Seattle PI might might have an agenda, however Flight Internationals' Flightblogger article below is particularly revealing -
Boeing engineers previously changed the centre wing box design to save weight by thinning out the density of the spars.
However, Flightblogger reports, that move backfired after the company learned the redesign could trigger premature buckling of the load-bearing spars.
Asked for comment, Boeing did not deny the decision to redesign the centre wing box.
- What!? a center wing box primary structure that can't carry compression loads up to ultimate load. that's a howler of major proportions for any designer, but then if you lift the technology from a military program (v22), you're bound to have problems...maybe they're preoccupied with the tanker deal.
Blaming the sub contractors doesn't work either, as they're risk sharing partners, but Boeing has the design authority (and it's one of their intellectual property rights)
And from Leeham news and comment (not always reliable):
Boeing has confirmed there are wiring redesigns occurring - That's just comical.
Scuttlebutt is is 787 n°1 is a going to be used as an expensive ornament parked up out of sight and embarrassments way, n°'s 2 & 3, for the structure certification testing and the first pre- production example getting off the ground will be n°4...then there's the 1000's of hours of certification testing to complete.
Udvar-Hazy has alluded to problems upstream that the disingenuous mutterings from boeing don't cover