787 under pressure with first flight delays

By the time of the 787’s rollout first flight was already in danger of slipping from August into September. Then later in July Boeing acknowledged that first flight was likely by late September, but may slip into early October, but now with a November or even December first flight date, the company faces commercial aviation’s most ambitious flight test and certification program.

For now Boeing says it is confident it can deliver the first customer aircraft, to Japan’s ANA, next May, but almost all the fat built into the flight test schedule to deal with contingencies will have been eaten away.

“The real issue is if we have some discovery in flight test,” said Mike Bair, Boeing’s 787 program vice president.

“We’re rapidly running out of time to be able to deal with anything big. ” To achieve the May delivery date Boeing will undertake an intensive flight test program involving six aircraft and no fewer than 34 pilots flying far more frequently that in previous flight test programs. Each aircraft will fly around 120 flight test hours per month, 40 to 50 hours a month more than 777 flight test aircraft.

“We’re essentially going to be running an airline, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Bair said.

It is the unknown unknowns that would be of most concern to 787 launch customers, including Australia’s Jetstar, scheduled to receive their aircraft next year. If issues are found with the 787’s new technologies such as its bleed-less engines and extensive use of composites, the May delivery date next year will look increasingly ambitious.

Soon after the 787’s rollout the aircraft was partially disassembled as it was little more than a shell lacking many systems (such as the flightdeck), and fitted with something like 1000 temporary fasteners due to a worldwide shortage of aviation fasteners. The fastener issue and ‘travelled’ work that would normally be undertaken by Boeing’s partners before the major subassemblies were shipped to Everett for final assembly, but on aircraft one had to be undertaken by Boeing out of sequence, were known issues at the time of the rollout that have contributed to first flight delays. But production documentation issues and development problems with the aircraft’s Honeywell developed avionics and flight control software have since contributed to the delays.

According to Bair Honeywell and Boeing underestimated the effort required to complete writing the 787’s UPDATEby Gerard Frawley flight control software laws.

“It’s not a technical issue,” he said. “It’s basic coding of flight control laws that we ironed out from the 777. ” This has come on top of the fastener and ‘travelled’ work issue.

“The way the number one airplane went together with temporary fasteners . . . kind of jumbled up the way the airplane got put together,” Bair said. “They (program partners Vought, Alenia Aeronautica, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Fuji Heavy Industries) didn’t know what fasteners they were going to have basically until they showed up and they were able to put them in.

So, it’s kind of been hand-tomouth for them. ” This in turn led to documentation issues. “The documentation of work completed didn’t match with what has been shipped,” explained Bair.

“It’s taken some extra time. ” Regardless of the production problems facing aircraft one, Boeing is adamant these will not apply as production ramps up and reaches maturity.

“What we are dealing with on airplane one is absolutely not indicative of what their capability is or how the rest of the airplanes are going to come in,” said Bair. “I have got great confidence that this is an anomaly with putting the first airplane together. ” “This production system will be really robust when it’s working the way it’s supposed to, meaning, when all the parts are being put in where they are supposed to be put in. ” Following a recently finalised order from Aeroflot for 22 787-8s, 787 firm orders now stand at 706 from 48 customers. o