Boeing 777X

[stevej37]

426 passengers plus the crew!
Each engine is big enough to fit the fuselage of a 737 inside....incredible!
Won't be ready for service until 2025

https://news.yahoo.com/boeings-enormous-flagship-plane-777x-202149901.html

[javadog]

I’m sure it’s an impressive plane but all of my trans-continental trips have been on a 747, which remains my favorite for that type of trip. Well, except for maybe one or two that I did on a 707 back in the 1960s…

[stevej37]

Hate to see it go...but it looks like it's about over. (Except for cargo carrying)



"There are now only 13 passenger airlines around the world that actively operate the Boeing 747. The majority are now located in Russia, the Middle East and Asia following a big drop in airframes in Europe and America over the last two years."

Airline Country 747-200 747-400 747-8 Total
Air China China 0 3 7 10
Air India India 0 4 0 4
Asiana Airlines South Korea 0 1 0 1
Caspian Airlines Iran 1 0 0 0
China Airlines China 0 4 0 4
Iran Air Iran 1 0 0 1
Iraqi Airways Iraq 0 2 0 2
Korean Air South Korea 0 2 10 12
Lufthansa Germany 0 8 19 27
Mahan Air Iran Air 0 1 0 1
Rossiya Airlines Russia 0 9 0 9
Terra Avia Moldova 0 1 0 1
Thai Airways Thailand 0 8 0 8

[javadog]

That’s a bummer. That cuts my odds of taking a trip to Japan in a few years by at least half.

[stevej37]

Maybe Spirit will pick-up that route.
They use Airbus.

[Jeff Higgins]

One of the last things I did before retiring was to work with the other design engineer in my AOG Tool Engineering group to design the tooling that bores the hingeline for the folding wingtip. This June will mark five years since I retired. I find it astonishing that deliveries are still over a year away.



The company tapped us for this task even though it had nothing to do with our "normal" AOG related responsibilities. Turns out we kind of developed a reputation as the "go-to" guys in the company when it came to these kinds of boring operations.

Just prior to this, I had finished the design of in-situ tooling that we use to replace the main landing gear pivot bushings on the 777. We hang this tooling in the the wheel wells on 777 aircraft after having removed its landing gear. Its function is to first press out a large bronze bushing (about 12" diameter), then to bore oversize (to remove any corrosion) the hole for this bushing, which is located in the landing gear beam that spans from the rear spar to the center bulkhead. Over time, just like in our cars, these wear and need replacement, which also entails cleaning up the hole in the beam to remove any corrosion that might be found.

Prior to the completion of this tool, the Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) for the 777 specified that this beam be removed from the aircraft and placed on a hydraulic press to first remove the old bushing, then on a vertical mill to perform the machine work necessary for replacement of that bushing, then back to the press for installation, then back to the mill to bring it to finish I.D. One can imagine how delighted the airlines were when we introduced this tool and eliminated the need to remove that beam, and they could do all of that right there on the airplane, in the wheel wells. Of course one of the requirements for use of this tooling was that I had to travel with it, along with a couple of our machinists, to do the work. We did not allow airlines to utilize this tooling without our oversight.

It was that kind of work that sort of earned the two of us the reputation as "the most boring guys at Boeing". And, from what we learned by developing methods to do this in the field (often under less than ideal conditions), we were able to provide a pretty nifty solution to the manufacturing guys on the wing tip hingeline. Fun stuff, for guys like me.

[stevej37]

^^^ What is the purpose of the wing-let? and why was it made to fold-up?

[Jeff Higgins]

Too much wingspan to fit existing gate and taxiway widths.

[stevej37]

^^^ Ahh...I see.

[GG Allin]

I wonder what it's cargo capacity is compared to the 747.

[stevej37]

^^^ It must be huge.
If the engine will hold the size of a 737 fuselage...there is surely a lot of cargo space.

I'm not sure of the engine mfg...but I think it's Rolls Royce (or maybe GE) I could be wrong.
Higgins would know.

[oldE]

The article says General Electric Aviation GE9X.

Best
Les

[Jeff Higgins]

I bet that, eventually, all three will supply engines. Different airlines prefer one manufacturer over the others for whatever reasons are important to them. Interestingly, they often procure engines separately from airframes, then the airframe manufacturer simply hangs whatever they are provided by the airline. There are, of course, design and performance parameters that the engine manufacturers must meet to even be eligible for installation on any given airframe. The airframe folks work very closely with the power plant folks, of course, in a very collaborative environment.

[stevej37]

My first job out of HS was for Howmet. We made the turbine vanes for GE and RR along with other companies.
Late 70's.

I worked in the gauging dept.

[stevej37]

It's an awesome looking plane...I hope it works out great.

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

One of the last things I did before retiring was to work with the other design engineer in my AOG Tool Engineering group to design the tooling that bores the hingeline for the folding wingtip. This June will mark five years since I retired. I find it astonishing that deliveries are still over a year away.



The company tapped us for this task even though it had nothing to do with our "normal" AOG related responsibilities. Turns out we kind of developed a reputation as the "go-to" guys in the company when it came to these kinds of boring operations.

Just prior to this, I had finished the design of in-situ tooling that we use to replace the main landing gear pivot bushings on the 777. We hang this tooling in the the wheel wells on 777 aircraft after having removed its landing gear. Its function is to first press out a large bronze bushing (about 12" diameter), then to bore oversize (to remove any corrosion) the hole for this bushing, which is located in the landing gear beam that spans from the rear spar to the center bulkhead. Over time, just like in our cars, these wear and need replacement, which also entails cleaning up the hole in the beam to remove any corrosion that might be found.

Prior to the completion of this tool, the Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) for the 777 specified that this beam be removed from the aircraft and placed on a hydraulic press to first remove the old bushing, then on a vertical mill to perform the machine work necessary for replacement of that bushing, then back to the press for installation, then back to the mill to bring it to finish I.D. One can imagine how delighted the airlines were when we introduced this tool and eliminated the need to remove that beam, and they could do all of that right there on the airplane, in the wheel wells. Of course one of the requirements for use of this tooling was that I had to travel with it, along with a couple of our machinists, to do the work. We did not allow airlines to utilize this tooling without our oversight.

It was that kind of work that sort of earned the two of us the reputation as "the most boring guys at Boeing". And, from what we learned by developing methods to do this in the field (often under less than ideal conditions), we were able to provide a pretty nifty solution to the manufacturing guys on the wing tip hingeline. Fun stuff, for guys like me.

When new housing construction went belly up during the great recession, I worked at the Boeing Charleston site for a couple years. First, Running the Electro Impact side of body machine. There were guys that installed bored/honed/bushings(?) in the wheel well with tooling mounted similar to what you mentioned.

As soon as housing pick back up, I was out of there. Cooped up all day was not fun, when you were used to working outside.

It’s surprising how big those engines are.



Later, I ran a Broetje and this was my office

[shinrai]

Cool plane. Didn't know the third gen 777s were getting composite wings.
Looks like 9 feet longer and 12 feet wider for the big versions. Neat wing tips.

Air Canada currently runs a 777-300LR with seating capacity for 450 pax. Worst configuration ever and the FAs hate it. They have a name for it which I won't post here.
I'm sure they'll figure out a way to jam 500 people on this new one.

[stevej37]

A930Rocket....What are the two machines (numbered 1 and 2) in your second pic?

[Jeff Higgins]

Broetje GmBH is kind of the German equivalent of the American Electro Impact company. They produce automated drilling and assembly equipment. The equipment A930Rocket is showing us is the equipment they supply to Boeing to drill and then install fasteners in 787 body sections. The two sections shown are the empennage on the right (the two big cutouts are for the horizontal stabilizer) and the section just forward of it, that goes up to the trailing edge of the wings on the left.

Electro Impact is located about two miles from Boeing's Everett plant here in Washington. We worked with them quite a bit over the years. Peter, the founder, is an ex Boeing guy. One of the most eccentric, craziest SOB's I've ever met. Brilliant, though. Pretty rocky relationship with Boeing at times, including legal action over intellectual property. He apparently did a lot of his initial development work while employed by Boeing, then left with it to form his company. Kind of a big no-no... They still deal with him, though - they can't really afford not to.

[stevej37]

^^^ Thanks....I didn't realize how big they were until I started looking closer. I think there are a couple guys on a railing looking at #2?

I was thinking that all that drilling and riveting was still done manually.
Would be an awesome factory tour.