Is the Plastic Plane ever going to fly?

[sirwa69]

I spotted the Boeing 787 on the ground during a visit to Everett in August, they have a exhibition there called the Future of Flight which is basically all about their super new plane the 787.
However it hasn't even flown yet it is well over 2 years late, Boeing have bet the farm on it and now having installed a fix to stop the wings falling off they have discovered another problem.
The worrying thing is this is a stress problem in a plane which has not even been put under any stress yet

The Wall Street Journal Says Trouble Still Brewing At Boeing (BA) | Benzinga.com

They think it's all over.....it is now

[Clandestino]

Originally Posted by Wall street journal

The damage is technically known as delamination, or cracking.

Now that delaminated me up.

[cribble]

Call me a Luddite, possums, but you will have to lassoo my Zimmerframe to get me on that jet if ever it flies, and I'm a committed Boeing man.

[Early Right]

They(Boeing) should have made more fuss in the media when Airbus was trying to get the 380 in the air

[racedo]

They(Boeing) should have made more fuss in the media when Airbus was trying to get the 380 in the air

Its not the media they were making the fuss with its the Aircraft buyers they were making the off the record comments with.

Airbus are no doubt doing the same with the same people re the 787, its not personal its business.

[HeathrowAirport]

What would exactly happen to boeing if they had to cancel the 787 programme? Please don't see this as a stupid question but one rather of what would happen to a huge aircraft corp if it were to cancel a project that already has many customers involved?

[Pugilistic Animus]

They wont cancel nothing; they'll fix it--- too competive for that---they'll probably continue with ground load testing while structural/material folks do figure out the cause--it's a tough plane to certify--- too many New Ideas---literally

[stepwilk]

"They wont cancel nothing they'll fix it too competive for that."

And General Motors is too big to fail. Right.

[Pugilistic Animus]

autos are little, poorly-built, cheap and meant for muppetts

PA

[airlinersinflight]

Good things come to those who wait. The delamination problem is not a project scrapper. If all else fails, they can revert to conventional technology, but I have a feeling the engineers for the same company that designed and built the 777 (the first Fly-By-Wire commercial aircraft and the first completely computer-designed airliner) will be able to find a sound solution to this problem.

[Ridge Runner]

Remember that other significant aircraft have had long drawn out entry programmes and went on to be very successful. Take McDD and the MD-11, for example. An ex-McDD colleague of mine told me that they had huge issues. The difference with this aircraft is that the Boeing boys trumpeted so much c**p about the Airbus products and the virtues of the still-to-be-proved Boeing product that it is very high profile now. Couple that with all the new technology that also makes it newsworthy and it would always have been a subject for much newsmongering and scandal.

As much as it pains me the 7late7 will take to the air, it will be delivered in large numbers and will fill our skies for years to come. Have no doubt. There is, however, plenty of space still for others too.

RR

[Groundloop]

long drawn out entry programmes and went on to be very successful. Take McDD and the MD-11, for example.

Excuse me, the MD-11 was successul! It NEVER met its performance guarantees resulting in order cancellations. The MD-11 bankrupted MDD and led to their takeover by Boeing.

[Taildragger67]

I'm with Cribble.

I don't plan on getting on one of these contraptions until well into the production run so that the problems have been sorted.

The accountants defined this aircraft, rather than the engineers. When the tool-carriers have made it good, then it might be worth having a look. The longer this goes on, the more nervous I get about the whole thing.

As the saying goes - 'never fly the 'A' model of anything'...

airlinersinflight,

Wasn't the A320 "the first Fly-By-Wire commercial aircraft"?

[leewan]

Take McDD and the MD-11, for example. An ex-McDD colleague of mine told me that they had huge issues.

The had and are still having huge issues. Remember the spate of crashes and "near crashes" with MD 11 and the complain of control problems in other threads. That's the reason why they are relegated as cargo carriers. And I don't see how the MD11 can qualify as a successful a/c.

Wasn't the A320 "the first Fly-By-Wire commercial aircraft"?

Think you're right about that !

Now back to topic. Boeing have come way too far to scrap this program. They would do whatever it takes to get this thing off the ground. The real question here is not whether it can fly but whether it can pass the performance guarantees Boeing gave to the airlines when they signed on the dotted line.

[Ridge Runner]

You are right Leewan, of course. I differ with Groundloop, the MD-11 had big entry into services issues.

On the plastic plane, the telling factor will be the customer reaction. I hear now that a number are choosing other options.

RR

[Groundloop]

You are right Leewan, of course. I differ with Groundloop, the MD-11 had big entry into services issues.

I am not sure what you are saying now. You said the MD-11 was successful, I was questioning your comment - hence the exclamation mark (maybe I should have used a ? instead). The MD-11 was never successful. Singapore cancelled their order as it could not operate the routes they had ordered it for. MDD had to PAY Delta to fly it because of its performance shortfalls ie MDD paid Delta the difference between what they had promised it could do and what it could actually do - on every sector!

[Ridge Runner]

No problem Groundloop. You are right, it wasn't successful - not meeting its perf targets... so maybe, just maybe, this is again starting to sound familiar with the plastic machine? Time will tell. Certainly some major customers are having doubts. RR