With the virtual display behind the stage, 787 program general manager Mike Bair explains what workers can expect. Wish I could have been there. Must have been very cool!
Posted on 12/06/2006 10:46:49 PM PST by bellevuesbest
EVERETT -- With the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner only about eight months away, The Boeing Co. conducted a "virtual" rollout of the plane Wednesday before several thousand 787 workers here.
On a huge screen in one of the Everett factory bays, they watched various computer simulations of how the Dreamliner will come together, ranging from parts installation to final assembly.
It was no video game.
The 16 terabytes of design, manufacturing and assembly data for the 787 are stored on servers in Bellevue. The digital tooling details where every screw and bolt will go and how the wings and fuselage sections will be joined in final assembly.
"It's exciting, but the more exciting day will be when it actually flies out of here," said Cat McCabe, a project manager responsible for integrated technical solutions.
"It's nice to finally see what you have put all our work into and see how it will all fit together," said McCabe, who has been with the 787 program for only about six months, but with Boeing 26 years.
The 787 digital tooling, from Dassault Systems, cut a year off the development time -- to four years from the five it took for Boeing's last plane, the 777, said Boeing's Kevin Fowler, vice president of process integration and tooling for the 787 program.
The 777 was Boeing's first jetliner to be designed using digital tools, but they could not simulate manufacturing and assembly. Those tools now exist for the 787.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
With the virtual display behind the stage, 787 program general manager Mike Bair explains what workers can expect. Wish I could have been there. Must have been very cool!
Ping
They'll only be two people on the first flight and both will be wearing parachutes.
Airbust execs should watch this so they can actually see how to build a plane that flys.
This is true. I won't be one of those guys. :p
But how do they escape from the plane to be able to use the parachutes? If they were to jump out of the cabin door behind the cockpit, wouldn't they be likely to hit the wing or get ingested by the engine?
Amazing...they got the entire plane in 3D modelling and it all fits together......contrast the Airbust 380 fiasco....even the wiring didn't line up.
I guess you confused something - the 787 doesn't exist. I don't guess they had every detail simulated for a virtual roll out. This is a marketing event.
The 787 will be the first Boeing that will follow a more airbus like production process having the key parts manufactured and designed in Japan - there's enough room for delays and problems - since the 787 as the 380 is a revolutionary new concept.
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