The next question is what will happen to surrounding components and structure from the high temperature?
So why not then surround the box with a similar material to the Space Shuttle protective tiles? HUGE thermal capacity and they weigh practically nothing but should prevent heat transfer to surrounding components.
I too cannot see what this test flight can possibly hope to achieve - unless they replicate a runaway event to ensure that venting takes place as per design. If they just fly it and say "look - it didn't burn" that's not going to get me anywhere near a 787 anytime soon.
This whole thing is being driven by
PR. I bet 95% of the public probably have absolutely no idea of the events surrounding the grounding, the "fix" or the implications of a battery fire on board. The customer airlines are caught between a rock and and a hard place - they, in private, may be extremely unhappy with the "solution" but have to put on a public face of "business as usual" and we are fully confident in our product as they have already lost millions and the implications going forward are many times that.
If a 787 subsequently has a serious event after this fix is released.......
