10/26/2010 12:40:00 AM
NEWS BRIEFS
Report: Foreign Fastener Mistakes Moving More Dreamliner Jobs to Seattle

Boeing could bring in-house the building of the horizontal tails for the second model of the 787 Dreamliner, the Seattle Times reports. The move would signal the aerospace giant’s dissatisfaction with foreign assembly.
 

Existing Boeing fabrication sites, including a newly expanded research facility in Seattle and the Frederickson plant near Tacoma, are being considered for the work.
 

Boeing reportedly is grappling with continued quality issues on the horizontal tails for the initial Dreamliner model, the 787-8, which are built in Italy by Alenia.
 

A decision to build those in-house on the next version would be a “step back” from Boeing’s far-reaching program of outsourcing major 787 sections to global suppliers, according to Dominic Gates of the Times.
 

“We’re taking a very hard look at where the 787-9 tails should be built,” Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh stated. 
 

In June Boeing decided to inspect its five flight-test 787 jets before they fly again because of a problem with the shims in the fastener joints of the tail portion.
 

The Times reports that the problem is in the horizontal stabilizer, the smaller wing on the plane’s tail.
 

“The workmanship issue on the 787 tails first surfaced in early summer, when Boeing discovered during final assembly that Alenia mechanics in Foggia, Italy, had improperly installed brackets used to attach the horizontal tail to the fuselage, applying too much torque when tightening fasteners,” writes Gates.
 

The over-tightening compressed and degraded shims, used to fill small gaps when assembling structural parts.
 

Boeing executives and engineers are in Italy trying to sort out the problems.  ©2010 GlobalFastenerNews.com

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