Live chat with Boeing 7E7 expert

[Lucky]

Heres a letter I had emailed to me today,
thought some of you may be interested to join the chat.


Dear World Design Team members,

Please join us on-line with Tom Cogan, Chief Project Engineer on the Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner.

He'll be on-line in Seattle at 5:30 PM (17:30) Pacific Daylight Time, Wednesday, August 18th -that's 12:30 AM August 19th Greenwich Mean Time.

Log on then and learn more about the future of flight!

Tom leads the Boeing team of experts that are designing and building the 7E7 Dreamliner. He's responsible for the definition and product integrity of the new airplane.

Ask him whatever you want to about the new airplane. Tell him what you hope the 7E7 Dreamliner will look like. Read his answers to questions from World Design Team members around the world.

Thank you for being a part of the World Design Team. We look forward to hearing from you on Wednesday.

The Boeing Design Team

Click here to join the chat on Wednesday
http://www.newairplane.com/en-US/WDT/EngineerChat.htm

I got the email too. Seems interesting.

[SWA_Mark]

Chat is open to join right now, http://www.newairplane.com/en-US/WDT/LiveChat.htm

ill post some transcripts from time to time here on JC when the chat starts [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[SWA_Mark]

If you find spelling errors, sorry, i cant cut n paste directly from chat so i had to type em up and post em, and i was trying as fast as i can.


Do you already have firm committments from Airlines?

- Yes, ANA launched the progeam with an order of 50 airplanes. Three other customers have annoucned that htey will be taking a total of 12 others for a otoal of 62 so far.


How do you see the market moving wiht the high number of orders registered by Airbus with the 380?

- Weve always said there was some need for a larger airplane but overall the larger market by far is for an airplane that offers point to point service and better effiency.

From a telecommunications point of view, could the 7e7 become a mobile telecom node allowing passengers to remain connected at all times?

-That part of the market is developing rapidly. The 7e7 has an open systems architecture that will be able to accomidate new technologies that allow this functionality.

If seat spacing is determined by the airlines, will this negate any benefit of the 7e7 for the passenger?

- No! The larger windows, lower cabin altitude, higher humidity, bigger stowage bins, inproved lighting will all contribute to a better flying experience.

more coming

[SWA_Mark]

Can you explain a bit on how the 7e7 uses composite materials?

-Roughly 50 percent of the airplane will be made of composite materials including a majority of the exposed surface area -- fuselage, wings and tail.

What will be the date for the first flight?

- Mid 2007

What engine manfac. will be chosen to produce engines for the 7e7?

- GE and Rolls-Royce

Is the 7e7 using some technology that already exists in todays planes along with new technology or was everything for this plane totaly redesigned?

- The airplane is all-new design including the engines

Are their anymore airlines looking to get the 7e7?

- Yes, we have proposals out of more than 30 airlines for 600 airplanes

What is the cost per unit?

- about the same as the 767 about 120 million

What are the criterias that airlines are interested in while they m ake their decisions to buy the 7e7 over say Airbus?

-They are looking at the best fit for their needs and the best value. The analysis includes, speed, range, efficience, and flexibilty among other factors.

Will ETOPS 180 certification come at entry of service or later?

- We expect the airplane to be ETOPS certified at entry of service in 2008

[SWA_Mark]

Have you considered a design that will take the IFE seat boxes out from under the seats. In coach this has been as serious complaint.

- Yes, we are looking seriously using wireless IFE

Sounding like all marketing speak, lets get more i nfo in this chat --- what are the biggest challenges for you building a new plane? How many people on the team? what keeps you up at night?

- Biggest Challenges -- finding the technical solutions to achieve our performance targets, being disciplined in making deiciosns at the rightr time and acheving our schedule goals. These are some of the challenges we face on every new program.

- How many people -- Its harder to answer than it sounds, some people work par time and then support other projects. Its alot of people at Boeing and our partners but i cant give a specific number

- What keeps me up at night -- Is sleep pretty well at night, we have a good team working on this project.

Will Boeing be able to capture its market share thats been lost to Airbus? Is this plane the answer?

-We belive the 7e7 is an airplane that will provide high value to the airlines -- ultimately that will make it a huge success int he market place.

Are there goals to be achieved converning CO, NOx emmission and noise level?

- Yes, weve set aggressive enviromental goals and making good progress.

How powerful are the engines?

- Approx. 70,000lbs. of thurst

In an international, triclass configuration the 7e7-8 will hold 217 passengers

Will this plane be offered as a BBJ?

-Yes, if there is interest in the market for a business jet version of the 7e7, it can be used for that purpose. (Do you want to use my employee discount?)

How much sonic cruiser technology has made it into the 7e7?

- All off the technology, only the configuration is different. Were using the technology to achieve efficiencey istead of speed -- just what our customers want.

[SWA_Mark]

Can you expand on the interchangable feature of the RR and GE engines?

- For the first time, we are designing a Boeing jet to allow airlines to change engine types afte delivery. Its as simple as mounting a new engine, and strut and loading new software.

Has a deicision been made on Auxiliary power use, Ie. fuel cells, or APU?

- The airplane will use an APU at entry of service. The architechture will allow the possiblity of a fuel cell in the future.

Do you see a future for the 767 after the dreamliner enters service?

- As long as customers keep buying the 767, we will produce it.

How is the aircraft pressurized without using any bleed air from the engines?

- Using electronic compressors

Does the cockpit have a heads up display?

- Yes, dual heads up display will be basic on the airplane.

Will the variations as the 7e7-100, 7e7-200 etc, and which "series" will be the first one released?

-Variations are notied as the 7E7-3 for the short range, 7E7-8 for the baseline version and the 7E7 -9 for the longer rance version. the 7E7-8 will be first then by the 7E7-3

Is this considered a widebody aircraft? ie. palletized cargo vs. freehold?

- Yes, it's a widebody will have palletized and cargo containers with a small space for bulk cargo in the aft cargo hold.


>>chat ends 6:33PST.

[gurisudenko]

Heads-up display

That was the coolest part of the chat. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/spin2.gif[/img]