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Randy Tinseth, vice president for marketing at Boeing’s commercial aircraft unit wrote in a blog post that workers at Boeing in Everett, Washington, have begun fixing a flaw on the first 787 Dreamliner test aircraft in preparation for its long-delayed first flight later this year.
Modifications to reinforce the areas where the plane’s wings join its body had recently begun, three months after the company again abruptly postponed the Dreamliner’s long-awaited test-flight program.

The sophisticated, composite material aircraft is already more than two years behind schedule and Boeing has been rushing to design, install and test a fix for the structural flaw discovered on the aircraft in late May.

In his blog post, Mr Tinseth wrote that the modifications are underway on both the first test plane and the so-called “static airframe”, an aircraft that Boeing conducts all types of tests on, but that won’t ever take a flight. He said modifications will soon begin on the other five 787 test aircraft, which are in various stages of final production.

The modifications are expected to take about 30 days, which means the first Dreamliner could fly by late October or early November.

At the same time, the company is moving to begin test-flying the revamped version of its iconic 747 jet, now dubbed the 747-8. The first of three 747-8 test aircraft is also supposed to fly by the end of the year.

On August 27, Boeing issued a revised flight-test and delivery schedule for the Dreamliner. Boeing now says the first test flight will happen sometime before the end of this year. That’s more than two years behind September 2007 date Boeing had initially envisioned for the first test flight. The company now plans to deliver to the first airline in the fourth quarter 2010.

Eventually, Boeing plans to use six 787’s in the test-flight program, which is expected to last up to a year. For months, Boeing had promised an accelerated test flight program of only eight to nine months, but recently gave itself extra leeway to handle any new problems that might crop up during the tests.

Boeing last month said it would take a $US2.5 billion write-off in the quarter that ends on September 30 relating to the Dreamliner program and said the first three test planes won’t be sold to customers. They hope the remaining three can be sold as business jets. Originally, all six aircraft had airline customers.

Earlier this month, the Chicago-based aerospace giant shuffled some of its top executives, replacing Scott Carson, who ran the commercial aircraft unit since 2006, with James Albaugh, the head of its defence unit.

From http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26122788-36375,00.html