Mad dash to finish 787 gets trickier
05-17-2007, 08:41 AM
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Mad dash to finish 787 gets trickier
This is the latest news on the 787 and Boeing's herculean efforts to meet the 7/8/07 deadline. It will do anything to avoid looking like Airbus.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busine..._boeing17.html
The photo gallery has some interesting pictures of the Dreamlifter and its contents.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busine..._boeing17.html
The photo gallery has some interesting pictures of the Dreamlifter and its contents.
05-24-2007, 12:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Slaphappy
So basically the only thing American made on the 787 is the rudder and the cockpit?
05-24-2007, 01:58 PM
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Fastener shortage may put Boeing in a bind
Let's see if Boeing can meet the 7/8/07 deadline. I sure hope so.
From the Seattle PI, excerpted:
One of the smallest and cheapest parts on The Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner could become its Achilles' heel as the company considers production rates to meet growing demand.
The potential problem is a critical shortage of fasteners, which are used to hold airplane structures together. Tens of thousands are needed for each plane.
Fasteners for the 787, the world's first large commercial jetliner with a composite airframe, are a watch item that Boeing considers "high risk" as it studies production rates for the 787, said Scott Strode, who heads 787 production
......
Large sections of the 787 are manufactured by Boeing's partners in Japan, Italy and the United States and flown to the Everett plant for final assembly. But those composite structures for the first plane arrived with thousands of temporary fasteners instead of permanent fasteners.
......
Most of the fasteners that Boeing uses for its jetliners are produced by Alcoa in Southern California. In recent years, the fastener industry has consolidated, which means there are fewer makers of fasteners.
Also, those companies that do make fasteners cut production after the industry went into its worst downturn ever after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
......
In addition to more fasteners for new planes, replacement fasteners are often required when jets such as Boeing's 737 -- there are more 737s in operation around the world than any other jetliner -- are taken out of service for maintenance.
Complicating matters for Boeing, its requirements for 787 fasteners came toward the end of the program's detailed engineering design process. As a result, fastener makers got a late start in tooling up to make the unique fasteners required for the Dreamliner.
......
Working in Boeing's favor is the fact that far fewer fasteners are need for the 787 because of the new production method -- manufacturing large one-piece composite structures rather than making the fuselage and wings by fastening together many small pieces of aluminum.
The first 787 fuselage test barrel that Boeing made, for example, needed 40,000 to 50,000 fasteners. That was about 80 percent fewer than that 22-foot length of fuselage would have required had it been aluminum.
From the Seattle PI, excerpted:
One of the smallest and cheapest parts on The Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner could become its Achilles' heel as the company considers production rates to meet growing demand.
The potential problem is a critical shortage of fasteners, which are used to hold airplane structures together. Tens of thousands are needed for each plane.
Fasteners for the 787, the world's first large commercial jetliner with a composite airframe, are a watch item that Boeing considers "high risk" as it studies production rates for the 787, said Scott Strode, who heads 787 production
......
Large sections of the 787 are manufactured by Boeing's partners in Japan, Italy and the United States and flown to the Everett plant for final assembly. But those composite structures for the first plane arrived with thousands of temporary fasteners instead of permanent fasteners.
......
Most of the fasteners that Boeing uses for its jetliners are produced by Alcoa in Southern California. In recent years, the fastener industry has consolidated, which means there are fewer makers of fasteners.
Also, those companies that do make fasteners cut production after the industry went into its worst downturn ever after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
......
In addition to more fasteners for new planes, replacement fasteners are often required when jets such as Boeing's 737 -- there are more 737s in operation around the world than any other jetliner -- are taken out of service for maintenance.
Complicating matters for Boeing, its requirements for 787 fasteners came toward the end of the program's detailed engineering design process. As a result, fastener makers got a late start in tooling up to make the unique fasteners required for the Dreamliner.
......
Working in Boeing's favor is the fact that far fewer fasteners are need for the 787 because of the new production method -- manufacturing large one-piece composite structures rather than making the fuselage and wings by fastening together many small pieces of aluminum.
The first 787 fuselage test barrel that Boeing made, for example, needed 40,000 to 50,000 fasteners. That was about 80 percent fewer than that 22-foot length of fuselage would have required had it been aluminum.
05-24-2007, 04:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Seattle P.I.
Stabilizer defects. What may not have been expected or planned for was the arrival condition of the 787's horizontal stabilizer. This is the winglike structure on the tail. The 62-foot composite stabilizer is made by Alenia in Italy. It was the first of the large 787 structures to arrive at the Everett plant, on April 24.
The source personally inspected the stabilizer recently and said it was covered with pieces of blue tape, each piece indicating some kind of defect or area that needed attention.
These "workmanship" issues, as another Boeing person described them, can be fixed but it means more work. Boeing reportedly has talked with Alenia about its quality-control procedures to make sure the second stabilizer that arrives in Everett is in better shape.
The source personally inspected the stabilizer recently and said it was covered with pieces of blue tape, each piece indicating some kind of defect or area that needed attention.
These "workmanship" issues, as another Boeing person described them, can be fixed but it means more work. Boeing reportedly has talked with Alenia about its quality-control procedures to make sure the second stabilizer that arrives in Everett is in better shape.
And don't anybody go get butt hurt over that comment, I'm an Italian and know what we're like..
05-24-2007, 04:23 PM
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Well, Big Giovanni 
, I hope no Neapolitan works at Alenia. Did you hear about the 3000 tons (or something like that) of rotting garbage that the City of Naples cannot pick up? Some bags can be seen moving because of the rats in there scavenging, and residents are burning them causing more environmental hazards. Other garbage can be found floating along the Amalfi Coast towards Capri. It just breaks my heart to see what is happening to the birthplace of my Mastino.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18830866/site/newsweek/
Ok, sorry for the thread drift.
, I hope no Neapolitan works at Alenia. Did you hear about the 3000 tons (or something like that) of rotting garbage that the City of Naples cannot pick up? Some bags can be seen moving because of the rats in there scavenging, and residents are burning them causing more environmental hazards. Other garbage can be found floating along the Amalfi Coast towards Capri. It just breaks my heart to see what is happening to the birthplace of my Mastino. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18830866/site/newsweek/
Ok, sorry for the thread drift.
05-24-2007, 05:23 PM
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Hey there, Vagabond! Nice to yak with ya again!!
Yeah, I'll agree with you on the condition of the Amalfi Coast. It's really gotten deplorable. I was just visiting family in Calabria and Sicily a few months back and was really disgusted with what the place has turned into. Not to mention having to change trains in Naples, and almost having all my luggage stolen.
On a side note, if anyone is going to be traveling in Italy via rail, you'll probably be on Trenitalia. If you've got a Eurostar route going through where you have to go- take it! The InterCity and Treno Notte lines have little to no security on board, and are a hotbed for criminals looking to prey on unsuspecting tourists.
Yeah, I'll agree with you on the condition of the Amalfi Coast. It's really gotten deplorable. I was just visiting family in Calabria and Sicily a few months back and was really disgusted with what the place has turned into. Not to mention having to change trains in Naples, and almost having all my luggage stolen.
On a side note, if anyone is going to be traveling in Italy via rail, you'll probably be on Trenitalia. If you've got a Eurostar route going through where you have to go- take it! The InterCity and Treno Notte lines have little to no security on board, and are a hotbed for criminals looking to prey on unsuspecting tourists.
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