27 September 2007

Is Boeing pushing too hard on the 787? Words of warning

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/09/21/216946/former-boeing-engineer-draws-industry-fire-over-787-composite-fuselage-crashworthiness.html

I live in Seattle and am a huge fan of the hometown manufacturer. They have scored what seems to be a Grandslam with the new 787. But a word of caution seems to be creeping in. At the Boeing Future of Flight Center, there is a section of the 787 not too far away from a cross section from a 747-100. What a difference. One is immediately struck by the composite frame’s thin skin vs the conventional metal skin. It did somewhat un-nerve me to look at it. http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/tours/

But it seems that there are some out there that also feel that something may not be right with the design of the new fuselage. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/09/21/216946/former-boeing-engineer-draws-industry-fire-over-787-composite-fuselage-crashworthiness.html

In this article a former Boeing engineer has drawn industry fire over 787 composite fuselage crashworthiness alarm.

While I don’t want to be an alarmist – it does somewhat worry me. With a backdrop of the fastener problem and the first flight being pushed back from the original Late August time frame into possibly as late as December, i am now worried that Boeing may be just rushing into things. A cautionary tale to be sure.

Am i right? I am not sure I want to be on the plane to find out if I am.

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