For three hours and six minutes, the Boeing Co.’s 787 wiped away two years of frustration surrounding the Dreamliner program as the jet flew over Western Washington on Dec. 16.
Thousands of people — Boeing workers, Snohomish County residents and aviation spectators — braved the chilly temperatures Tuesday morning to watch the 787 take off on its maiden flight from Everett’s Paine Field.
Hundreds more stood in a downpour in Seattle to see the first airplane made from mostly composite material land smoothly. As a tug pulled the Dreamliner to a stop in front of a cheering crowd, 787 chief pilot Mike Carriker waved and hoisted both arms in the air in triumph.
“I guess it felt like we flew into the future of the Boeing Co.,” Carriker told the crowds, moments later.
Boeing’s fuel-efficient 787 Dreamliner has become the symbol of how the company envisions air travel as well as the key to how future aircraft are made. The midsized, lightweight jet made with a sophisticated form of plastic promises more direct and more comfortable trips for passengers.
But Boeing’s dream has been delayed as the company struggled to get a grasp on a new production model — one that uses carbon-fiber composite parts and a global supply chain. The setbacks have been particularly hard here in Snohomish County, where many aerospace suppliers and thousands of Boeing workers depend on a thriving Boeing Co.
“Finally, finally, finally,” state Sen. Paul Shin, D-Edmonds, said of the maiden voyage. “I am excited about this accomplishment. It has been long overdue but better late than never. This is the best airplane maker in the world.”
On Tuesday, Boeing executives and union officials, company workers and Washington politicians collectively marveled over the Dreamliner. For a few hours they set aside their frustration over 787 delays and dismay over the company’s recent selection of Charleston, S.C., over Everett as the site for a second assembly line.
“Our team has taken years to make this day a reality,” said Scott Fancher, vice-president of the 787 program. “The 787 Dreamliner represents innovation at its best.”
Although much remains for the Dreamliner team to accomplish before they deliver the first 787 to All Nippon Airways next year, the jet’s first flight removes a little pressure from Boeing leaders.
“We’re feeling really, really good,” said Pat Shanahan, vice-president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, after the flight.
Fancher thinks sales of the 787, which have suffered during the recession and the delays, could see a boost as the Dreamliner speeds toward first delivery in late 2010. “Everybody is going to want to have one,” he said.
The moment took nearly 2½ years longer to reach than the Boeing Co. had planned. But the aerospace giant doesn’t have long to savor the first flight of the its 787 Dreamliner. There’s too much work to do.
Boeing’s goal for its carbon fiber composite airplane lies not in the first flight, nor even with the first 787 delivery to Japan’s All Nippon Airways in late 2010.
Ultimately, Boeing wants to ramp up production of its Dreamliner, which is made in sections by the company’s global partners. Many obstacles stand between Boeing and its ultimate plan of producing 10 787s monthly. The first of those is the flight test program, which began with the Dreamliner’s first flight.
While getting the 787 in the air is an achievement, investors will be waiting for Boeing’s projections for 2010 and beyond to determine whether the 787’s early flights are successful. Boeing has held off on giving estimates for 2010 performance until seeing the 787 fly. If Boeing calls for increased funding for research and development for the 787, that could indicate the jet didn’t perform as well as expected.
Although Boeing has added a buffer to its original flight test schedule, the 787’s flight program remains fast-paced. The company, which will use six Dreamliner jets for flight testing, needs to run a round-the-clock program to meet its deadline. As soon as airplanes have finished flying for the day, Boeing ground crews will perform maintenance and then prepare the planes for the next day’s tests.
Boeing employs about 1,000 people — 600 engineers, 400 mechanics — in its flight test operations group, said Barbara Cosgrove, vice president of flight test operations, at a media briefing in April. And Boeing will use dozens of test pilots in its commercial airplanes division as needed to keep the program going.
Boeing engineers already have been “testing” the 787’s responses to various flight scenarios through simulation and analysis. “We have lots and lots of experience in predicting how the aircraft will respond,” Cosgrove said.
Boeing will need to put its flight-test jets through extremes, including very high and low temperatures, strong crosswinds and engine failures. The rigorous testing will help demonstrate that the 787 responds the way Boeing has said it would and is safe for operation.
The company has been working with the Federal Aviation Administration since 2003 on ways to show that its new Dreamliner meets federal requirements, 787 chief engineer Mike Delaney said in April. The company already has handed over more than 60 percent of the documentation required to the FAA.
After the FAA signs off on the 787, Boeing will deliver the first of 840 Dreamliners on order to All Nippon Airways in the fourth quarter of 2010. Even then, though, Boeing will still be working to implement its production schedule.
In October, Boeing announced it would locate a second 787 final assembly line in Charleston, S.C. This month, Boeing officials confirmed that the company also plans to duplicate in South Carolina the 787 assemblies produced in Everett. The company aims to have the South Carolina site open in mid-2011, reaching 10 jets per month — 3 in Charleston, 7 in Everett — by 2013.
It’s not just the final assembly sites in Everett and Charleston that will need to ramp up. Boeing relies on partners around the world to supply large assemblies of the Dreamliner. Some partners struggled to produce quality parts on time. Others have shouldered unexpected financial burdens caused by 787 delays.
With first flight, Boeing has lifted, at least temporarily, some of the intense scrutiny of the 787. But the clock already is clicking off the minutes until the jet’s next major milestone.
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