Will The B787 Be Flight Certified In 9 Months?

[keesje]

Dennis O'Donoghue http://www.linkedin.com/pub/6/2a9/659is the guy in charge of 787 Flight testing, he reformed the test flight department to complete several programsat the same time. For reference Airbus hopes / plans to complete A350 flight testing in 15 months.

Interresting article on the Topic:
http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/02/09/story9.html?b=1234155600^1774368&page=1

Some info from the article:

• Richard Aboulafia thinks a new process for flight testing is another innovation Boeing can do without

• 787 will do flight testing side by side with the new 747-8, the P8-A Navy version and others
• The FAA isn't concerned how Boeing meets the certification requirements, just that it does so.
• O'Donoghue says 787 delays have given him valuable time to get ready for flight testing.
  

The article says many people doubt if the current scheduling is realistic. I think the chances of the program being completed in 9 months are slim. Mainly because it would be unprecedented & the program scheduling sofar proved more optimistic then realistic.

What do you think, anybody has ever done a flight test program?