Mar

Boeing announces another delay to the 787 Dreamliner

Posted by admin Published in Transportation Alternatives

Sources are reporting that Boeing will announce another delay for completion of its 787 Dreamliner. The problem that duration is a design flaw with the plane’s center wing box, which is where its wings are attached to the fuselage. The good folks at flightblogger explain that that flaw is a conclusion of Boeing’s efforts to reduce the 787’s weight:

During the initial development phase of the center wing box, the
structural spars were designed to the appropriate width to support the
mandatory structural loads.

The original design for the center wing box was changed when the
weight of the Dreamliner began to increase. The structural spars, which
are made of composite, were reduced in width as a weight saving degree.

Boeing and Fuji Heavy Industries manufactured composite tryout pieces
to demonstrate the structural capabilities of the spars. Findings
indicated that the composite spars were buckling prematurely compared
to metal spars of the same width.

Industry sources believe that the first Dreamliner is now likely to
be delivered in the

moment half of 2009, six months behind the Boeing’s
latest target and nearly a year later than the original scheduled delivery. Boeing has booked by 700 orders for the 240-seat plane, making it one of the most successful commercial airliner launches in history.

If it seems like deja vu all by again, it is. Airbus’ double decker A380, which went into commercial service that past October, was plagued with production delays of it’s own, the first plane being delivered by a year late. Airbus’ parent admitted that the delays would end up costing the company billions of dollars.

Despite being the fiercest of rivals, Boeing didn’t take even one public dig at Airbus when they announced the A380 delays.
perhaps they figured that at some point they might have some naughty news of their own.

Source: Reuters. Photo: Boeing