US aircraft maker Boeing began testing its 787 Dreamliner's power systems yesterday in an effort to meet a revised schedule to fly the plane by year-end and deliver it to the first customer in the third quarter of 2009.
The 'power-on' test is a key step for the new carbon-composite aircraft, which has been postponed at least 14 months already from the original delivery target because of manufacturing delays and design issues.
A spokesman said: 'It's going well, and we're confident we'll meet the milestone by the end of June. There's different sections that are powered on at different times,' meaning the test will take from 10 days to two weeks, she added. |
