Late by 28 months but finally in the air! 15 December 2009 will no doubt be a memorable day for Boeing and the whole industry for that matter: the 787 has finally taken to the air, its maiden flight hopefully bringing an end to the series of problems the program had to contend with over the past two and half years.
Of course when you set out to follow a revolutionary path, problems are expected. The point is: how far are you able to foresee the problems and how quickly you can react to them, foreseen or not.
The 787 is nothing if not revolutionary and in more ways than one too. Its composite structures built as complete fuselage barrels (as opposed to the more traditional approach of the Airbus A350XWB which uses ribs and composite panels) is a huge challenge, something that has never been tried on this scale. Then the degree of outsourcing Boeing has elected to use is also unique (and asking for trouble if you listen to union leaders in Seattle).
But the inherent problems of an all new approach were compounded by others that could and should have been avoided. Both of these latter have added several months of program delays. The first event concerned the need to strengthen the wing box spars which apparently had too much material shaved off from them as part of a weight reduction exercise… The next hiccup came when it was discovered that the loads on the stringer caps which make the actually hard connection between sections on the side of the body were higher than expected. Flexing the wings resulted in small areas of the wing structure disbonding from the skin…
Of course, Boeing is not alone with this kind of issue. The Airbus A380 was already in its flight test program when the wing on the static test airframe ruptured during ultimate load testing… at 147 % of the 150 % required for certification. The 380 got fatter by 66 lb as a result.
Discovering that actual loads are not the same as predictions from advanced computer-based modeling said they would be is a problem way beyond the eventual weight penalty resulting from the need to beef things up.
Modern aircraft are built using such modeling techniques and in fact such techniques are the basis for introducing new materials and technologies. Without modeling, figuring out the behavior of new materials would take far too long and cost far too much. If however trust in the models on the part of the FAA or EASA evaporate, aircraft makers are in trouble since certification of their products becomes next to impossible.
Assembling the 787 is also breaking new ground… quite literally. A new plant is being built in Charleston, South Carolina which will house the second 787 assembly line. Why SC? Because it is a right-to-work State… Seattle has always been home to Boeing but apparently the unions have pushed things just a notch too far. Boeing management has had enough of strikes and the disruption they bring. The message is clear…
All big aircraft programs have had their problems but in the end, they all delivered magnificent, safe aircraft that served the industry well. The 787 may have had a bit more than its fair share but there is no reason to believe that it will not deliver the same exemplary performance we have come to expect from a Boeing product. We should always see problems as opportunities to learn lessons from and hence improve things for the future.
Welcome 787 to the blue skies of the world!
