows up?” he asked.” Is it likely? No. Has something like that happened? Yes.

“It’s that kind of stuff that keeps you up. What do you do about it?” Bair said. “We’re at the point now where it’s an unknown surprise, where you may not be able to react to it. These planes are so complicated it just takes one part to stop it.”

Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.