Monday, July 09,

Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" Dream Began in Italy, Will Reap Rewards

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Boeing has won more than 600 orders for  the "Dreamliner" 787, mid-size, long-haul jet will burn less fuel, be cheaper to maintain and offer more passenger comforts than comparable planes flying today. Even it's fierce competitor Airbus expressed admiration.

 

But the "Dreamliner 787 would not have been possible except for Italy's Alenia/Finmeccanica focus and specialisation in composite materials since the 1980s,  which have enabled Alenia/Finmeccanica to reach "points of technological excellence" and superiority in the field. 

 

50% of the the "Dreamliner" 787 will be built of carbon fiber supplied by Alenia/Finmeccanica making it light enough to save 20% on fuel costs, an ecstatic Boeing chief James McNearney called "a dream come true".

 

The 787  will be the world's first large commercial airplane made mostly of carbon-fiber composites, which are lighter, more durable and less prone to corrosion than aluminum.

Alenia's relationship with Boeing goes back to the early 1960s when it made fuselage panels for the DC-9. Today, Alenia supplies parts for Boeing's 777 and 767 jets. It supplies Boeing with the outboard flap for the 777, the longest piece of composite structure on the 777, and  until Boeing's 717 went out of production earlier this year, Alenia built the fuselage.

But the 787 represents a new way of doing business for Alenia. Just as Boeing has outsourced most of the manufacturing work, Alenia has outsourced a significant amount of work to suppliers in Italy and in other parts of Europe.

For the 787,  Alenia will itself manufacture fuselage sections, numbered as 44 and 46, of the Dreamliner, which will be in the middle of the plane. So on land near this city of Grottaglie, near the port city of Taranto Puglia,  inside the heel of Italy's boot, on what only a year ago were groves of more than 1,000 olive trees, some 4 centuries old, a huge new factory has taken root. It is so big that 24 U.S. football fields could fit under its roof. Happy to report the 1,000 Olive trees were not destroyed, BUT replanted in nearby communities.

Alenia has a plant in Foggia (also in Puglia) that will supply the horizontal stabilizer for the 787, the winglike structure on the tail, which is about 65 feet long and, like the fuselage and wings of the 787, it will be composite.

Another Alenia plant at Pomigliano (in Campania, 9 miles N of Naples) will supply frames and shear ties for the Dreamliner. Some machined parts will come from the Alenia plant at Nola. (also in Campania, 16 miles ENE of Naples, better known as the origin of the "Feast of the Giglio" dates back to 409AD)

At one time, Alenia had nearly 200 of its Italian engineers working in Everett (Seattle Washington) with Boeing on the 787 program. Most have returned to Italy.

However, Boeing while impressed with the creativity, and engineering know how of the Italians, was surprised by the speed at which Alenia  moved on the building of the Grottaglie manufacturing center, with an area the size of two dozen American football fields and 40 million pounds of structural steel in its bones, AND produced the first pre-production fuselage sections for the 787.Dreamliner project , in a  year and a half!   Says Antonio Perfetti, Alenia Aeronauticas chief operating officer. This was not expected from those Italians. 

And on another topic, I have to say that I was disapointed that Italy was not more involved with the Airbus. I did not realize that Airbus Industrie, has long courted Alenia to become a full partner, but the company has steadfastly (yet politely) refused. Hugel points out that Alenia has developed new manufacturing capabilities and experience to be attractive to both Airbus and Boeing. Hugel says. Why apply them to only 50 percent of the market when you could get 100 percent?

Predictably, Alenia also does a lot of work for Airbus. It is the largest non-Airbus European partner on the 555-passenger A380, supplying Airbus with most of the plane's center fuselage section.

Alenia Aeronautica is a descendant of airplane builders Fiat and Aeritalia, and is pleasant to see that all of the 787 work to be done in Italy will be south of Rome, the headquarters.

See the articles below from the Los Angeles Times, ANSA, and the Seattle P-I (The most informative)

For those who REALLY want to know what goes on behind the scenes, read "Alenias Gamble" in Air Space Magazine.

http://www.airspacemag.com/issues/

2007/june-july/Alenia.php

 

 

Boeing's First 787 Has Big Debut

 

Thousands gather to watch the rollout of the completed Dreamliner. The firm has orders for more than 600 of them.

Los Angeles Times

From The Associated Press

July 9, 2007

EVERETT, WASH.  Boeing Co. unveiled its first fully assembled 787 on Sunday to an audience of thousands who packed into its wide-body assembly plant for the plane's extravagantly orchestrated premiere.

With flight attendants on stage from each airline that has ordered the jet, the giant factory doors opened wide as the plane slowly moved into view to the strains of a song composed specially for the 787, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner.

Boeing has won more than 600 orders from customers eager to hold the jet maker to its promise that the mid-size, long-haul jet will burn less fuel, be cheaper to maintain and offer more passenger comforts than comparable planes flying today.

The 787  Boeing's first all-new jet since airlines started flying the 777 in 1995  will be the world's first large commercial airplane made mostly of carbon-fiber composites, which are lighter, more durable and less prone to corrosion than aluminum.
< BR>The first test flight is expected to take place between late August and late September. The plane is set to enter commercial service next May after Japan's All Nippon Airways receives the first of the 50 it has ordered.

Boeing has won 677 orders for the new plane, selling out delivery positions through 2015, two years after Airbus expects to roll out its competing A350 XWB.

In a rare tip of the hat to the competition, Airbus congratulated Boeing on the 787, whose commercial success has chipped away at the edge the European plane maker once held over its Chicago-based rival.

"Even if tomorrow Airbus will get back to the business of competing vigorously, today is Boeing's day  a day to celebrate the 787," Airbus co-Chief Executive Louis Gallois said in a letter to Boeing Chairman and CEO James McNerney.

The 787 that debuted Sunday will serve as the first of six flight-test airplanes, while two other planes will be used for static and fatigue tests.

Boeing hired former "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw to serve as master of ceremonies for the 787 debut, which was broadcast live on the Internet and on satellite television in nine languages to more than 45 countries. The company set out 15,000 seats for spectators at the 787 factory.

DREAMLINER BOOST FOR ITALY

 

(ANSA) - Rome, July 9 - Boeing's revolutionary new Dreamliner 787 will provide a major boost for the Italian aerospace industry, officials said Monday.

The fuselage and other components of the new 'plastic' airliner have been built by Alenia Aerospazio, the aerospace
unit of Italian industrial group Finmeccanica.

Speaking as the Dreamliner was rolled out near Seattle, Finmeccanica chief Pier Francesco Guarguaglini told ANSA: "This is an important day for aeronautics and for Finmeccanica because it sees the birth of one of the most significant commercial successes in history".

He said Alenia's [a sister company of Finmeccanica] level of specialisation in composite materials were the fruit of targeted investment since the 1980s which have enabled Finmeccanica to reach "points of technological excellence" in the aerospace field."Thanks to the experience we have gained we will be able to achieve a position of leadership, bringing further important projects and business opportunities," Guarguaglini said.

Some 26% of the Dreamliner is Alenia's and will be produced in two plants in the southern Italian region of Puglia, at Grottaglie near Taranto and in Foggia.

"It's a really great day for Boeing's industrial collaboration with Alenia," said Boeing Italia chief Rinaldo Petrignani, noting that a plant the size of 15 soccer pitches had been set up at Grottaglie "in record time".

The airliner, billed as a response to Airbus's giant A380, is 50% built of carbon fiber making it light enough to save 20% on fuel costs.Boeing chief James McNearney called it "a dream come true".

As the A380 has struggled with delays that have hit orders, the Dreamliner has already spurred 100 billion dollars' worth of orders, he noted.

Ps. The reason 787 was shown yesterday cause it was 7/ 8/07

 

Boeing Dream Begins in Italy

In Europe, Home of AirbusSeattle P-I 

By  James Wallace

P-I Aerospace Reporter

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

GROTTAGLIE, In Italy , Europe, the home of Airbus, is playing a key role in the development of The Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner.

On land near this city inside the heel of Italy's boot, on what only a year ago were groves of more than 1,000 olive trees, some 4 centuries old, a huge new factory has taken root. It is so big that 24 U.S. football fields could fit under its roof.

The factory is owned and operated by Alenia Aeronautica, one of Europe's major aerospace companies, and will be used exclusively to produce two middle fuselage sections of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

"This program is in our heart," Giovanni Bertolone, chief executive of Alenia Aeronautica, said of the 787. "This adventure is a new way of working together. We are demonstrating advanced composite technology."

The Dreamliner will be the world's first large commercial jetliner with a composite airframe, including the fuselage. The program represents an evolutionary change from the way Boeing has built jetliners. Instead of Boeing doing most of the work, its partners such as Alenia Aeronautica are responsible for manufacturing the composite wings and fuselage.

Alenia has not yet started to manufacture the 787 fuselage sections that it is responsible for. But much of the high-tech tooling that will be needed is already in the factory.

"What I've been hoping to see for so long is now a reality," said Guglielmo Caruso, 787 program director for Alenia Aeronautica.

Alenia will manufacture fuselage sections, numbered as 44 and 46, of the Dreamliner, which will be in the middle of the plane.

The manufacturing process will begin in what's known as a clean room inside the factory, where an automated machine will lay down layers of carbon fiber material on a mold, or mandrel, in the shape of the fuselage barrel.

For section 46, for example, about 4,000 pounds of carbon fiber material will be used. That section will be nearly 19 feet in diameter and about 33 feet long. Fuselage section 44 will be the same diameter but about 28 feet long.

Because they are composite, each of these sections or barrels can be made as one large pressure vessel. For that, an autoclave is needed, and the Alenia plant has Europe's largest, measuring about 64 feet long and 28 feet wide.

The autoclave is essentially a giant oven that uses pressure and heat to cure the carbon fiber material. Each Alenia fuselage barrel will spend from six to eight hours in the autoclave. Alenia made sure its autoclave was big enough to accommodate longer fuselage sections that will be used later when Boeing stretches the Dreamliner to carry more passengers.

There are a number of other steps in the manufacturing process before a fuselage barrel is finished. Alenia executives said the entire process will initially take months, but they expect to cut the time by half.

Employment at the plant is expected to peak at about 500 in 2008.

Alenia's relationship with Boeing goes back to the early 1960s when it made fuselage panels for the DC-9. Today, Alenia supplies parts for Boeing's 777 and 767 jets. It supplies Boeing with the outboard flap for the 777, the longest piece of composite structure on the 777.

Until the plane went out of production earlier this year, Alenia built the fuselage for Boeing's 717.

Alenia also does a lot of work for Airbus. It is the largest non-Airbus European partner on the 555-passenger A380, supplying Airbus with most of the plane's center fuselage section.

But the 787 represents a new way of doing business for Alenia. Just as Boeing has outsourced most of the manufacturing work, Alenia has outsourced a significant amount of work to suppliers in Italy and in other parts of Europe.

Alenia also formed a 50-50 partnership with the U.S. company Vought, which is headquartered in Texas. The joint company, Global Aeronautica, has built a new plant in Charleston, S.C., where the two Alenia 787 fuselage sections will be joined, along with the forward fuselage section made by Kawasaki in Nagoya, Japan, and the center wing box made by Fuji at its Nagoya plant.

This entire Italian-Japanese-made fuselage section will then be flown to Boeing's Everett plant for final assembly of the Dreamliner. This will happen next year, with the first 787 flying by late summer of 2007.

Alenia, which is wholly owned by Finmeccanica, a global defense and aerospace company based in Italy, has other plants in this part of southern Italy that are involved in the 787 program.

The Grottaglie 787 plant is near the port city of Taranto. Alenia has a plant in Foggia that will supply the horizontal stabilizer for the 787, the winglike structure on the tail.

The horizontal stabilizer is about 65 feet long and, like the fuselage and wings of the 787, it will be composite.

Another Alenia plant at Pomigliano will supply frames and shear ties for the Dreamliner. Some machined parts will come from the Alenia plant at Nola.

At one time, Alenia had nearly 200 of its engineers in Everett working with Boeing on the 787 program. Most have returned to Italy.

Boeing has a handful of its people at the Alenia plant. Their work includes helping make sure the Large Cargo Freighter -- a modified 747 used to ferry the bulky pieces to fuselage assembly hub in Charleston -- can land at the airstrip next to the Alenia plant. That runway is being lengthened from about 5,800 feet to more than 10,000 feet to accommodate the freighter.

At least there are no more olive trees to remove. When they were dug up to make way for the 787 factory, they were not destroyed but replanted in nearby communities.

The extended runway will be finished before the end of the year. And the first Alenia-built 787 fuselage barrels, along with the horizontal stabilizer, should be in Charleston sometime in the first quarter of 2007.....

P-I aerospace reporter James Wallace can be reached at 206-448-8040 or jameswallace@seattlepi.com.

 

 

The ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed (and are Archived) on:

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Annotico Email: annotico@earthlink.net