787 first flight
 

After the PR er,................hiccup at Paris when it was announced that the 787 was on course for a first flight before the end of June - followed promptly by news that it wasn't - has anyone seen any follow-up news at all?

Its all gone incredibly quiet. I used to work for one of the sub-contractors until recently and not even my ex colleagues seem to have any idea what is happening or when a re-scheduled first flight may be.

No new FF schedule has been released yet.

Our local press is saying the delay is between 4 to 6 months.

Nightmare continues for Boeing Dreamliner | The Australian

Remember the A3lately nick they gave to the QF A380. Maybe they should name the B787 7late7.:)

In Asian culture, the number 8 is considered lucky and auspicious. Seems otherwise for the commercial aviation world. E.g: A380, B787, B748

Nice one Leewan!

7late7
 

Or indeed, in "SMS spelling" : 7L87

On a serious note, I think it would be another 1 to 1.5 years before the a/c takes its first revenue flight. Boeing should have seen it coming. The new age technology incorporated in this a/c has never been tested in a commercial a/c environment and must have been given some time to mature.
The first set of delays were due to production issues. The current set of delays are due to technical issues. Once the plane starts flying, issues will crop up. That will take time to fix and lengthen the delay. Not to mention will further add onto the overweight a/c and put the a/cs fuel burn and range further away from its brochure specs. Which might to lead further cancellations and compensations.
And finally, once it goes into revenue service there will be another set of latent problems rearing their ugly head which then will have to be addressed and fixed.
This is gonna be a bigger pain in the a$$ for Boeing than A380 was for Airbus.

Still think it should be called "the plastic pig"!

Anyone know why 737s were called a pig?

The B737s that I flew were called Fat Alberts and sometimes 'Fluf', meaning 'fat little ugly ..........'

I think it's because the early 737s fuselage length was shorter than it's wingspan giving it a short piggy look. :)

Boeing must be kicking themselves, I reckon if they had gone for a part composite aircraft that had the major structural parts of the airframe made from conventional metals they would have sold just as many and had far fewer problems.

I always thought that the 737 got its nickname in the miners strike when Orion B737s were chartered to fly police around the country to counter pickets targeting different pits each day.

From The Seattle Times

This is a pig:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...arsity1967.jpg
. . and not a composite in sight - perhaps a little Bakelite :)

. . and, now, the Pig Competition Winner!

I see at least two pigs in the picture Basil!

FW
:}

Not looking too good for Boeing.

When they designed this aircraft on the piece of paper it couldnt fly -
but when they CG'd the idea it suddenly took flight as a simulation -
they then sold the idea to airlines and gained impressive orders -
unfortunately reality has reared its ugly head again and only by
spending tens of millions of dollars on a fix will it ever be near to
flight.Problems in the flight test programme will undoubtedly happen -
fixes need to be done....time ticks......compensation claims mount -
This could be the End of Boeing.
I think that we are seeing the deathrows of this aircraft in its current
form and more conventional manufacturing techniques might need to be employed just to get it into service - which means all performance
targets will be out the window.

Ive not even mentioned the threat of lightening on the airframe
burning the composite up!!

MM

The Ford Anglia on the left of the picture was faster than the Varsity :E

The large order book for this a/c has numerous small airlines signed up because of its very cheap projected operating costs. Repairing or maintaining a new product like this now the truth is filtering out is likely to be beyond the capabilities of such companies. I predict a mass cancelation of orders unless the problems are sorted soon.

Avman

You noticed the 'go faster' stripe as well !!

MM