Will The B787 Be Flight Certified In 9 Months?

[keesje]

Dennis O'Donoghue http://www.linkedin.com/pub/6/2a9/659is the guy in charge of 787 Flight testing, he reformed the test flight department to complete several programsat the same time. For reference Airbus hopes / plans to complete A350 flight testing in 15 months.

Interresting article on the Topic:
http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/02/09/story9.html?b=1234155600^1774368&page=1

Some info from the article:

• Richard Aboulafia thinks a new process for flight testing is another innovation Boeing can do without

• 787 will do flight testing side by side with the new 747-8, the P8-A Navy version and others
• The FAA isn't concerned how Boeing meets the certification requirements, just that it does so.
• O'Donoghue says 787 delays have given him valuable time to get ready for flight testing.
  

The article says many people doubt if the current scheduling is realistic. I think the chances of the program being completed in 9 months are slim. Mainly because it would be unprecedented & the program scheduling sofar proved more optimistic then realistic.

What do you think, anybody has ever done a flight test program?

[Pugilistic Animus]

Perhaps Mad(Flt)Scientist, could offer some insight to that query

[JimmyTAP]

I've been involved in many flight test programmes in the past albeit most without Boeing's resources. 9 months for a brand new type strikes me as being sporting at best. It only takes a small snag to delay things and the whole programme falls apart. A simple flight test incident, a result you don't understand, a dependency nobody spotted, all can lead to delays. I don't know how many test aircraft are involved in the programme but that itself brings problems with mod standards etc.
With the current delays, however, they may have been able to carry on with much of the essential preparation work.

They are obviously planning for success with no "fat" in the programme at all. Good luck to them - I think they'll need it.

[keesje]

JimmyTAP

Jimmy thanks, I think there will be 5 aircraft involved in the flight test program. They had a wrong fasteners problem and those are replaced aircraft by aircraft.



I think there is a lot of new technology combined in the 787, so unexpected dependencies as you note might come up.

It must be that the experienced Boeing flight test department has factored in those possible obstructions.

That would mean the nett required flight test program is significantly shorter then the 9 months mentioned..

[Kerosene Kraut]

I heard they didn't change all the fasteners. In order to save time they cleared them for the test campgaign. When the a/c are refitted for their airline customers the final fasteners will be installed.

[subsonic69]

fasteners

KK.. you are correct .. they were able to replace most of the fasteners, but not all.

Boeing released that they did not replace the fasteners on some areas which are hard to access only.

I do hope they finish the test flights and also the certifications. Im hoping to handle one of these in the future..