Boeing 787 Dreamliner - Mark Wagner [86]
This meant that all the pieces had to be precisely lined up to avoid any mismatch. Based on earlier experience on the 737 and the 747, Boeing implemented a sophisticated, rail-guided jacking and alignment system made up of about nine major units. Positioning data were derived from the digital design database and precisely aligned and rechecked using a series of laser transmitters mounted in a specially constructed truss high in the rafters.
To Boeing workers this impressive blue-and-yellow structure is the “mother of all tooling towers,” or MOATT. However, it officially lives by the more prosaic title horizontal stabilizer/vertical fin/APU installation (HVA) tool. As the major tool on the line, it pulls together all the largest components in one position. Comprising two subassembly platforms that join around the aft fuselage, it also includes jib-crane-style handling devices, as well as an alignment and positioning system for the horizontal stabilizer/tail cone assembly, and an elevator system for APU installation. Mark Wagner
From position 1 the airframe moved on the rail-guided jacking pads to position 2, where the inboard trailing and leading edges, fairings, engines, nacelles, and main landing gear doors were fitted. The main landing gear also was fitted, allowing the aircraft to roll forward to position 3 without the need for external support. The final position was dedicated to interior completion and production test work.
The assembly process, or “one-piece flow,” as it was described, was to be sped along its way by a third-party logistics company called New Breed. The company interfaced between the suppliers and the final assembly line, providing receiving, sequencing, kitting, inventory, and order management. The prekitted parts were provided for line-side delivery at point-of-use positions. Larger parts, such as engines and nacelles, were supplied separately by the manufacturers. At least that was the plan, a lot of which was to change beyond all recognition in the coming months.
While assembly of ZA001 still appeared to be progressing well, Boeing revealed its plans for the rest of the test fleet. Next would come the static test airframe, followed by ZA002, the second Rolls-Royce–powered test aircraft. Fourth would be the fatigue test airframe, while the following six would include the remaining two Rolls-Royce test aircraft, the initial production 787s for launch customer All Nippon Airways, and the two General Electric GEnx-powered test aircraft, ZA005 and ZA006.
Plans also included refurbishment of the test aircraft in 2008 for delivery to ANA and Northwest Airlines, while the seventh aircraft, and the first to be handed over to ANA in May 2008, was to be the first at the production-standard weight. “It looks like we’re coming in just under the wire on weight,” said Scott Stode. “We’re not over, and just under—which is good,” he added. But sadly, disaster lay ahead.
Chapter 9
DEVIL IN THE DETAILS
ON JULY 8, 2007, the sleek and beautiful new 787 was officially unveiled to the world. The massive doors of Building 40-26 rolled back to reveal the blue, white, and silver aircraft glinting like a new toy in the summer sunshine.
Fifteen thousand people at the ceremony erupted in wild cheers and applause, while elsewhere it is estimated that more than a million people around the United States and at suppliers all over the planet watched and celebrated via satellite and the Web.
It was a wildly successful public relations and marketing event, but as the crowds milled around the new baby, touching its shapely fuselage and admiring its fine lines, there were a few who quietly knew that something was wrong. Closer inspection revealed multiple holes, many missing fasteners, dummy structures, and the empty shell of a flight deck and cabin. With first flight supposedly a mere seven weeks away, there seemed an ominously huge mountain of work facing the Everett assembly team.
The premature rush to roll out