Boeing’s flightless wonder turns and brakes…

One day before the second anniversary of the ‘faux’ roll out of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the prototype has moved under its own power at Paine field, Everett, near Seattle.

No test flight program for the 787 has been given since its ballyhooed first flight on 30 June was cancelled at short notice only days after Boeing management insisted it would fly on that day.

Boeing is now considering what to do after the wing join area began to break apart in a static test late in May well short of the stress levels required for certification for operations. The wing had already been partially stress tested in April.

Unofficial estimates of a minimum delay of 18 months have been circulated in the US.

With entry into service not expected until sometime in 2011 for the initial 787-8 model, the delivery of the stretch, the 787-9, now promised for mid 2013 for Qantas subsidiary Jetstar looks like being pushed back to 2015.

It is going to take more than pretty pictures to make the Dreamliner a reality. Starting with a new connection between the wing and the wing box under the central section of the ‘plastic fantastic’ high composite, and it seems, high weight, airliner.