Bernie P
5th June 2008, 06:33 PM
Did a search on "Dreamtime" and no results, so here goes... If already posted under another title, please delete!
Appears to have gone a bit un-noticed!
RESIDENTS of Australia's red centre may see Boeing's new fuel-efficient 787 Dreamliner in action before much of the rest of the world.
Boeing is looking at Alice Springs as a possible site for its flight-testing program.
While a final decision has yet to the made, 787 program chief Pat Shanahan said yesterday that Alice Springs was being considered for tests of the new airliner's ability to cope with hot weather.
It would be part of a wider flight-test program involving six aircraft and scheduled to get under way from the fourth quarter of this year.
Other flight-test locations include Roswell in New Mexico, Bolivia, Iceland and Alaska.
Mr Shanahan said the flight tests, particularly those involving the crucial first aircraft, would allow Boeing to understand the structural and aerodynamic behaviour of the aircraft.
He said Boeing was hoping that the flight tests would result in minimal changes, though he cautioned that it could also throw up "potential discoveries".
"If we've got a good airplane it will fly well; if we have a crop duster we'll discover it," he said.
Mr Shanahan's comments came as Boeing allowed media to see for the first time the 787 production line at its giant factory at Everett, near Seattle.
The ambitious program to build the world's first mostly composite aircraft is at least 15 months late because of problems with the manufacturer's global supply network.
Boeing is now due to deliver its first aircraft to All Nippon Airways in the third quarter of next year, and the company plans to build just 25 aircraft next year, significantly down from the 109 originally planned by the end of 2009.
Qantas is the world's biggest customer for the new plane and has 65 firm orders for a combination of 250-seat 787-8s and bigger 787-9s.
It has made the 787 a major plank of its future strategy and was supposed to get the first plane in August.
The delays mean it will not receive its first plane until late next year and 787-9s will not arrive until 2012 -- changes that are expected to result in the airline receiving several hundred million dollars in compensation from Boeing.
Mr Shanahan confirmed that the US aerospace giant was looking at ways to ramp up production, which could cut down delays for some customers, but said this was unlikely to help Air New Zealand and Qantas get their 787-9s before 2012.
"We built the schedule back in April and that's the schedule that we're working to," he said.
Asked when the company expected production to catch up, he said Boeing was running studies on lifting production rates, but this was still probably four or five years away and decisions did not have to be made "this weekend".
He also said he hoped to lock in a configuration for the still-bigger 787-10, demanded by Qantas and Emirates, about a year from now. "We're still studying the market."
Overall, he believed the program was in a much better condition than it was six months ago and would be in better condition still in three months.
"We've put together a production system and the people in Everett are determined and have the will to get the job done," he said.
The program reaches a major milestone next month when power will be connected to systems on the first aircraft. Mr Shanahan said this was when the 787 became an aircraft and not just a collection of wires and structures.
"I don't expect any surprises," he said. "I feel really good about this commitment in our progress."
Source "The Australian (Business) (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23732416-23349,00.html)" of all places!
Appears to have gone a bit un-noticed!
RESIDENTS of Australia's red centre may see Boeing's new fuel-efficient 787 Dreamliner in action before much of the rest of the world.
Boeing is looking at Alice Springs as a possible site for its flight-testing program.
While a final decision has yet to the made, 787 program chief Pat Shanahan said yesterday that Alice Springs was being considered for tests of the new airliner's ability to cope with hot weather.
It would be part of a wider flight-test program involving six aircraft and scheduled to get under way from the fourth quarter of this year.
Other flight-test locations include Roswell in New Mexico, Bolivia, Iceland and Alaska.
Mr Shanahan said the flight tests, particularly those involving the crucial first aircraft, would allow Boeing to understand the structural and aerodynamic behaviour of the aircraft.
He said Boeing was hoping that the flight tests would result in minimal changes, though he cautioned that it could also throw up "potential discoveries".
"If we've got a good airplane it will fly well; if we have a crop duster we'll discover it," he said.
Mr Shanahan's comments came as Boeing allowed media to see for the first time the 787 production line at its giant factory at Everett, near Seattle.
The ambitious program to build the world's first mostly composite aircraft is at least 15 months late because of problems with the manufacturer's global supply network.
Boeing is now due to deliver its first aircraft to All Nippon Airways in the third quarter of next year, and the company plans to build just 25 aircraft next year, significantly down from the 109 originally planned by the end of 2009.
Qantas is the world's biggest customer for the new plane and has 65 firm orders for a combination of 250-seat 787-8s and bigger 787-9s.
It has made the 787 a major plank of its future strategy and was supposed to get the first plane in August.
The delays mean it will not receive its first plane until late next year and 787-9s will not arrive until 2012 -- changes that are expected to result in the airline receiving several hundred million dollars in compensation from Boeing.
Mr Shanahan confirmed that the US aerospace giant was looking at ways to ramp up production, which could cut down delays for some customers, but said this was unlikely to help Air New Zealand and Qantas get their 787-9s before 2012.
"We built the schedule back in April and that's the schedule that we're working to," he said.
Asked when the company expected production to catch up, he said Boeing was running studies on lifting production rates, but this was still probably four or five years away and decisions did not have to be made "this weekend".
He also said he hoped to lock in a configuration for the still-bigger 787-10, demanded by Qantas and Emirates, about a year from now. "We're still studying the market."
Overall, he believed the program was in a much better condition than it was six months ago and would be in better condition still in three months.
"We've put together a production system and the people in Everett are determined and have the will to get the job done," he said.
The program reaches a major milestone next month when power will be connected to systems on the first aircraft. Mr Shanahan said this was when the 787 became an aircraft and not just a collection of wires and structures.
"I don't expect any surprises," he said. "I feel really good about this commitment in our progress."
Source "The Australian (Business) (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23732416-23349,00.html)" of all places!