A shortage of thumbnail-sized titanium fasteners has proven to be the mouse that tripped the elephant. Or, to be specific, the key part whose supply crunch held up the actual completion of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which will be unveiled today anyway, sans seats and other important passenger jet accoutrements.
Tom Brokaw will host the Seattle roll-out, which Boeing is billing as a "premier". One wonders if the carbon-fiber nose section of the airplane will be blushing from the embarassment of being just a shell of an airliner, and one that still is a few months away from first-flight.
You can view the unveiling hoopla live at the company website here, at 3:30 PDT.
Aerospace Technology has a very nice piece describing internal and external design features, variants of the basic 787 design, and discussion of which companies will be supplying pieces of the navigation, electronics, piloting, positioning, and other key functions of the craft.
If you like plush interiors when you travel, you might try the 787 VIP model. It will cost you several degrees north of $150 million.
Boeing 787, Dreamliner, titanium fastener, Tom Brokaw
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