747 LCF tests slip behind schedule

But Boeing is still confident freighter will be ready in time to begin transporting 787 sections by end of January

Boeing says the test programme for the 747 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) is running behind schedule, but remains confident that the aircraft will be certificated in time to begin transporting 787 sections by the end of January.

The modified 747-400 variant - now officially dubbed the "Dreamlifter" - is central to the 787 logistics system for the flow of components and sections between plants and to the Everett final assembly line. Boeing 787 vice-president and general manager Mike Bair says: "We're late. We found a few things, but none that are huge concerns."

The second LCF is due to arrive from the conversion site at EGAT in Taiwan in a newly selected white-and-blue livery in Seattle by early January. To remain on schedule, Boeing has opted to paint the first aircraft at the end of January.

Although details remain scarce, Boeing says the test team is tackling vibration issues that have led to the removal of the winglets from the first Dreamlifter test aircraft (RT876). Flutter tests, provisionally expected to have been completed by now, were still under way as of 7 December.

Speaking at the "virtual roll-out ceremony" of the 787 in Everett, Bair said challenges for the twinjet programme remained in areas of weight and schedule, but sales continued to set new records. First available delivery slots are now in late 2013, with some production committed through to 2015 and 2016.

Bair said that of the 458 commitments received from 37 customers, 435 were firm orders from 35 operators. "It just doesn't slow down. Activity in the marketplace just continues unabated."

Boeing still plans to deliver 112 787s by the end of 2009, with the first being the seventh airframe which will deliver in mid-2008. The first six will be used for flight tests, four of them Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered and two General Electric GEnx-powered.

The second 787 airframe off the line will be the static test aircraft, and the fourth will become the fatigue test specimen. The production time to produce one aircraft is expected to reach six days at line number 100, and "head towards" a planned three-day rate after that, according to Bair.

The first production wire bundle has been delivered from Labinal to Korean Air's Aerospace Division for installation in the wingtip which is being manufactured in South Korea.

Also unveiled at the event was the "Dreamliner Gallery", a site in Everett that provides customers with a "showroom"-like setting in which they can select features from a number of fixed options. Boeing says the gallery provides "a more streamlined approach to airplane configuration".

Source: Flight International