787 Progressing Nicely

I have no opinion on flight performance, but........

In a beauty contest it takes the crown. Inside and out it looks very attractive, and it's a plane I hope to get a chance to fly on in the future.
Now that they've had the wheels off the ground I just hope they don't have an early wardrobe malfunction, like the wings falling off.

I always worry about new materials being used on a large scale before years of testing. Metal fatigue was poorly understood on airframes until they started dropping from the sky. I think it was the Comet that really started research into that, but Aloha flight 243 proved we hadn't learned our lesson yet.

It'll be interesting to see how these composites hold up over time.




Edit for one freekin' letter.............

[edit on 26/1/2010 by anxietydisorder]

In the days of the Comet one didn't have the computerpower needed to simulate how a given airframe would behave when being stressed to maximum, or it's life cycle.
We do have that power today, and Boeing probably consulted Burt Rutan that has built composite airframes for ages.

Aloha flight 243 is a different story, airframe with low hours and high cycles.
Airframe behaved as designed, that CA being sucked out was the trigger to that the outer skin being torn off.

I think Boeing would have consulted Skunk Works before Burt.

It'll be the cycles that tell the true story of composites.
Time will tell whether they hold up or not.

Layer separation weakening the structure would be my biggest concern, but we won't know until they've been in service for a while.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
I think Boeing would have consulted Skunk Works before Burt.

What makes you think they haven't?

Layer separation weakening the structure would be my biggest concern, but we won't know until they've been in service for a while.

My guess is that Boeing will keep a close eye on the airframes as the bird enteres the service with different airlines.
They simply can not afford to screw up when it comes down to the Dream Liner.

Originally posted by Ivar_Karlsen
In the days of the Comet one didn't have the computerpower needed to simulate how a given airframe would behave when being stressed to maximum, or it's life cycle.
We do have that power today

We do?


Computer simulations are only as good as the models they are built on. For composites, many of the models are badly lacking.

The week before the first flight, Boeing employees were told that there'd be a live streaming webcast of the Dreamliner's first flight.

By 10 AM on Wednesday everyone was in front of a computer, almost crashing the system. Late loggers were bounced out, and went over to a neighbor's cubicle to see it. I doubt if there were any meetings scheduled for that time.

When the airplane actually lifted off, everyone started yelling and cheering. People were actually hugging and high-fiving and some were even crying.

We had waited so long and worked so hard!

Originally posted by Off_The_Street
We had waited so long and worked so hard!

So tell me, do you honestly think this plane will pay off for Boeing now that they've invested so much money, plus the blood sweat and tears.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder

Originally posted by Off_The_Street
We had waited so long and worked so hard!

So tell me, do you honestly think this plane will pay off for Boeing now that they've invested so much money, plus the blood sweat and tears.

Yes....

Revolutionary use of composites in commercial aircraft will possibly change the face of the air industry.