Boeing 787 (partie 1)

Explanation and clarification on ZA002's landing gear

As you may have noticed, ZA002 touched down at Boeing Field with its landing gears doors open instead of stowed as we saw on ZA001 last Tuesday. The reason for the open position at the time of landing had to do with the resolution Neville and Carriker used to fully straighten a component of the nose landing gear.
The Seattle Times has reported that "Part of the gear assembly "was tilted to the aft by 15 degrees."

Specifically the part in question was the nose landing gear drag brace that, according to an airline pilot who holds type ratings on both the 757 and 767 and flies for a major US carrier, a drag brace "braces the airplane [landing gear] gear when a rearward load placed on the gear. This will help prevent gear collapse under higher than normal load situations."

Boeing says the telemetry room, or TM, noticed a conflict in the readings on the nose landing gear and asked for a visual inspection by the T-33 chase plane.

The chase plane reported that the nose landing gear drag brace was "not completely straight," adding "there's about a 15 degree angle to it."

Neville cycled the landing gear doors and later the landing gear a few times to try and properly align the drag brace.

The crew ultimately selected the Alternate Gear extension option which unlocked the nose and main landing gear doors, dropping the landing gear into position, resolving the issue, and explains why we saw the doors open on arrival. Additionally, the use of the ALTN GEAR option ensured that any potentially unresolved issue with the nose gear would not be an issue on touchdown.
It's quite common to see a 777 making an approach to KPAE after a production test flight with the landing gear doors open, such a condition is a common occurrence during a test flight and even more common during the first flight of a new aircraft. Ultimately, while this minor issue was encountered, the redundancy in the landing gear system was tested successfully in flight.

Naturally, the gear was inspected after landing and the system will obviously be tested once again when ZA002 flies again. One anomaly on a first flight is hardly indicative of a larger issue. If this same problem is found in the other test aircraft, then that would be something requiring a larger change, but there's absolutely no evidence to support that after just five hours and six minutes of flying the 787.

787 flight test update Posted by Guy Norris at 1/6/2010 1:15 AM CST

Boeing’s 787 has passed the 24 flight hour milestone, all but two hours of which have been amassed by the first aircraft, ZA001 which is currently conducting initial airworthiness testing. The increased test tempo included two flights on Jan 5, each lasting around two hours and forty minutes, which included a ground stop at Moses Lake in Eastern Washington.




ZA001 conducts airworthiness tests overhead a solid cloud deck (Boeing)

The second aircraft, ZA002, is meanwhile undergoing post-flight checks after its initial two hour flight on Dec 22, and towards the end of this week is set to have several key systems and sensors re-calibrated before the aircraft rejoins the test program. These include checks of the angle-of-attack (AoA) sensor vane, and the array of inertial measurement units (IMUs) arranged for calculating the amount of twist running through the wing structure at various points in the flight envelope.

The aircraft’s horizontal stabilizer center section, the heart of the moving tail assembly, is also being calibrated. This was also performed on ZA001, along with AoA check work, on the Thursday and Friday following the 787’s first flight on Dec 15. Testing on ZA002 is also scheduled to include calibration of the pilot inputs, or ‘sweeps’ into the flight control surfaces, as well as checks of the Common Core System, and communications and air data systems.

Initial airworthiness tests using ZA001 are set to continue today (Jan 6), weather and aircraft availability permitting. Boeing is not commenting on the status of flight tests, and apart from a series of planned updates, will not confirm that the current airworthiness series is underway. However, data from the flight tracking site, Flightaware.com, shows activity consistent with the steady, relatively sedate flying required for initial airworthiness tests. A typical flight profile for this phase of testing includes:

• initial climb to 15,000-ft for control sweeps with gear down and flaps at 5, 15 and 25 degrees.
  
• Descend to 10,000-ft for control sweeps with flaps and gear up at various speeds between 200 and 250-kts.
  
• Climb to 30,000-ft for sweeps with flaps and gear up at 0.60 and 0.65 Mach.
  
• Roll and yaw evaluation at 15,000-ft
  
• Stall protection system tests at around 20,000-ft.
  
• Descend for a series of approach and landings, including at least one touch and go, and one approach and take-off with simulated engine out.
  

Top speeds remain relatively modest for this phase until the start of flutter tests at altitude which are most likely to get underway later this month. I plan to continue providing flight test updates when, and if, more details emerge and will cover developments as ZA002 and the remaining four test aircraft join the program in coming weeks and months.

Admin a écrit:Bonjour Elmer !

N'est ce pas la mort officielle de cette version ?

Bonne journée

Dreamliner production challenges lie ahead

While the most visible part of the 787 programme is centred on the start of flight-testing the largely composite twin-engined jetliner, Boeing continues to evolve the Dreamliner's production system while tackling the challenges that lie ahead for the base of global suppliers.

Concurrent flight-testing and production are not new to modern aircraft production, yet the impact of design changes discovered during flight-testing can reverberate back through the already built aircraft and those in process.

"I'm incredibly interested in the flying of the airplane. What's relevant to us is the pull signals [from Boeing] and the changes that come back around from flight test," said Jeff Turner, chief executive of Spirit AeroSystems on 3 December at the Credit Suisse First Boston Aerospace & Defense conference.

FORWARD FUSELAGE

Spirit is responsible for fabrication and integration of the forward fuselage of the 787, which includes the flightdeck, as well as the pylons and the fixed and movable leading edges of the wings.

Turner is cautious about the prospect of widespread design changes emerging from flight-testing as Boeing learns more about the capabilities of the aircraft. Even before the first aircraft took to the skies on 15 December, incorporating those changes has been an enormous challenge for Boeing's dispersed supply chain, which as the programme has progressed has agonised over when and where those design changes should make their way into aircraft.


Jon Ostrower/Flightglobal


Negotiations over change incorporation has resulted in fully completed sections of the aircraft being shipped to Everett, only to see significant portions of the work later removed and updated at final assembly slowing the flow of the line.

Beyond answering "where and when" the design changes are incorporated, the question of responsibility for paying for the associated design work and incorporation has been anything but uniform during the 787 programme's two years of amassed delays.

Retrofits to aircraft as a result of certification or flight test "is not a novel idea to the industry", says Turner, weary of the potential cost associated with the extent of an unknown number of likely changes.

Those modifications, Turner and other suppliers say, are inevitable as flight-test programmes reveal areas requiring redesign, but to what extent are these necessary and how should the responsibility be shared?

Across the programme, first-tier suppliers recently incorporated a comprehensive package of design changes starting with Airplane 13, delivered to final assembly in Everett in November. The update, mainly focused on the wiring system, dubbed "net change 5" or NC5, allowed Boeing's structural suppliers to harmonise their designs, reducing the need for further re-work after arrival at final assembly.

The road to selecting Airplane 13, programme sources say, was an arduous back-and-forth between Boeing and its top-tier suppliers to determine the point of incorporation of the newest changes to the 787's design.

Buck Buchanan, Spirit's chief operating officer, says of NC5: "We anticipate that being the last major wiring change - we hope."

EXPANDED OVERSIGHT

The March 2008 buyout of Vought's 50% share of Global Aeronautica was the first major outward step allowing Boeing to expand its reach inside Charleston, bringing a direct oversight to the centre fuselage facility to better manage the staff on-site.

Ultimately, the acquisition of Vought's share of the 787's aft fuselage in July, as well as the complete ownership of Global Aeronautica, has allowed Boeing to work within its own operational structure, setting its own timetables for change incorporation while more effectively managing the cost of those changes, say those working directly in manufacturing operations.

The 22 December announcement of the acquisition of the remaining 50% of Global Aeronautica marks the fourth major industrial change at the company's North Charleston site, reflecting an incrementally growing role that initially began as increased oversight and has culminated in the complete ownership and operation of the company's East Coast production base.


Jon Ostrower/Flightglobal
Shanahan: too challenging?

Boeing has transformed its own role on the programme, initially fabricating only the tail of the 787 to fabricating the aft fuselage, as well as integrating the centre, representing two-thirds of the 787's fuselage.

But the question remains as to whether Boeing can leverage the initial ambition of its global supply chain and deliver unprecedented cost savings during the production of its all-new jetliner.

"We don't doubt that the technology has already been respected," says Carter Copeland, aerospace analyst at Barclays Capital. "It's actually building it and building it profitably that remains to be seen."

While managing the new expanded facilities at Global Aeronautica and Boeing Charleston, the company will be investing significant resources to increase production flow through the final assembly line inside Building 40-26 at the company's Everett facility, while establishing the planned "surge" assembly line inside Building 40-24 to enable a 10-aircraft a month rate by the end of 2013.

Furthermore, Boeing's selection of North Charleston as the future home to its second 787 final assembly line, the first new commercial facility the company has built since the 1960s, is an estimated $750 million investment.

NEW ASSEMBLY LINE

Boeing faces the challenge of setting up a new final assembly line on the South Carolina site that will initially build three 787s a month, allowing Everett to slow to seven aircraft a month. The Charleston final assembly line is set to be operational by July 2011, with its first 787-8 delivered in the first quarter of 2012.

Aravind Melligeri, co-founder and chairman of Quest Global, the engineering consultancy and manufacturer whose aerospace production includes 787 landing gear components it supplies to Messier-Dowty, remarked before the first flight that if Boeing were to rush to full output "the supply chain would be scrambling. We've all been sitting back waiting for this aircraft to fly."

He added that a rate of six a month would be more manageable than the planned 10 aircraft a month.

Boeing defends its plans, saying that it "not rushing to achieve rate". It adds: "Our stated schedule is 10 a month by late 2013. There's an orderly plan in place to meet that goal. Boeing and its partners are working to that plan and are in regular contact to ensure production system health."

Boeing closed 2009 with 16 787s assembled, a number that includes two ground test airframes, six flight-test aircraft, two of which are now flying, plus the first eight production aircraft. Parts for the 17th aircraft had already begun to arrive as the year closed.

The company has been slowly ramping up since the middle of 2009, increasing the deliveries from structural partners with the June arrival of aircraft seven, the first production 787.

Boeing has been receiving parts for each 787 about twice per calendar month, with that number expected to rise early in 2010 as the rate accelerates around mid-February, programme sources say.

As Boeing pushes forward with its ambitious production ramp-up spread across its global suppliers, the company is continually aware of the lessons learnt and now applied.

Pat Shanahan, vice-president of airplane programmes at Boeing and former chief of the 787 programme, said following the 787's first flight: "How you choose your schedule is a big deal. Technically there weren't any obstacles we couldn't overcome. We were running a fast race and we probably shouldn't have made it as challenging. We didn't have to make it as challenging."

Boeing assessing the future of the 787-3


Boeing is assessing the viability of its 787-3 after losing its final order for the Dreamliner variant.
"(Y)ou may have noticed reflected on our orders Web site that our good customer ANA has opted to convert their 787-3 orders into other models. Simply put, getting aircraft into their hands for earlier delivery was a better solution for them," Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, wrote on his blog Friday. "As a result there are no longer any 787-3 orders in the backlog. Going forward, we'll continue to assess the market viability of the -3."
The 787-3 would accommodate 290 to 330 passengers and be optimized for routes of 2,500 to 3,050 nautical miles, according to Boeing. That's more passengers and a shorter range than the 787-8 and 787-9.
Boeing stopped nearly all work on the 787-3 in 2008, shifting resources to the 787-8 and 787-9. At that time company officials said they still planned to develop the 787-3 for the variant's two customers, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways. JAL dropped its 787-3 orders in favor of the 787-8 in June.

ANA Changes Orders To 787-8’s

Boeing Assessing Market Viability Of 787-3 Model

787-3 Still Being Offered

Launch customer for the 787 Dreamliner, All Nippon Airways has swapped its remaining orders for the 787-3 to the 787-8 model while Boeing confirms that it is evaluating the future of the third variant of the Dreamliner family.

Boeing’s orders and delivery page on its website now no longer lists any 787-3 orders.

European blogger Vero Venia first caught wind of the order change.



“As a result of ANA’s order conversion from the 787-3 to the 787-8, there are no longer any 787-3s in the backlog. The market viability of the 787-3 is currently being assessed,” Boeing’s 787 spokesperson Yvonne Leach tells me.

Boeing also says that the 787-3 is “still offerable” for sale should orders emerge.

All Nippon Airways had 28 firm orders for the type for use on high density, domestic routes to eventually replace some of its older 767, 777 and 747 jets.

Given All Nippon Airways’ order reshuffle, Boeing may be poised to drop the short range 787-3 variant as it looks to claw back costs that have risen as a result of delays on the wider program. The saving grace of course, is that All Nippon Airways did not materially reduce its 787 commitments.

By engineering this order change, the benefits for Boeing in the future certainly look better - with inevitable costs associated with R&D on the 787-9, a new final assembly line in North Charleston, anything that cuts capital expenditure will be a welcome move while it focuses its efforts on the current flight test program with a view to certifying the baseline 787-8 to allow first delivery in the fourth quarter this year.

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787 - second aircraft ready to fly again?
Posted by Guy Norris at 1/14/2010 1:57 PM CST

Boeing’s second 787, ZA002, looks set to resume flying – at least for a short time – sometime later today. The company is believed to be preparing to ferry the aircraft from Boeing Field to Everett, presumably for more in-depth engineering work.




The aircraft has not flown since its first flight on Dec 22 which was extended by almost an hour while the flight crew troubleshot issues with the main and nose gear. The aircraft eventually landed safely at Boeing Field with its gear doors in the extended position and the back-up gear extension system having been used by the crew.




ZA002 has not flown since its first landing at Boeing Field on Dec 22. (Joe Walker)

The aircraft has spent the past three weeks undergoing system and sensor checks and re-calibration, and was widely expected to rejoin the test program this month. The fact that ZA002 appears to be headed back to Everett for more work rather than joining ZA001 in the test effort direct from the flight test campaign headquarters at Boeing Field suggests that the issues experienced on the Dec 22 were more problematic than first thought. However, Boeing declines to comment on detailed aspects of the 787 test program apart from periodic updates so the true status of ZA002’s availability for flight testing remains open to speculation. Reports appearing in a recent Bloomberg story mention a cracked windshield on ZA002, though this would be repairable on-site and would not in itself constitute a reason for prolonged delays.




Better news appears to be coming from ZA001 which is turning out to be a real workhorse with the aircraft currently on the next flight of its initial airworthiness test phase. In a report published today by UBS Investment Research it says “Boeing would appear on plan so far, with 53 hours flown through January 13, above the 44 hours we estimate it should have flown by now. We will next update this analysis at the end of January and expect that in order to remain on plan for type certification by mid-September, Boeing will need to have flown roughly 100-120 hours by then.”

Boeing completes 787 initial airworthiness milestone

By [url=mailto://]Jon Ostrower[/url]

One month into its flight test campaign, Boeing has completed initial airworthiness trials on its long-range twin-engine 787.
ZA001 and ZA002, which first flew on 15 December and 22 December,
respectively, have accumulated just shy of 60h of flight testing.
The overwhelming majority of initial flight hours during the first
month of testing have been flown by ZA001, Boeing's first 787, which
has accumulated an estimated 57h and 51min, according to programme
tracking by Flightglobal.
"The pilots have told me the results we are seeing in flight match
their expectations and the simulations we've run," says Scott Fancher
vice president and general manager of the 787 programme.
Boeing says the 787 has reached an altitude of 30,000ft (9,144m) and a speed of MO.65.
The company says that initial stall tests at various centres of
gravity and other dynamic manoeuvres have been run, including flight
control sweeps, in-flight speedbrake extensions and retractions, tight
turns, wind up turns and dutch rolls.
With the initial airworthiness trials now complete, additional
flight test crews beyond the current two pilots will be permitted to
fly onboard the aircraft ushering in the next phase of testing that
will take the aircraft to a speed of MO.85 and 40,000ft altitude.
Subsequent testing will push the aircraft beyond expected operational
conditions.
Six project pilots have had an opportunity to fly the 787.
ZA002, which is currently undergoing an aqueous wash at the
company's Everett, Washington, facility following discovery of foreign
object debris (FOD) inside its fuel tanks, is expected to rejoin the
flight test fleet once the cleaning is complete.
ZA004, the next aircraft to fly, is expected to make its maiden flight in early February followed by ZA003 later that month.
ZA005 and ZA006, 787s powered by the General Electric GEnx, will join in March and April, respectively.
Boeing has targeted the end of September for first delivery to
Japan's All Nippon Airways, but has provided itself an additional three
months of margin, officially saying delivery will occur in the fourth
quarter of this year.
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/01/16/337233/boeing-completes-787-initial-airworthiness-milestone.html

Boeing's 787: trials, tribulations, and restoring the dream

09 November 2009
George Marsh

As we anticipate the long-awaited first flight of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, George Marsh reviews the history of this high-profile composites project.
Four years ago, Boeing promised a dream of an airliner; in fact it named its new B7E7 (subsequently redesignated B787) mid-size, wide-body passenger twin-jet, the Dreamliner. Among its claims was that this aircraft, super-light by virtue of its unprecedented 50% (by weight) composites content, would be 17% more fuel efficient than the metal B767 it was intended to replace, as well as more comfortable for passengers.

Unhappily the dream has soured somewhat, the project having become mired in serial snags and delays. Boeing has experienced a veritable nightmare with its ‘plastic fantastic’ and has struggled to put the project back on track.

Over confident?

In reality, the planemaker’s original vision should ultimately be realised. To aircraft operators prepared to invest in even a 1-2% improvement in fuel efficiency, a 17% hike does appear to be the stuff of dreams.

A large part of this improvement is due to the low airframe weight realised by making it half composite. Boeing took a real flyer (sic) in adopting carbon/epoxy for the fuselage, as well as the more usual wings, empennage, fin and nacelles. This trumped anything Airbus, a previous leader in exploiting composites for civil airliners, was then doing. The US planemaker went further out on a limb by deciding to wind its fuselage, using fibre placement, in barrel sections that would then be joined. Only Raytheon Aircraft (subsequently Hawker Beechcraft Inc) had done anything like it before, with its much smaller Premier and Hawker 4000 business jets.

As if this level of risk were not enough, Boeing elected, at the same time, to adopt a new manufacturing model. Its vision was to have the airframe produced in several large sections, each of which would be farmed out to a major cost and revenue-sharing partner which would be fully responsible for detail design and production. Finished sections, complete with all their systems and internals, would then be brought together at Boeing’s aircraft factory at Everett, Washington, USA, for final assembly, inspection and flight preparation.

Did the world’s joint leading airframer over-reach itself? Troubles that have subsequently ensued might suggest as much and a lot depends on how well, or otherwise, the project is now recovered.

Certainly the company appears to have been guilty of over-confidence. On the adoption of composites, for instance, John Leahy, chief commercial officer at Airbus, referred to Boeing’s approach as ‘rushed and ridiculous.’ More surprisingly, a former senior Boeing engineer, Vince Weldon, reportedly warned that the risks of attempting a composite fuselage had been under-estimated. Others suggested that issues associated with using carbon for the critical pressure vessel that is an airliner cabin – lightning strike, the fact that damage can be hidden within the laminate, repairability, long-term fatigue behaviour, crash behaviour etc – would consume more time and resources than had been allowed for.
...

Meanwhile work continues to return the first pair of 787s to flight, with ZA001 still in lay-up after completing initial airworthiness and ZA002 being prepared for its third flight following a ferry flight back to Everett for a fuel system flush out. A system check-out flight provisionally planned for ZA002 today has been put back and, instead, the aircraft is expected to have its engines run on the ground to verify the performance of propulsion-system related systems including the variable frequency electrical generation and engine oil heating systems. Boeing is also planning to continue checks of the emergency escape slides today on ZA004, the next 787 due to join the flight test program in coming weeks.

Boeing amplifie son partenariat avec la France

La sous-traitance réalise 4 milliards de dollars de chiffre d'affaires avec le géant américain.

C'est une pre­mière. Boeing a levé le voile ce mardi sur l'impact économique de son partenariat avec les industriels français. Et il est tout à fait significatif. En 2008, Boeing a facturé pour 4 milliards de dollars de contrats aux sous-traitants tricolores, ce qui représente 9,6% du chiffre d'affaires réalisé par la filière. Sur ce total, 2,8 milliards proviennent de contrats passés directement auprès des industriels ; le solde à travers les compagnies aériennes à la tête de flotte Boeing. L'activité générée par l'avionneur en France avait entraîné la création de 23.000 emplois, dont 11.500 directs au total, fin 2008.

«Nous sommes passés d'une relation ancienne de plus de trente ans et concentrée essentiellement dans les moteurs à une percée des industriels français dont Boeing a fait des partenaires de premier rang», explique Yves Galland, PDG de Boeing France. Il rappelle que l'avionneur américain avait choisi le CFM-56 ­co­développé par General Electric et Snecma pour motoriser son B 737, rival de l'Airbus A 320.

Les Thales, Dassault Systèmes, Safran et autres Labinal et Latécoère ont profité du grand tournant stratégique pris par Boeing au début des années 2000. Le constructeur change de modèle industriel. Il se recentre sur le design et l'assem­blage, vend des usines de composants et décide de faire appel à des partenaires, si possible les meilleurs, dans le monde entier. «Boeing pouvait développer une relation exceptionnelle avec nos industriels qui ont une histoire, une ancienneté aéronautique, des savoir-faire et la maîtrise des technologies», déclare Yves Galland qui met sur pied la «Boeing French team» composée de 14 industriels. Voyages à Seattle, le siège industriel, échange avec les équipes américaines… Le partenariat mûrit. Et les Français montent à bord du B 787, un long-courrier de nouvelle génération qui fait la part belle aux composites.

Dix B 787 par mois dès 2013

L'appareil a réalisé son premier vol d'essai mi-décembre 2009 avec près de deux ans de retard sur son calendrier initial. Un décalage lourd de conséquences pour les sous-traitants qui voient les stocks gonfler et peser sur leur trésorerie. Pendant cette période, Boeing assure avoir été présent y compris financièrement auprès de ses fournisseurs, allant, dans certains cas, à payer par anticipation des lots fabriqués mais non livrés. «Nous sortons de 12 à 18 mois difficiles mais nous avons devant nous 25 ans de commandes et de rentabilité», assure Yves Galland. Le partenariat avec la France va s'amplifier au gré de la montée en cadence du programme. Le B 787 a déjà enregistré 851 commandes nettes, un record absolu dans l'histoire de l'aviation civile. Boeing emploie de gros moyens pour regagner du temps perdu. Il assure être en mesure de certifier le B 787 en neuf mois en utilisant 6 avions et pas moins de 34 pilotes d'essai. Du jamais vu. Sur le plan industriel, il a décidé de construire un second site d'assemblage à Charleston, au sud des États-Unis, qui doit entrer en service en 2011. Boeing prévoit d'assembler dix B 787 en 2013 dont 7 à Everett.

Malgré les aléas, le pouvoir ­d'attraction de Boeing reste intact. Lors des 36 heures de la technologie organisées à Paris, il a reçu 64 dossiers de sous-traitants désireux de travailler pour lui. Boeing en a retenu 15.

Flight tests of the 787 are meanwhile set to re-start tomorrow with the return to flight of ZA002. This is expected to make a check out flight of its engines and the oxygen analysis system (OAS), a specialized piece of test equipment mounted on ZA002 to measure O2 content in the fuel tanks during activation of the nitrogen generation system (NGS). In an earlier blog I noted that the NGS is a safety feature introduced as result of the findings from the July 1996 TWA 747 accident.




In addition to its oxygen analysis system, ZA002 special test equipment also includes a fiber optic temperature sensor system, and an icing probe. (Boeing)

The 787 is the first passenger aircraft designed with an integrated on-board NGS from the get-go. The system is designed to pump nitrogen-rich airflow to the fuel tanks to eliminate the chances of any sparks triggering an explosion. Hamilton Sundstrand, teamed with Eaton, produces the pack assembly, including the motor-driven compressors. Boeing also underscores the OAS is strictly a test system installed on ZA002 and will not be a standard feature on production aircraft.



Assuming all goes well with the test flight tomorrow, which is scheduled to end with a landing at Boeing Field, the aircraft will go on to complete further checks of the primary flight control system later in the week