Boeing is pointing increasingly to a late December first flight target for the 787 as it awaits completion of validation tests of the side-of-body modification that prevented the initial flight taking place in late June.

Preparations for the flight remain on hold until validation tests on static test airframe ZY997 are finished. Even then there’s more waiting to go through while Boeing and the FAA evaluate the results and confirm the design meets the required goals.

Although Boeing isn’t discussing the details of the static testing schedule, the implications are that pre-flight activity (gauntlet tests) could be getting underway around the end of November with the first flight window being Dec. 17-24. If more issues crop up, the company still has the remaining week in December to achieve its target of flying by yearend.