Inside the Boeing Factory

[Syl]

Originally Posted by unjung

The level of responsibility the assemblers have must be very high. It's like assembling multiple spacecraft, really. One loose wire and you kill a lot of people.

There's a bit of redundancy to make sure that doesn't happen.

Sadly, with aerospace stuff, there actually hasn't been that much new stuff in a few decades. Few people have mentioned the SR-71. Heck, it still holds records from 30 odd years ago. Unfortunately there's been very little work to make modern aircrafts faster. Nowadays it's all about fuel efficiency i.e. lower drag, lighter materials, better control surfaces etc.
Heck, there's more search on making planes quieter than making them faster.

Not saying there's anything wrong with the approach but the 70s was really the heyday of aerospace. We need another good cold war to get moving again.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by Syl

There's a bit of redundancy to make sure that doesn't happen. Sadly, with aerospace stuff, there actually hasn't been that much new stuff in a few decades. Few people have mentioned the SR-71. Heck, it still holds records from 30 odd years ago. Unfortunately there's been very little work to make modern aircrafts faster. Nowadays it's all about fuel efficiency i.e. lower drag, lighter materials, better control surfaces etc. Heck, there's more search on making planes quieter than making them faster. Not saying there's anything wrong with the approach but the 70s was really the heyday of aerospace. We need another good cold war to get moving again.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scramjet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramjet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-51A_Waverider

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by .George

Well, its not just a matter of scaling things up. If only it were that simple.
George, I'm recalling that you aren't old enough to remember slide rules -- other than, say, the bezel of a Breitling watch -- and punch cards ... am I right?

Back when I took structures -- and lived in the town of Bedrock -- there were no sophisticated calculators -- well, not one that was affordable and/or portable -- and it was the slide rule or nothing. Then came the TI SR-50 and everything changed. Goodbye slide rule.

Okay ... back to Boeing. I get to drive by that field quite often.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by RSS

George, I'm recalling that you aren't old enough to remember slide rules -- other than, say, the bezel of a Breitling watch -- and punch cards ... am I right?

Back when I took structures -- and lived in the town of Bedrock -- there were no sophisticated calculators -- well, not one that was affordable and/or portable -- and it was the slide rule or nothing. Then came the TI SR-50 and everything changed. Goodbye slide rule.

Okay ... back to Boeing. I get to drive by that field quite often.

Curta baby!

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by Pilot

There is a (I believe) PBS documentary about the latest joint strike fighter where the US gov gives Boeing and Lockheed 1bn apiece to build 2 aircraft. very fascinating documentary. Shows you how complex building an aircraft from scratch is.
I believe you're referring to the Nova special, and it's available on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/watch/23356/nova...f-the-x-planes PBS also has a mini-site for it: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/xplanes/ I remembered feeling kind of sorry for the Boeing guys when they kept finding voids inside their CFRP wing: apparently the entire bottom of their prototype aircraft was CFRP, and the wing was an integral part of that structure.

Originally Posted by Syl

Sadly, with aerospace stuff, there actually hasn't been that much new stuff in a few decades.
I disagree. Stealth is a huge advance, and computer-controlled planes (ie. planes which have computers to help them fly) are also a really big advance. --Andre

 

[Redwoood]

The complexity of today's planes or many other non-trivial constructions is mind-boggling but also somewhat depressing.
In the 40s Germany managed to develop and mass-produce the world's first operational fighter-jet in just a few years... and there was a war going on at that time, too! (now, that's a good motivation, but it also drains a lot of resources)
Not to mention the dozens of other German designs that were domestically developed and produced around the same time.

Nowadays, they have to get together with the Brits, the Italians, and the Spaniards to build just the Eurofighter, and it still went over budget and over time, and they could barely afford it when it was ready.
It seems the speed of progress in the physical world is following a logarithmic trajectory.

 

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by A Y

I believe you're referring to the Nova special, and it's available on Hulu:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/23356/nova...f-the-x-planes

PBS also has a mini-site for it:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/xplanes/

I remembered feeling kind of sorry for the Boeing guys when they kept finding voids inside their CFRP wing: apparently the entire bottom of their prototype aircraft was CFRP, and the wing was an integral part of that structure.



I disagree. Stealth is a huge advance, and computer-controlled planes (ie. planes which have computers to help them fly) are also a really big advance.

--Andre


Yeah that's the documentary. What sucks is that Boeing pretty much met all the requirements the gov wanted and essentially made a safer, cheaper design. The F35 just looked too badass for them to pick the Boeing, which resembled a guppy.

 

[Journeyman]

Originally Posted by Pilot

Yeah that's the documentary. What sucks is that Boeing pretty much met all the requirements the gov wanted and essentially made a safer, cheaper design. The F35 just looked too badass for them to pick the Boeing, which resembled a guppy.

Given the massive cost blowouts and delivery delays (years behind schedule), they're probably regretting going with the F-35 now...

 

[mr.orange]

Originally Posted by Mr Herbert

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Will he live a normal life?
No, he'll be an engineer.

great way to start the morning.

Originally Posted by RSS

wth is this? LOL I supposed I just got rick rolled.

 

[L.R.]

People should check out the documentary about the design competition for the F-35. Pretty cool stuff.

 

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by L.R.

People should check out the documentary about the design competition for the F-35. Pretty cool stuff.

Didn't read the thread huh?

 

[Coburn]

Redwood just alerted me to this thread.

I've worked in that factory off and on for the last 4 years on the 787.

In the upper left hand corner of slide 3 you will see a lighted area with I beams crossing diagonally across the open space. My desk is about 20 feet back from there.

Earlier this winter I worked on the 747-8 pictured in slides 9 and 10.

BTW, that massive blue and yellow fixture you see surrounding the empennage in slide 3 is called the "MOAT" tool.

I kid you not, MOAT = Mother of All Tools.

Coburn

 

[ShayaEXQT]

that factory must take an hour to walk from one end to the other, huge aint the word