Boeing Test Chief Is ‘Giddy’ After 787’s First Month (Update2)

Business Week ^ | January 14, 2010, | Susanna Ray

[skeptoid]

Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co.’s test-program manager says the new 787 Dreamliner has exceeded his expectations in the first month of flying and he’s ready to take on the next challenge, the maiden flight of the 747-8 jumbo jet.

[skeptoid]

Good article. . .

. . . . says ZA001 has flown nearly every day since Christmas.

[Yo-Yo]

Things aren't all rosy on the 787 front:

From Jon Ostrower's FlightBlogger blog on Fight International:

Why is ZA002 returning to Everett?
By Jon Ostrower on January 14, 2010 7:07 PM

ZA002 is making its second flight this afternoon, a quick ferry flight from Boeing Field back to Everett. Randy Neville and Van Chaney will at the control of the aircraft for the quick flight north, the first since December 22nd. Here's why:

Debris forces second 787 back to Everett
Boeing's second flight test 787 is set to make its second flight, a return trip to Everett, for a thorough cleaning of its fuel tank following the discovery of foreign object debris (FOD).

The FOD was found trapped in the fuel filter following the aircraft's 22 December first flight to Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington.

Boeing confirms that "crews discovered very small amounts of debris" inside the aircraft's fuel tank during a planned non-operating period following first flight. Programme sources say a piece of cheese cloth left in one of the aircraft's fuel tanks is said to be responsible for the return to Everett, where the facilities to accomplish the cleaning are located.

While the issue is ultimately a "minor setback" and represents more of a headache to getting the flight test fleet up and running, Boeing adds that FOD find has prompted them to go back and look at factory procedures to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

I'll have a complete status update on the first month of 787 flight test tomorrow.

Simple teething pains for a very important program.

[Tallguy]

Boeing’s contention that advances in ground-based testing and simulations will shorten the process haven’t proven true for the design side of the program, Aboulafia said. A computer model failed to catch weak areas in the composites where the wing joins the body, a problem that wasn’t discovered until physical tests in June, grounding the plane for another six months.

Note to AGW Theorists: Check your computer models. If an advanced CAD program can't properly calculate the strength of an aircraft wing, what does that say about your projections of Global Temperatures decades into the future???

[Talisker]

Note to AGW Theorists: Check your computer models. If an advanced CAD program can't properly calculate the strength of an aircraft wing, what does that say about your projections of Global Temperatures decades into the future???

Didn't you hear? They passed a new regulation stating that science need only extend from observation to hypothesis. Not only is testing no longer required - it's now considered racist. That's why Berkeley High School is getting rid of it's science classes. Sheesh - keep up here, wouldya?

[wolf78]

Things aren't all rosy on the 787 front.

Well, first flight was a reason to be cautiously optimistic. Sure, I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few more glitches (the A380 had the majority of teething problems after first flight), but at least the path ahead is clear.