Boeing 787

[Pittsextra]

Electrical issues cropped up in flight test back in 2010.

Boeing Resumes 787 Flight Testing - Dec 23, 2010 (http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1571)

To what extent do you think they correlate to the issues that cropped up in the production aircraft and to what extent do commercial considerations help or hinder modern flight testing?

[Momoe]

This is the electric plane.

There are more ancillaries dependent on electricity than any comparable aircraft, (by a long way); It's hardly surprising that it's had it's fair share of electrical issues.

Battery and foreign objects inside distribution boards aside, how many electrical issues has the plane had? Significantly more than any other new build?
So to answer your first question, no, I don't think there's much correlation between the flight testing issues and the current issues.

Boeing made some brave choices, battery is just one of them. Jury is still out on the battery but the plane is quiet, economical and pax friendly, not sure what you mean by commercial considerations?

As a medium/large wide-body aircraft, it has to meet or exceed a multitude of criteria to be qualify as an ETOPS 180? passenger aircraft, potential carriers will quickly raise any salient issues followed by the insurance companies.
Is the implication that cost considerations are impacting on flight testing?

[Pittsextra]

Actually thanks for the post if I'm honest it forces me to think more about the question I was asking. That's a good thing. I think my post was a little lazy. Yes the test fire not the same as recent events but none the less they involve electricity and fire which might be reasonably unremarkable but still you'd expect a focus given the innovation of the project.

In fact Boeing recognise as much here (http://787updates.newairplane.com/787-Electrical-Systems/787-Electrical-System)

When I spoke about commercial considerations I had in mind the fact that the 787 test program was halted because of electrical fire (which you mention) and the fact as you yourself say it is more dependant on electrical systems than any other comparable type. So no doubt this was an area of focus and at the same time a voyage of discovery, but at what point do things shift from a test environment to production?

I don't want that to sound a loaded question because knowing engineers can always find a reason to improve and tweek things, so there is always a commercial reality to these things but I struggle to believe that there was nothing left on the list of "nice to do" with the 787 in this area.

You have a new aircraft with an electrical emphasis that suffered electric fires in flight test. Grounded in production for further electrical fires and then has another fire that seems to be electrical related. (or at least the fire department haven't found some cigarette end lodged somewhere etc).

If we are saying everything on the list was done to death could we say the list was therefore incomplete?

Since the above the AAIB have a special bulletin which confirms the ELT is of focus. It would be a huge co-incidence wouldn't it if the only failure of this type in 6000 units was in a 787!?