Saturday, July 07, 2007

Plastic fantastic

After finding out all about the Boeing 777 yesterday I noticed Boeing talking about the 787 in the news today. The Dreamliner is insane, up to 50% of the plane is made out of composite rather than aluminum. This means a massive increase in fuel efficiency (20% at least). Some industry commentators believe Boeing will increase market share to 70%(currently under 50% - Airbus has been killing Boeing lately) . Airbus are years from having anything close.

The time that it takes to build a 787 has decreased as well, its built more like lego parts snapping together. Boeing has worked closely with suppliers (I guess much the same way Dell has done) to streamline the manufacturing process.

Very cool. Check out this video

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