The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) today announced that the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner is expected by the end of 2009 and first delivery is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2010.
The new schedule reflects the previously announced need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft, along with the addition of several weeks of schedule margin to reduce flight test and certification risk. The company projects achieving a production rate of 10 airplanes per month in late 2013.

There you have it. According to their press release, the fabled Boeing 787 Dreamliner will finally take off by year's end. With their credibility completely gone, I don't know if I should laugh or cry. I think I will do both. [Boeing]

I'll let Boeing tell you about the latest snafu, with snarky blogger filter uncharacteristically removed:

"In two areas on the fuselage, the structure doesn't have the long-term strength that we want," said Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter.

What that means is wrinkles. Microscopic wrinkles. Dangerous, drop-out-of-the-frickin'-sky wrinkles in the fuselage that negatively affect the plane in ways I don't want to think about given I'm already antsy about air travel. Boeing has therefore ordered Italian supplier Alenia Aeronautica to halt production of these faulty fuselage sections immediately so that carbon fiber patches can be applied to make things right.

Carbon fiber patches or not, customers were expecting the first Boeing 787 orders to be filled by first quarter 2010. That's not going to happen. As we've detailed here in the past, the phrase "perpetual delay" has become synonymous with the 787 project, which has cost Boeing billions of dollars. Seventy-two planes have been canceled thus far (although, to be fair, 800 orders are still on the books). [Silicon Valley via Slashdot]

Last week the Seattle Times reported that the damage observed during a ground test of the Dreamliner happened very late in the test, more specifically:

Just beyond "ultimate load." That is defined as 50 percent higher than the in-service limit load and is the Federal Aviation Administration's test target.

That would've been just fine and dandy, except that it turns out that they were just a little bit off and the damage actually occurred "well below the load the wings must bear to be federally certified to carry passengers." Whoops.

The structural flaws are described as

Stresses at the ends of the long rods that stiffen the upper wing skin panels caused the fibrous layers of the composite plastic material to delaminate.

Those long rods lead to the joints of the wings which connect to the body of the plane which lead to a fuselage box where excess load is transferred—-who cares how everything is connected? "Delaminate" as in "to split into thin layers"! Somehow I'm not reassured by being told that the delamination of the wing skin "isn't likely to lead to catastrophic failure of the airplane," though obviously they're not changing the design because it's not an issue. What's that? They are? Ah, well. What's another delay when the plane is already two years late? [Seattle Times]

Like the Dreamlinerpictured hereits interior is designed to reduce jetlag in long range flights. It will be a lot quieter than the current 747, and it will have the same "new curved, upswept architecture" to make it airier and give passengers more room for personal belongings. Also like the 787, the Intercontinental will use special lighting to provide "smooth transitions for a more restful flight."

The other big difference is the size. While it won't be nearly as big as the Airbus A380 or allow to have full beds, it will be 18.3 feet longer and have a larger upper deck.

According to the company, the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental will arrive in late 2011.

These delays are getting close to those Airbus saw with their A380 super jumbo—delays which nearly ruined the European consortium. The 787's most recent troubles are due to a 58-day machinist's strike at Boeing's plants here in the U.S. in September and October. The first test flight is now scheduled for second quarter 2009, with deliveries (first to Japan's ANA) beginning in 2010.[BBC, Photo: markjhandel/Flickr]

The testing sequence lasted for a week, and was designed to "demonstrate the distribution, conversion, control and consumption of electric power on board the airplane. Completion also verifies the accuracy of the installation of systems on the first 787."

[Dreamliner in Gizmodo]

According to the always entertaining Richard Quest, the delays have been caused precisely by the new technologies and manufacturing strategies that Boeing is using for the 787. Mainly, the biggest problem seems to be with the carbon fiber modules being manufactured all through the world, which then have to be brought and put together at Boeing's Everett factory in Washington, using their gigantic cargo Dreamlifter.

But as Quest points out, there will have to be major changes to this process because, at the end of the day, "the reality is that they have discovered they can't do it" in this way. One of these immediate and most serious changes, will likely require a redesign of the 787's wingbox.

As a result of these troubles, Boeing has ended with "new revised schedules" and an "extraordinary embarrassment" comparable to the humiliation that EADS had as a result of the multiple delays on the Airbus A380.

The even-worse thing is that, while it's understandable that companies like Boeing and EADS may have setbacks in the construction of these giant next-generation machines, the problem doesn't end in the technological embarrassment: Boeing will have to pay compensation to the airlines who have already bought 850 Dreamlinerswhich is "far more than any other aircraft at this stage"and were expecting them on time.

Nightmareliner indeed. [CNN]

In the TV report aired on HDNet Tuesday, Rather said that an aluminum body is safer than a carbon fiber airframe because it's not brittle, won't shatter on impact and doesn't emit poisonous chemicals when it's burning. Rowe counters that by pointing out the plethora of toxic fumes to worry about if a plane crashes no matter what its airframe is made of, and then astutely points out that military aircraft, race cars, train cars and sports cars have been constructed of carbon composite for years and have been subjected to horrific forces that in some cases show carbon fiber holding up even better than aluminum.

Rowe also got in touch with Cirrus Design which has been building aircraft out of composite materials for years, and that company's experts add that in some cases composites have better energy absorption in an impact than aluminum.

Rowe has now updated his post with even more experts chiming in to agree that Rather's assertions weren't worth the HD they were broadcast on. It's a great read that gets right at the truth. [Wired]

While I really don't mind Chantal picking on my carrot cake, I would certainly prefer to have Lau's battalion of sexy cyborg ninjas resting on king-size waterbeds, having swan-feather pillow battles all over the place or taking a hot bubbly bath in a full-size english tub. Or something like that. Lau's VIP Dreamliner, just the 7th to be ordered in the world, costs $153 million at today's list price.

And if you prefer to have even more space, you can order a 747 VIP to enjoy its 4,786 square-meter cabin.

These new interiors, which include a new SkyLoft area, were presented yesterday in Geneva, at the European Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition.  Jesus Diaz

Product page [Boeing Business Jets]

Boeing has started building their new flagship: the 787 Dreamliner. The cool thing about the 787 is that it only requires them to put together six big composite parts to build the final airframe, and operators don't have to use huge tools and overhead cranes: All the parts can be slid along on the construction floor and put together like giant LEGO pieces. Check the gallery for pictures of the delivery and assembly of the sections and hit the jump for more details.

The six huge finished parts, the forward, center and aft fuselage sections, the wings, the horizontal stabilizer and the vertical fin, are going to be carried in their huge Dreamlifter from factories in Japan, Italy, South Carolina and Kansas. The Boeing Dreamlifter, as you can see in the gallery, is one of the largest cargo planes in the world.

According to Boeing, they will complete their first 787 in July 8, 2007 while everyone at Airbus is still scratching his head wondering what the heck happened with their ill-fated and permanently delayed world's largest-flying gadget. The 787 is the "fastest-selling airplane in aviation history," and even while I'm European, I'm happy to see it rolling out the factory for two reasons: one, because I like great airplanes and two, because those Eurocrats at Airbus needed a kick up the butt.  Jesus Diaz

Boeing ends Dreamliner wireless network [Reuters]