Aug 10
17
The all new sexy Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Boeing commercial airplanes has a new model, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This new aircraft is currently in development, early production phase at the time of this post with only 5 built.
The Boeing 787 is a long range mid-sized wide body twin engine jet airliner.
It is the worlds first airliner to use mostly composite materials in its construction making it Boeing’s most fuel efficient airliner. It is mainly composed of composite materials, aluminium, titanium and steel. Most of the composite materials used is carbon fiber which providers a higher strength to weight ration than conventional materials.
Originally named the Boeing 7E7 in January 2003, Boeing renamed the aircraft to its current designator of 787 in January 2005. The aircraft was designed to replace Boeing 757′s and 767′s and to compete against Airbuses A300/A310 and A330. Three original variants at the moment are offered. The 787-8 is the smallest variant seating 210 to 250 pages depending on the seating arrangement. With a range of up to 15200 kms, this aircraft can be used in the non-stop flight market. The slightly larger 787-9 variant can seat 250 to 290 PAX and has a slightly larger range than the 787-8 variant. The third variant, the 787-3, seats the most PAX (290 to 330) but has a much shorter range than the other 2 which is target at more shorter, high density routes.
In the future, Boeing plans to release the 787-10 variant which will compete with the Airbus A350 and replace Boeing’s own 777. This variant will have less range of the 787-8 and 787-9 but will compensate with a extra seating .
This aircraft will be able to provide in flight internet access to its passengers. There was some concern that this would be a security risk as passengers might hack into the plans control, navigation and communication systems, but Boeing has put into place security measures (both hardware and software) such as physical separation of the 2 networks and firewalls.
To date 847 orders have been placed with All Nippon Airways receiving the first 787 and also has the largest bulk of the orders.
