Boeing celebrated a historic moment as its first 787-10 Dreamliner moved into the Final Assembly plant in South Carolina on Wednesday, a production milestone for the newest and largest member of the Dreamliner family.
The first aftbody and midbody barrels for the first 787-10 were delivered to the North Charleston Final Assembly building, marking a great milestone for 787-10 program, according to Randy's Journal.
During a ceremony for Boeing employees, the mid-body and aft cabin structures were rolled into the building. The third section, the forward fuselage, is being made at Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita, Kan., and will be moved to North Charleston.
The three pieces will be assembled and the plane moved to the adjacent flightline for testing in 2017. Delivery of the first 787-10 is scheduled the following year.
As a straightforward stretch of the 787-9, which entered service in 2014, Boeing designed the 787-10 for both superior efficiency and maximum commonality. Ninety-five percent of the design and build of the 787-10 and 787-9 will be identical, reducing complexity, cost and risk across the entire production system while providing operational benefits to customers.
To date, the 787-10 has won 154 orders from nine leading customers around the world. Singapore Airlines, which has 30 787-10s on order, will get the first 787-10, although the first plane that's delivered might not be the first one that's built.
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