Story ID: GP78710assembly12082016
Boeing Starts Final Assembly of 787-10
By: Gregory Polek
Caption: Latest development milestone reached in time for first flight next year
Word Count: 297
Boeing has started final assembly of the first 787-10 at its factory in North Charleston, South Carolina, the company announced Thursday. Built exclusively at the non-union plant, the third member of the Dreamliner family enters its next phase of development in time for first flight next year and first delivery in 2018. So far the model has drawn orders for 154 airframes from nine customers.

A straightforward 18-foot stretch of the 787-9, the 787-10 retains 95 percent design and build commonality with its smaller sibling while adding some 40 seats in exchange for range. Boeing lists the 787-10’s range at 6,430 nm, while the 787-9 operates to a range of 8,500 nm.

The mid-body section, which accounts for 10 feet of the fuselage stretch, does not fit into Boeing’s Dreamlifter cargo airplanes, meaning it would prove too long for efficient transport from North Charleston—the site of systems installation—to the Everett, Washington facility for final assembly. Separately, said Boeing, introducing the 787-10 in North Charleston takes advantage of that facility’s considerable capacity while allowing the Everett facility to continue improving productivity on the 787-8 and 787-9.

Meanwhile, one of the engines destined to power the 787-10—the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN—on Thursday flew for the first time aboard a 787-8 from Seattle’s Boeing Field, as the British engine company marked the latest phase of its development schedule.

The Trent 1000 TEN has already powered tests this year on the Rolls-Royce flying testbed, a Boeing 747, based in Tucson, Arizona.

Drawing on technologies from the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB and Advance engine programs, the Trent 1000 TEN will power all variants of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family. The Trent 1000 powered the first 787-8 into service in 2011 and the first 787-9 into service in 2014.