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Your Daily Dose Of The Dreamliner

From Boeing.com:

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EVERETT, Wash., May 15, 2007 -- The gigantic composite wings for the all-new Boeing 787 Dreamliner were delivered to Everett at 4:10 a.m. PDT today.

Manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at its facility in Nagoya, Japan, each wing is 98 feet long. Standing on edge in custom-made tooling, the wings were delivered together to Boeing via the Dreamlifter, a specially modified 747-400 used to transport 787 major assemblies. The 787 is the first commercial aircraft to use composite materials as its primary structure. It is also the first Boeing aircraft featuring an all-composite wing.

"A composite wing of this size has never been built before," said Scott Strode, 787 vice president of Airplane Definition and Production. "This is a tribute to our fantastic team. We believe the Dreamliner sets a new standard for how commercial airplanes will be made in the future."

The wings were immediately delivered to the 787 final assembly factory. Additional work -- including attaching the wingtip and movable surfaces -- will be completed by Boeing. The total wingspan of a 787 is 197 feet.

The 787 Dreamliner is the fastest-selling airplane in aviation history, with firm orders for 567 airplanes from 44 airlines.

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What you are looking at in this picture is the single biggest innovation in aviation since the jet engine. That odd shaped structure coming out of the front of the 747 Transport is the 787 main wing spar. A spar thats made of composite material for a large commercial jet. Think of this as the I-Beam of the aircraft or the central weight and stress bearing structure for the entire aircraft.

What happens when the main wing spar fails in mid flight?

Well, this happens -

This is a Lockheed C-130 fire bomber. The reason it doesnt look much like an aircraft in the picture is just a second before this picture was taken, the main wing spar snapped at the fuselage and broke the wing in two. At that point, It ceased to be an aircraft.

The lesson here is that main wing spars are important and crucial in the design of aircraft. If you're a company betting on composites in the creation of that wing spar then its a 'bet the company' kind of bet. Win the bet, your company rules the halls of aviation for another generation. Lose the bet, and people die.

That's right folks, those metal wings you see today flexing out your seat window when you fly your friendly neighborhood airline are about to be made of good old fashioned - plastics.

More correctly, they are to be made of 'composite materials', and they are also to be 'Made In Japan' by a subcontrator who got the job because they were the lowest bidder in the competition for the work.

Relax. It will be a great aircraft. In 10 years, everyone will insist on composite materials over metals.

I sure hope it all fits together and that the seams dont show when all the parts are glued together. I hope this is aircraft a "Revell kit", and not a "Monogram kit"(an inside joke for all the airplane model kit builders out there, and you know who you are...).

Posted @ May 15, 2007 10:56 PM | Book Reviews

Posted by: TBinSTL at May 18, 2007 01:13 AM