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/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> The Cafe >> A sad, but proud, ending.... /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1519012753 Message started by raydawg on 02/18/18 at 19:59:13 |
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Title: A sad, but proud, ending.... Post by raydawg on 02/18/18 at 19:59:13 I work at Boeing. My gig was one of the reasons this bird was no longer viable. I was on the 787 program from the start. The 747 was still in production, still is, but as a frighter, not passengers. I use to walk under her wing/body join, to get to my aircraft.... Her immense size always felt overwhelming. To stand next to her landing gear, looking up into the cavernous void where they stored, was like looking into a nice size living room. Her motors looked like they could take it to the moon, huge. Even her APU is bigger than what some of the current aircraft use as mains. She makes the current aircraft I’m building now seem like a toy, size wise. They have a modified 747, I believe 3, maybe 4, that they use to pick up parts, from around the world, to build the 787. They fit the whole tube, fuselage, into it, in sections, as well as the wings, with only a small section of wingtips, that need to be added once they off load them into the factory. It’s called a Dreamlifter, a double-decked 747, huge... Sometimes she looks like she isn’t even flying, more like just hanging in thin air. Anyway, thought I would share this link/story. I remember flying her to Hawaii, years ago, what a thrill. I was sitting way in the back, and to see this bird lift off and nose up, all I could think of is if folks undid their seat belts, I would be crushed by 100’s of people above me ;D https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/delta-boeing-747-retirement-flight/index.html |
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Title: Re: A sad, but proud, ending.... Post by SoC on 02/19/18 at 19:19:16 Thanks for the great report. I flew a 747 once to Europe, we were in Economy. When we landed and almost everyone was off the plane the flight attendant let us go upstairs to see First class. Te whole thing was pretty impressive. I didn't realize how impressive they were until a few years later my wife was flying to japan for business and I waited in the terminal at Newark Airport to watch the flight leave. When the plane taxied out it was huge, so much larger than anything on the tarmac. It was that moment I realized just what a presence it was, dwarfing all the other aircraft around it. To work airline assembly is the sort of thing folks don't get just how grand the scale it is. |
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Title: Re: A sad, but proud, ending.... Post by Papa Bear on 02/20/18 at 16:02:50 I toured the plant in 1995. Very impressive ! Cool beans, DAWG 8-) |
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Title: Re: A sad, but proud, ending.... Post by raydawg on 02/21/18 at 00:38:16 0E0F00010203040506370 wrote:
Boeing has added lots since then. They added a whole new facility to build the 777x, and they purchased and added another facility south of the factory you toured, it can house 7 twin isle aircraft, has a paint hanger as well. And then they built a brand new delivery center, it’s like a very plush airport, that holds 3 aircraft. |
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Title: Re: A sad, but proud, ending.... Post by Gary_in_NJ on 02/21/18 at 05:29:34 Boeing is a customer of mine. The company I work for has been a Boeing supplier since the mid-50's and a supplier for the 747 since day one. An impressive aircraft that changed air travel (for the better) and shrunk the globe. |
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Title: Re: A sad, but proud, ending.... Post by raydawg on 02/21/18 at 10:31:02 353F3B313A33373E606662520 wrote:
Yes Gary, you are so right..... The airplane was historical in the fact she bridged so many countries, etc, with travel that had never been available on her scale until she flew. My dad flew for American Airlines way back, but after I came along, last of 5, mom wanted dad at home ;D The 787 really extended on Boeing's use of vendors...... Mercy, that was a giant learning curve, I recall the frustrations I had in getting parts to complete my task, etc.... With the program running 3 years behind schedule, I can only imagine the financial drain it had on vendors/suppliers who put such a stake of their own, fiscally speaking, on that program. That plane is LOVED by the captains and the airlines. When you had two different manufacturers making different parts, that needed to mate upon assembly, and tolerance considerations met, but at opposite ends of that scale, oh goodness, I pulled out many a hair, and engineers made many revisions as we learned ;D |
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Title: Re: A sad, but proud, ending.... Post by Gary_in_NJ on 02/21/18 at 13:03:46 Yeah, I don't see Boeing ever designing another aircraft like the 787. It was a real fuster cluck. |
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Title: Re: A sad, but proud, ending.... Post by raydawg on 02/21/18 at 13:16:27 6A60646E656C68613F393D0D0 wrote:
Uh, we got one in the works now..... Go figger. I am just months out from retiring, so, I will keep my hair ;D |
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