Boeing delays maiden Dreamliner flight

Boeing has been forced to postpone the first flight of its troubled 787 Dreamliner, its flagship new aircraft development programme, after discovering a weakness in the structure of the jet.

The US aircraft maker, which was already running nearly two years behind schedule, had been due to make the maiden flight by June 30.

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The problems at Boeing are a stark reminder of the daunting complexity of developing new generation large commercial aircraft and follow more than two years of delays suffered previously by Airbus in bringing its A380 superjumbo into commercial service.

Boeing is greatly increasing the use of lighter materials in the 787, including the first all-composite airframe, and has tried to streamline manufacturing and assembly processes and to outsource much more of the engineering and manufacturing to suppliers around the globe.

For the first time the wings of a Boeing aircraft are being made in Japan, which is accounting for 35 per cent of the airframe in total, with other key outside suppliers in Italy and the US. Boeing said it was engaged with both Mitsubishi and Fuji Heavy Industries in engineering the necessary reinforcement parts.

The unexpected stresses in the structure had been found in 36 places, 18 on each side of the aircraft, at the join of the wing to the body, each in areas of one to two square inches.

The A380 delays were a sign that Airbus's multinational structure and management, laden with heavy state interference, did not work. This time, of course, it is just because of the complexity of designing aircraft.

Europe. Is. So. Doomed.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes