After much speculation, Boeing has admitted that the first flight of its new 787 Dreamliner will not take place until later in the year, perhaps even as far off as mid-December. The original suggestion was for a late August, early September maiden lift off.
As suggested by some experts at the time of the much hyped prototype rollout on Sunday 8 July, it was in some ways the unveiling of a glorious mock-up held together by airframe fasteners. These did not meet FAA standards and would need replacing before the initial flight. Changing the parts is proving a long and arduous process.
The manufacturer is also working to fix problems with documentation. Speaking on an international media phone link, programme general manager, Mike Blair said: "There were a number of cases where documentation of work shipped to us [by partners and suppliers] didn't match the work that needed to be done. We're making sure all the paperwork matches how the airplane is being put together."
Boeing is still confident that the aircraft will make its service Introduction, with Japanese airline ANA on time in June of next year. "It's really tight," it said. "It's getting tighter and tighter as we push [the first flight] later into the fall." Assuming that Boeing flies the aircraft this year and makes some deliveries in 2008, it would still represent a significant achievement.
By comparison the much larger, but in some ways less technically advanced Airbus A380 is nearly two years late. The Boeing 777 made its first delivery 11 months after the initial flight. Four Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered aircraft will operate the initial 787 test flights in the first months of 2008. Two GE GEnx-powered 787s will follow.
The Boeing 787 is one of the most complex international assembly programmes ever undertaken with major components coming together at Everett, Seattle, and actually manufactured in places as far apart as Japan, Italy and the UK. It is this complexity that has caused eyebrows to be raised, but Boeing says it is confident.
Commercial Airplanes CEO, Scott Carson, commented during the same phone-in: "Barring any other major discovery and there could be a major discovery during flight testing, we will have first delivery in May."
Boeing has logged 706 orders from 48 customers for the 787 Dreamliner.