A-350 Timeline

The sections of the first Dreamliners arrived lacking much of the wiring and systems that the company's major partners were supposed to install, and Boeing mechanics have been painstakingly hand-building these planes.

By Dominic Gates
Seattle Times aerospace reporter


Huh? Is that possible? I guess painstaking would be a good way to describe it.

Story From The Seattle Times Here
 
By Dominic Gates
Seattle Times aerospace reporter


Huh? Is that possible? I guess painstaking would be a good way to describe it.

Story From The Seattle Times Here

Yes it is true, Boeing has put pressure on its suppliers to meet delivery schedules with everything in place. However, the suppliers have not been able to do just that, so they have delivered sections to Boeing Everett without the critical infrastructure, and Boeing has had to install it. Suppliers have told Boeing they are unable to keep up with the expected 787 delivery schedule.
 
Justme & 700UW -- those are very good links -- thank you!

I forget the name of the actual book, but there is a non-fiction accounting which traces the 777 development and production.

Excellent read if you can get your hands on it .
 
Yes it is true, Boeing has put pressure on its suppliers to meet delivery schedules with everything in place. However, the suppliers have not been able to do just that, so they have delivered sections to Boeing Everett without the critical infrastructure, and Boeing has had to install it. Suppliers have told Boeing they are unable to keep up with the expected 787 delivery schedule.
OUTSOURCING! Isn't that great! Boeing bit off alot.
 
I recently took a tour of the Boeing plant. They showed us the 747 line (where the first 747-8 was almost complete. Then we were atop the 787 and 777 lines, which share one of the plants.

There were 4 787's lined up, with the one that was rolled out last year at the front and supposedly ready to begin test flights at the end of the year.

They gave us a little brochure with a pop-out that showed where every single section of the 787 was manufactured. Pretty amazing.
 
I forget the name of the actual book, but there is a non-fiction accounting which traces the 777 development and production.

Excellent read if you can get your hands on it .


FWIW,
The name of the book is "21st Century Jet - The Making of the 777" by Karl Sabbagh. PBS did a video series documentary on the same and it's great to watch how Boeing developed this great airplane.

Cheers,
Z B)
 
Never mind that it was designed starting in 1990 and delivered in 1995. Both those dates are in the 20th century, last I checked.... :)

It is a great plane, though. And at the time, a HUGE win for Boeing given the better economy, fuel costs and the need for a good long haul alternative to the 747.

Here's some trivia...did you know the 777 was initially planned to be a TRIjet? The idea was that it would be a replacement to the L1011 and DC10. It still became a common replacement to those models, but did it with 2 engines for a lot lower operating costs.
 
By Dominic Gates
Seattle Times aerospace reporter


Huh? Is that possible? I guess painstaking would be a good way to describe it.

Story From The Seattle Times Here


Painstaking all the way to the bank. Boeing just started contract negotiations with the sh**ty IAM last week. I'm betting on the best contract ever (nothing of the IAM's doing), considering the delays to the 787 already. The last thing Boeing needs is a strike to delay it even further. I wish I was in the IAM again.....wow did I really just type that?
 
Boeing 787 wing flaw extends inside plane

Excerpts Follow

The wing damage that grounded Boeing's new composite 787 Dreamliner occurred under less stress than previously reported — and is more extensive.

Estimates by the two engineers of the minimum time needed to fix the problem suggest the plane is now unlikely to fly until next year.

Until the new production timetable is announced, Wall Street analysts are unable to calculate the precise additional cost of this latest delay.

Analyst Joe Campbell, of Barclays Capital, this week downgraded Boeing's stock. He cited an increased risk that the company will book a large accounting loss this year to cover the extra expense of the repeated delays.

In a note to clients, Campbell estimated the total cost overrun of the Dreamliner program so far — extra startup and engineering costs, penalties owed to customers for delivery delays and contractual obligations to suppliers for engineering changes — as "in the vicinity of $11 billion."

Because 850 Dreamliners have already been ordered, Campbell still believes the jet can be "highly profitable" over two decades of full production.

But with that level of cost overrun, Campbell said, "Boeing is highly likely to lose large sums of money on the first 400 to 600 aircraft."

Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963 or [email protected]
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company

Ouch...

Click Here For Link To Seattle Times Article
 
Problems with cracks in the carbon fibre sections... delaminating... wiring not installed...

This is a lot of new technology being plugged in all at once. No surprise there are this many problems. More problems exist that are even larger.