Saturday 18 May 2013

Dreamliner Boeing 787 nightmare


The Dreamliner is the latest creation to be added to the burgeoning stables of Boeing, the creator of the much vaunted and iconic 747. Back in the mid to late 1990's when the Airbus A380 was being created, Boeing looked around for a new plane that would have a certain impact of the airline industry, as much as the A380 would. It was argued that airports would not want the hassle of having to enlarge their aprons and other related infrastructures for an aircraft the size of the A380. The wisdom that prevailed in the Boeing camp was that, in the future, airlines wanted to fly directly to their destinations and avoid changing at 'hub' airports. Part of the reasoning was to do with cutting down of emissions of carbon (dioxide) that increase green house gasses and assist in the process known as global warming.

Boeing wanted to be able to fly their passengers further in a lighter aircraft, but still give good value for money where the payload was concerned. They intended to do this with the aid of modern technology, by using a special light weight airframe. It is made of 20% aluminium, 15% titanium, 10% steel and 5% from other materials; with half of the plane being made from composite materials and carbon fibre. The Lithium-ion batteries are under review, as they are a major source of distress for Boeing at the moment. The Dreamliner had become a bit of a nightmare, if the truth be known.
Boeing's Chief Executive, Jim McNerney has awoken to the terrors of having to express ''deep regrets'' to frustrated airlines who are waiting for the deliveries of their increasingly long awaited planes. The Dreamliner's problems stem from outsourcing. It was later noted that the jobs would get outsourced to where-ever, only to have to be put right at Boeing when the job lots were taken delivery of. All this only means that languages, logistics, different cultures, lack of communication, and incorrect instructions, only served to lengthen the chain of production. All these things added three years to the production times of the aircraft. Outsourcing proved to be more than a bit of a nightmare for the Boeing 787, better known as the Dreamliner.
Outsourcing It has definitely proved to be a bit of a false economy for Boeing, as well as a major headache in this instance. Given that 850 of the planes have been ordered, I think it would have made sense to try to produce all the components at home in the US. It could have created at least a million jobs, given that the Dreamliner has over 2 million components.Boeing's creativity would have found a way to make use of the infrastructures that fell out of use, when the 787 was no longer being produced.
Things That Fly includes the Boeing 787, the Dreamliner. It's a pity that we don't know when it will be given the all clear to take to the air. http://rickymaes-things-that-fly.blogspot.co.uk will be keeping an eye on developments at the Dreamliner, because when it actually does fly, it really is quite a feat of modern technology.

Since this article was written, The Dreamliner has since taken to the skies again, on April 29th 2013.



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A380 taking off