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Posted on 09/16/2006 8:38:28 PM PDT by skeptoid
SEATTLE, Sept. 16, 2006 -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) today celebrated the arrival of the first of three specially modified 747-400 passenger jets that will be used to transport the large composite sections and wings of the all-new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) touched down at Seattle's Boeing Field at 8:08 a.m. PDT, ending a non-stop, 13-hour, 17-minute flight from Taipei, Taiwan.
The LCF's arrival in Seattle signals a new phase of the airplane's flight test program, which began when the airplane made its first flight in Taipei on Sept. 9, 2006. Since then, the LCF successfully completed two additional flights, which demonstrated its airworthiness and ability to complete the ferry flight to Seattle.
"It was a beautiful flight," said Capt. Joe MacDonald, 747 chief pilot. "The LCF is such an important part of Boeing's business going forward."
The LCF is a key element of the lean, global production system that is critical to the 787's success. Flying the large components reduces shipping time to as little as one day from as many as 30. The fleet of three airplanes is being modified by Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp. (EGAT) in Taipei.
The most significant change to the airplane is the new extended upper fuselage, which boosts the cargo capacity by volume to 65,000 cubic feet, more than three times the cargo capacity of a standard 747-400 freighter.
"This is one of the key milestones for the 787 program this year," said Scott Strode, 787 vice president of Airplane Development and Production. "Many people said creating the LCF couldn't be done, and others said it was possible, but not on such an aggressive schedule. The LCF's arrival today comes less than 14 months after it entered the factory for modification. It's a testament to the talent and dedication of our Boeing/EGAT team."
The LCF's flight test program is expected to last through the end of the year.
A fleet of three LCFs will ferry 787 assemblies between Nagoya, Japan, Grottaglie, Italy; Wichita, Kan. and Charleston, S.C., before flying them to the Boeing factory in Everett, Wash., for final assembly. The first two LCFs will enter service in early 2007; the third will follow later.
Since the 787 launch in April 2004, 32 customers have logged 420 orders and commitments, of which 377 are firm orders valued at $59 billion at current list prices, making the Dreamliner the most successful commercial airplane launch in history.
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Looks like the 1960's guppy only with jet engines.
Say WA? Evergreen State ping
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I remember seeing a Guppy parked at the Santa Barbara airport back in the '70s. I had wondered what they were built for.
I JUST SAW HER YESTERDAY !!!!!!!!!!!
The last few Super Guppies were built by Airbus, because the company that designed it had gone out of business. They bought the rights to the designs and scrounged up the remaining C-97 and Stratoliner parts to build them. The last one built was finished about 1980. Once Airbus had finished building its Beluga fleet to replace the Super Guppies, they donated them to various museums and organizations around the world. The last one was traded to NASA, because NASA wanted the lowest time Super Guppy to fly oversized cargoes for them. They already had been operating a Super Guppy, and it became a source of spare parts for the last one which they still fly.
Flight 272 Fat Bastard to payload: "Get in my belly!"
Now, THAT'S a Wide Glide!
In 1980, when the "Macheteros" infiltrated the Puerto Rico Air National Guard base and destroyed a bunch of their jets (A-7Ds at the time,) the Guppies were flown in to remove the aircraft remains and take them to the Boneyard in Arizona. I will never forget the first time one flew over our house on its way to the airport in San Juan (our house at the time was right underneath the approach pattern into San Juan.)
I'm proud of Boeing's innovations and awesome adapations to markets over the decades. I understand the thing has to have a certain shape to do its job,
but that color! Why rub salt in Ugly! LOL It's a good thing airplanes don't have feelings.
" Note the tiny humans wa-a-y back there. ... or i guess we're looking forward?"
If you filled the cargo bay with ping-pong balls would it exceed the plane's gross takeoff weight? I heard that a Guppy could not take off with a cargo compartment filled with ping-pong balls. That should give you an idea about the density of an upper stage (which the Guppies were built to carry).
No, but I kinda think the entire nose section forward of the 'hump' is pressurized. (but I really don't know)
Looking at the graphic in post 18, it's going to take at least five LCF loads for each 787. Each load is a round trip to Wichita, Charelston, Italy or Japan.
I still can't believe they will crank one out every three days !!
Perhaps our unions have priced themselves out of the market?
I'll bet you 50 that is just primer. They will certainly give them nice livery
I hope you're right.
Lots of parts for Boeing planes are made by foreign contractors. The 777 has parts from Australia, Israel, China, Canada, Malaysia, and I'm sure there are more.
Wikki says a ping pong ball is 2.7 grams and 40mm diameter.
Using V= 4/3 pi r3 for the ball and volume of the LCF at 1840 m3 (from boeing.com), I came up with 148,254 kg, or 296,508 lbs.
But this figure doesn't account for the packing space between the balls, so the weight would be somewhat less.
This question alone is reason enough to establish a maximum zero-fuel weight during flight testing.
somebody check my calculation
I wonder how many a380 cargo configuration buyers are going, "why can't I buy one those instead?!"
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