Dreamliner prospects
 

According to AvWeb Boeing have to deliver 1,000 Dreamliner 787s before they break even and according to their report of Boeing's expectations they will do that by 2015. Their first aircraft is due, finally, to be delivered Sept. this year.

At that rate they will be delivering 250 per year, or five a week. Delivering a plane a day would be quite a feat for something so complex.

We did the tour of the Everett assembly hangar a few years ago and I was amazed how few people there were working in it, though I did see several machines doing things like riveting and grinding the rivets on wings pretty well unattended. I just can't imagine how they are going to deliver one a day every work day for the next four years!

How do you feel about flying in a plastic plane built from a half million budget parts?

Not worried at all. Except survivability in a post crash, or jetway/ramp fire.

I'm more worried about the outsourced engineering.....

Prospects are, after the considerable delays and inconvenience to many airlines, it had better do what is says on the tin (or should I say plastic container) otherwise pretty dire.

Was I Dreaming?
 

Do my tired old eyes deceive me - or did I see the 787 Dreamliner parked in the middle of Shannon Airport last night?

You certainly did!