Boeing 787 Dreamliner - Mark Wagner [73]
LCF firm configuration was achieved in October 2004, and the Boeing design team in Washington kicked off detailed design work on the new upper fuselage, transition zone, and main deck cargo floor as well as the Section 47 tail part with partners at the Boeing Design Center in Moscow, Russia. Responsibility for the revised Section 41, the only pressurized part of the LCF, went to Boeing’s Rocketdyne offices in Canoga Park, California, despite this unit having just been sold to engine maker Pratt & Whitney. The design work on the new forward pressure bulkhead, which butted up against the rear of the distinctive “brow” fairing, went to Stork Fokker of the Netherlands.
One of the most significant work packages, the design of the unique swing zone, went to Spanish aero structures company Gamesa Aeronautica, later renamed Aeronnova following the 2006 buyout by a consortium led by the Caja Castilla La Mancha Corporation.
Consisting of a massive strengthened barrel section divided into two and connected with two massive hinges on the port side of the aircraft, the hinged swing zone section measured 10 feet in length and extended the overall fuselage length to 236 feet.
While doing design work, Boeing busied itself searching for someone to operate what would be an initial fleet of three LCFs. Scott Strode, manufacturing and quality vice president, said at the end of February 2005 that “we’re going on the streets with proposals, and we are primarily looking at operators with an existing experience base flying 747s.” The first aircraft for conversion had also by now been selected, all of them about midway through their service lives. The first selected, N747BC, serial number 904, had been flown by Air Algerie, while N780BA, serial number 778, had belonged to China Airlines, along with its sister aircraft.
The same month Boeing also formally announced the selection of Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation (EGAT), a joint venture of EVA Air and General Electric, to modify the aircraft. Work was to be undertaken in EGAT’s 127,440-square-foot hanger opened the previous December at Taipei’s Chiang Kai-shek International Airport. Meanwhile, veteran cargo 747 user Evergreen International Airlines of McMinnville, Oregon (no connection to EGAT of Taiwan), was selected as one of the LCF operators. Other LCF partners selected included Cargolux for European operations and Sojitz Corporation for Japan.
All was set, therefore, for the start of drastic modifications that involved dismantling each aircraft down to its “waterline,” or just at main deck level. The aircraft also was split aft of the trailing edge to accommodate the swing zone, and strengthened to support this large machined component and its stainless-steel main hinges.
By mid-2006 the second 747 had entered modification to be converted into an LCF, while a third was parked at Taipei, awaiting its turn. A decision over the acquisition and conversion of more 747s was still dependent on the outcome of Boeing’s studies into a possible second phase of its planned production rate increase beyond 2011–2012, but it looked increasingly likely as 787 orders soared toward the five-hundred mark.
Inspiration for the design of the Dreamlifter swinging tail hinges came from the Canadair CL-44. Unlike the 747-400LCF, which is swung open by special ground vehicles, the CL-44 tail was designed to self-open and close using a dorsal-mounted actuator powered by twelve-thousand-pound operating force hydraulic jacks. The actuating system was designed to hold the tail open against a 60 mph wind. Mark Wagner
The cathedral-like interior of the Dreamlifter has a main cargo deck volume of 65,000 cubic feet, some 300 percent more than the 747-400 freighter.
The second conversion was accomplished in less time, much to the relief of Boeing and Mike Bunney, director of Global Logistics for the 787 program. The acceleration was expected,