After all the frustrations of completing the Boeing 787 programme, the handover ceremony of the first production example finally came on 26 September. More than 500 employees representing the B787 programme accompanied the all-new aircraft in the rain to present it to ANA executives as a crowd of thousands looked on.
The day was very wet for the handover of the world’s first fully composite commercial passenger airliner to launch customer ANA of Japan, but the weather didn’t dampen the feelings of everyone present.
Jim McNerney, Boeing chairman, president and CEO, ignored the DH Comet’s place in aviation history when he stated, “The 787 Dreamliner is the biggest innovation in commercial aviation since the Boeing 707 introduced the world to passenger jet travel more than 50 years ago. I want to thank ANA and all the employees of Boeing and our partner companies for the talent, technology and teamwork that have brought this game-changing airplane to life.”
This new airliner, designated the 7E7, stemmed from the closure of the Sonic Cruiser project planned to achieve 15 percent higher speeds (approximately Mach 0.98) while burning fuel at the current B767 rate. The global airline market was upended after 11 September 2001 and the Sonic Cruiser was cancelled in December 2002. Boeing then switched back to a more conventional aircraft to use the Sonic Cruiser technology, and the result was the 7E7.
In April 2004 ANA of Japan was confirmed as the launch customer for the 7E7 Dreamliner with firm orders for 50 aircraft worth around $US6bn, with deliveries to start in late 2008. This was a record number of aircraft ordered from Boeing by a single customer for an aircraft yet to begin production.
Air New Zealand followed as the second customer, announcing in June 2004 an order for two B787s. This grew to four and in December 2006 the airline announced it would be the launch customer for the B787-9, with a total order of eight aircraft and options for eight more. Delivery then was planned for late 2010, but this is now looking like the end of 2013 or even into 2014 with the design details for this model still being finalised.
The 7E7 became the B787 in January 2005 with three models being announced, the B787-3, -8 and the -9. The B787-8 was to be the base model and the -3 was planned to be the same as the -8 but with a few changes to suit it for one-class domestic operations. Boeing cancelled the B787-3 on 13 December 2010 and the few orders for it were transferred to the longer-range -8.
The Boeing 787 is the first production commercial airliner built of composite materials, mostly carbon fibre. The fuselage is assembled in composite barrel sections instead of the multiple aluminium panels used on conventional existing types.
The manufacturer claimed the B787 would be nearly 20 percent more fuel efficient than the B767, with approximately 40 percent of that efficiency gain coming from the new all-electrical configured engines being developed by Rolls-Royce with its Trent 1000 and General Electric’s GEnx-1B. The all-electrical architecture gives rise to the end of bleed air operated aircraft systems, giving a 3 percent to 4 percent fuel saving, according to Boeing. (It is 70 percent more fuel efficient than Boeing’s 1950s-era Pratt and Whitney JT3D-powered B707s.
)The B787 offers higher cabin pressurisation and humidity, cleaner air and larger windows, providing an aircraft the company hopes will be the benchmark of commercial aircraft into the next generation.
The original plan was for first flight by the end of August 2007, but after many delays and problems Boeing finally got the B787-8 into the air on 15 December 2009.
The test flying has not been without its problems, including a fire in the electrical power distribution system, problems with strength in the wing attachment to the wing box, and international supplier problems and quality, but finally the B787 with the Trent 1000 Package A engines received FAA and EASA certification on 26 August 2011 after a 20-month flight test programme.
The new airliner, on which Boeing had staked so much, could now be finally delivered to customers and allowed to enter the commercial passenger jet age.
To me, the B787 delivery comes number four in commercial jet aircraft history. Leading the way was the B707, the first commercially successful passenger aircraft in the jet age, then came the Concorde, the aircraft that took us into the supersonic passenger era, then the B747 which started the multi-deck world of the jumbo jet.
The great day for Boeing and its employees came on 26 September 2011 as the first customer B787 was handed over to a large group from ANA at a ceremony at the Everett factory, north of Seattle. The first aircraft actually to be delivered was Line no 8, and aircraft Line no 24 was to be delivered in mid-October in a domestic configuration. The B787 displayed at the launch will be possibly the third aircraft to ANA.
ANA’s first B787 was due to start regional Asia services and domestic operations in Japan at the end of last month. ANA anticipates delivery from Boeing of at least two 158-seat, long-haul configured aircraft, both with upgraded Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 Package B engines, before the end of this year.
On the day of the first delivery Boeing had orders for 821 B787s on its books, but with several airlines recently cancelling their orders this has slipped back to just under 800.
The Dreamliner is not a dream any more, and the first delivered B787 departed for Japan 53 years after the first Boeing 707 commercial passenger service. ANA and Boeing completed the contractual delivery of the aircraft on 25 September, and it departed to Tokyo Haneda Airport on 27 September for a 9hr 40min flight.
Just after takeoff, as the sun was rising over Paine Field, the pilot gave an aviation salute that brought a huge cheer from the watching staff and media, marking a great day in aviation history and the first new commercial jet aircraft in the 21st century.
- Report and photographs by Peter Clark