Boeing 787 Dreamliner : An Innovation

Boeing’s CDA (Concept Demonstration Aircraft) completely broke the mold with their design, which was very different to say the least. Their X-32 aircraft’s skin was composed of a material known as a “thermoplastic matrix”, which was a composite material embedded in an epoxy resin. When heated, this material undergoes a chemical reaction, thus forming a “highly rigid component” (Sweetman 64). This composite material would give the designers the ability to re-heat and re-shape the wing without having to start over from the beginning. Boeing insisted on using this kind of material because it provided them a way to cut cost. This kind of philosophy, accompanied with their lack of experience in building military aircraft, cost them in the end. After months of demonstrations between both CDA‘s, it was Lockheed Martin’s X-35 that was chosen due to their lift-fan design. The advantage of the lift-fan design, when compared to Boeing’s vectored thrust approach, was that it provided more excess power (F-35 Lightning II). With the 126-month, $13 billion contract in hand, the clock was now running for Lockheed Martin to begin production on the aircraft (Sweetman 95).

Picture from Norris, G.; Thomas, G.; Wagner, M. and Forbes Smith, C. (2005), “Boeing 787 Dreamliner – Flying Redefined”. Aerospace Technical Publications International, ISBN 0-9752341-2-9.

Many consider Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner an example of a failed project. Twenty-six billion dollars over budget, almost four years late, and several quality issues surround the innovative new aircraft (Ausick 2014). This paper explores Boeing’s approach of materializing the Dreamliner from a project management perspective by comparing the company’s undertakings with project management principles.

Through research about composite and bio-composite, there are many advantage and disadvantages in aircraft construction. Definition for composite, a material that are made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties when combined, produce a material with characteristic different from the individual components. The individual components remain separate and distinct within the finished structure. In aircraft, the first composite aircraft was in 1916, era of World War 1, when British launched a Bristol Scout from Felixstowe. Between the World War, American experiments with airship composites led to the construction of two aircraft carriers, while the British Short Mayo seaplane composite demonstrated successful transatlantic mail delivery. During the Second World War, some composites saw operational use including the Mistel, the larger unmanned component of a composite aircraft configuration developed in Germany at the end of World War 2. Experiments continued into the jet age, with large aircraft carrying fully capable parasite fighters or reconnaissance drones.

Today we have planes packed with technology like the 787 Dreamliner The wings of the Boeing 787 are so flexible because its carbon fiber material can be stretched more, and the high aspect ratio of 11 will magnify this effect. In flight, all you will feel is less shaking due to gusts, because the wing will dampen load changes more effectively. On the ground, the wing might have less tip clearance, because less in-built dihedral is needed – the rest is supplied by the wing’s elasticity in

Hence, Boeing finally lost control on all the development activities as they outsourced the manufacturing of the 787.The lack of experience of the engineers and use of composite material also contributed to the fall of Boeing (Cohan, 2011).

Analysts predict that the Aerospace and Defense industry will experience a number of trends over the next few years. First, the changes in global economy in the Asia/Pacific regions will shift the largest market from North America and Europe to the Asia/Pacific market (Hoover’s, 2018). Second, manufacturers will implement more sustainable and affordable operations. For example, manufactures are researching materials science to develop composites. With composite materials

In order to evaluate the prospective IRRs from the Boeing 7E7, we first try to estimate an appropriate required rate of return for accepting this project. The capital asset pricing model is applied to estimate the cost of equity of the commercial aircraft division:

NASA has been developing more and more eye catching technology for aviation. Recently NASA has developed two new experiments that are designed to help reduce fuel consumption and emissions. The experiments will be fitted on to the Boeing 757 and the airplane will be called the ecoDemonstrator. The two new experiments are small devices that blow jets of air and the other is a non-stick coating that well be put on the leading edge of the wings. As Fay Collier manager for the NASA Aeronautics Research Missions says “both are designed to improve the airflow over the surface and ultimately reduce drag”.

There were also some unknown variables that needed to be taken into account. Development and per-copy costs were the costs that the board wanted to minimize. The forecast assumes that development costs would be $8 billion. There was great uncertainty surrounding the manufacturing cost of the 7E7. The element that adds the most uncertainty to the manufacturing costs are in the engineering of the aircraft. While the engineering costs could be high, Boeing was hoping that the lower construction costs of using the composite materials would compensate for the elevated engineering costs.

The technology on the 787 is revolutionary. It has many features unique to this aircraft. One of which is the smooth wing technology. This is put into use on the trailing edge, the side towards the rear of the aircraft, of the wing. The design of this particular edge is shaped to reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency, when compared to other similar aircraft. In addition to the shape, the trailing edge flaps are specifically designed to incorporate smaller tracks than traditionally used on aircraft. The 787’s pivot trailing edge also has a simpler design that contains fewer parts than conventional aircraft, reducing both weight and maintenance costs. The composite materials that the wing is

In the world of commercial flights, we can all nod in agreement that the Boeing series must be one of the best there is of its kind. We have all seen Boeing planes circle the skies, and some of us are even lucky to have experienced riding them first-hand. The sheer size of a Boeing aircraft is just magnificent and its reliability for a safe travel is surely second to none.

In assessing the current situation for the Boeing 747-8, there are many things that we need to look at. There is a passenger version and a freight version of the aircraft and this analysis will mainly focus on the passenger plane. We will first look at the current performance, which is going to show us some concerns we can address at a later time. Next we will look at the overall market demand and the specific decreased demand for this product. No analysis would be complete without looking at the competition and the planes that are more likely to be direct competition for the 747-8. Lastly, we will look at the customer needs, and how Boeing may create a competitive position and increase value for their customers and themselves in the future.

Boeing’s newest jet, the 787, is made out of composite plastics and carbon fiber in order to

1. What is an appropriate required rate of return against which to evaluate the prospective IRRs from the Boeing 777?