Click to viewBoeing 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.
https://gizmodo.com/worlds-largest-gadget-airbus-a380-completes-u-s-maid-245485
