Pat Shanahan, vice president and general manager of airplane programs at Boeing, hints that first flight of ZA001 could be a lot closer than the end of the month. Speaking at the Paris air show this afternoon, Shanahan says the test team will conduct a flight readiness review this coming Saturday, before progressing to final gauntlet.Shanahan, who characterized the current work as engineering tests rather than final gauntlet tests, says a final systems software load was developed to incorporate results of intermediate and factory gauntlet and that this is running well. “We feel confident we’ll go to final gauntlet and then do slow and high-speed taxi tests. Final gauntlet is less than intermediate gauntlet, so we won’t be flying tomorrow or Sunday, but thereafter.”Shanahan also cautioned that the closer to the end of June the first flight comes the greater the chance of entry into service slipping into April 2010. “As we get to the end of second quarter we continue to put a lot of pressure on that date.” However he says the robustness of systems proven during intermediate gauntlet “gave us confidence we can continue at the flight rate we need to in the certification program.” He concedes, however, that “there’s not a lot of margin” in the planned eight and a half month long flight test and certification program. Following the recent delivery of the long-delayed center fuselage barrel for ZA100, the first delivery aircraft for ANA, Shanahan also acknowledges that “the pacing item is the work flow out of Global Aeronautica.” The joint Alenia North America-Boeing company in Charleston, South Carolina, is responsible for assembly, integration and systems testing on over 50% of the fuselage mid-section, but has continued to suffer from “a traveled work issue and are incorporating design changes.” The remaining elements of the 787 supply chain are in better shape and ready to support the coming production rate increase, he adds.
