http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/apr2008/db2008043_948354.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5It is always dangerous to project or predict what could happen in the future ("for that's where you and I will spend the rest of our lives").
So here it goes: Boeing is asking for trouble. They have yet again postponed deliveries of their new 787 series aircraft. The Model 787, or "Dreamliner", is fast becoming just that, a dream. (In the eyes of its designers.)
Boeing has real experience on the issue of revolutionary aircraft types. The B-29, or "Superfortress", was a new generation of flying machine back in the early-mid 1940s; not only was it large, but it incorporated the latest advances in electronics and manufacturing techniques, in addition to some new ones like getting an aircraft from paper to flying status in a short amount of time.
This is where the fun begins: The Superfortress had many, many teething problems; from the engines to mechanical issues which had to be ironed out before it could fulfill its potential -- that of new and improved and revolutionary Superbomber. It has been said that more aircrew were killed on B-29s through mechanical failure than by enemy gunfire. As WW2 was an actual war, getting bugs resolved while flying the machine in combat was an accepted reality.
Boeing has tried to do too much with just one passenger aircraft model... they should have phased in new technologies through a series of models or 787 sub-types.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is in for some rough flying.
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