Boeing 787 Dreamliner wing passes ultimate test

Seattle P I ^ | March 28, 2010 6:56 p.m. | Aubrey Cohen

[skeptoid]

The wing of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner passed its ultimate test Sunday, bending without damage to 150 percent of the load it is ever expected to experience in service.

[ltc8k6]

The pilot and pax may have some problems, but the plane should be okay to get you to the nearest airport for maintenance, as the test has just proven.

[Wallop the Cat]

This C-130 obviously didn’t pass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7kr6o1s9sI

[antiRepublicrat]

If I saw that out my window I’d just be amazed I’m still in the air.

[hoagy62]

When they bent the wings on the Triple-7, they bent them until they broke. The article didn’t mention if they did that with the Dreamliner.

I was on my way home from Seattle on Friday afternoon. You can see Boeing Field from I-5, and one of the Dreamliners was there, getting ready to taxi. It was next to the new 747-8 Freighter, which is one big mother-hummin’ plane.

[skeptoid]

When they bent the wings on the Triple-7, they bent them until they broke. The article didn’t mention if they did that with the Dreamliner

They no break'em this time.

[G-Man 1]

Beautiful picture.

[G-Man 1]

The airbus people can’t say that about the a380

[Mad Dawgg]

"The whole field of commercial flight seems to have gone dark."

What is the Status Quo in the Obamanation?

I'll take "Socialists Dictators screwing up the economy..." for 400 next Alex.

[RoadTest]

“pickup a Rosary”

What good would that do?

[wolf78]

The airbus people can’t say that about the a380.

Which needs to be seen in context: The aerospace industry works with a safety factor of 1.5, meaning everything must be able to withstand 1 1/2 times the maximum forces that the aircraft will ever encounter. The Airbus wing snapped at 145% instead of 150%, some minor design changes / reinforcements put it over the 150% mark. Not a perfect showing, but still ok. You have to realize that more in this case isn't necessarily better, because if you reach 190% that means your plane is way to heavy and inefficient. So engineers try to hit 151% and sometimes they miss slightly.

[HardStarboard]

>>>...anyone who hasn’t seen the 707 barrel roll video on youtube,<<<

I arrived in Seattle a few days after the infamous barrel-roll at he Seafair hydro races on Lake Washington.

That was all anyone could talk about at the time. Tex Johnson, the test pilot, was fired and re-hired all in one day after dozens of airline companys placed orders.

Some days it still seems that it's all Seattle has to be proud of and talk about - what with all the liberals here, it's a dull town

[HiTech RedNeck]

Never seen a jumbo jet wing bend that far. Is this craft’s wing designed to be less rigid, more flexible, than its predecessors?