Dreamliner

11.22.09

787 Dreamliner's First Flight Delayed Yet Again

Structural reinforcement for a side-of-body panel is the latest hold-up

By John Mahoney Posted 06.23.2009 at 11:35 am 8 Comments

Boeing announced today that they would not hit their latest scheduling target of a first Dreamliner flight before the end of this month, needing to go back to the drawing board for structural reinforcement of a side-of-body panel. This is the latest in a series delays, and it will almost certainly push back the current first-delivery target of Q1 2010.

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READ MORE ABOUT > 787, aircraft, airliners, airlines, aviation, boeing, Dreamliner, test flights

How It Works: The Dreamliner's Super-Efficient Powerplant

The GEnx engine, the powerplant of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, burns 15 percent less fuel than conventional jet engines by using fewer components and lighter composite parts. Flying in 2009, the engine will also be quieter and more durable

By Eric Adams Posted 03.13.2008 at 3:34 pm 2 Comments

In a high-bypass turbofan engine like the GEnx, 90 percent of the thrust comes from spinning fan blades in front that draw in massive quantities of air and force it out in a ring around the engines center, or core. The GEnxs primary innovation is in its fan blades, which have been reshaped to move air more efficiently with fewer blades and are made of carbon fiber to save weight.

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READ MORE ABOUT > 787, april 2008, boeing, Dreamliner, General Electric, GEnx, how it works, jet engine, lightweight composite materials

Fly the Eco-Friendly Skies

Environmentalists and everyday air travelers alike are growing increasingly aware of the airline industry's greenhouse-gas problem. As demands for greener air travel grow, will technology come to the rescue of the jumbo jet?

By Dennis Gaffney Posted 02.04.2008 at 5:13 pm 3 Comments

Last summer, more than 1,000 environmentalists in the U.K. staged a weeklong protest in a "Climate Camp" at Heathrow Airport, where about 70 people were arrested. Their immediate purpose was to block a planned expansion of Heathrow, but the protests highlighted a growing complaint in Europe—that the ride to global-warming catastrophe is being fueled not only by coal-fired power plants and SUVs, but also by the ever-rising number of commercial jets. Now governments are starting to listen.

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READ MORE ABOUT > airlines, airplanes, blended wing, boeing, dennis gaffney, Dreamliner, eco-friendly, February 2008