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Boeing's 787 Dreamliner Moves to Flight Line
Fuel testing expected to start this week
Jennifer Roy, Contributing Editor -- Design News, May 6, 2009
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, which is expected to take flight for the first time by the end of June, has moved to the flight line and fuel testing will begin in the next few days.
The first 787, designated ZA001, recently completed a series of tests, including build verification tests, structures and systems integration tests, landing gear swings and factory gauntlet, which is the full simulation of the first flight using the actual airplane. The simulation tests all flight controls, hardware and software, and also includes manual and automatic landings and several subsequent ground tests. It will undergo additional power and systems tests, engine runs and high-speed taxi tests prior to its first flight.
"We are making great progress and moving ever-closer to first flight," Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 Dreamliner program, said in a press release. "These results give us confidence in our ability to move into further gauntlet testing using either ground power or the airplane's engines or auxiliary power unit. This is a significant milestone on the path to first flight."
According to the company, all structural tests required on the static airframe prior to first flight were completed in April, when the wing and trailing edges were subjected to their limit load - the highest loads that are expected to be seen when the plane is in service. The load is about the same as the airplane experiencing 2.5 times the force of gravity.
"We continue to analyze the data, but the initial results are positive," Fancher said.
Ground vibration testing, which measures the airplane's response to flutter, also concluded on the second flight-test Dreamliner, designated ZA002, last week, the company says.
Boeing last week also announced it will overhaul its 737, making it more fuel efficient and closer in design to the company's 787 Dreamliner.
The 737 Boeing Sky Interior features new, 787-inspired modern sculpted sidewalls, overhead mood lighting and wider windows. The sidewall design integrates an air vent, making preflight security checks easier and quicker for maintenance staff. The vent, along with improved noise-dampening materials, make the cabin quieter, according to Boeing.
The new 737 design also offers larger, pivoting overhead storage bins, which give passengers more room to store carry-on luggage and added leg room.
Boeing also says it redesigned reading light switches so passengers can find them more easily without accidentally pressing the flight attendant call button, and new overhead speakers improve the sound and clarity of announcements from the flight crew.
With airframe and engine improvements, Boeing is targeting a 2 percent reduction in fuel consumption by the time the first redesigned 737 enters service in 2011, according to the company. Structural improvements will reduce drag on the plane, which is expected to cut fuel use by 1 percent. Boeing says its engine partner, CFM, is contributing the other 1 percent fuel savings through hardware changes to the engine. CFM officials say the CFM56-7B Evolution engine will also equal an almost 2 percent reduction in carbon emissions.
Changes to the engine include using advanced computer codes and 3-D design techniques to improve airfoils in the high- and low-pressure turbines to improve engine performance, according to a press release issued by CFM.
Seven airlines, including Continental, will be the first to incorporate the 737 Boeing Sky Interior into their. Other airlines are FlyDubai, Norwegian Air Shuttle ADA, Malaysia Airlines, TUI Travel PLC, GOL Airlines and Lion Air.
The company has received orders for 886 airplanes from 57 customers.
