777-200LR Flight Test Journal: Archives

13 December 2005

'Refurbing' the Worldliner

Andres Sanchez, Refurb Manufacturing Supervisor

Kirk Foster, Industrial Engineering Methods Analyst

There are many challenges to refurbishing a flight test airplane, and we are experiencing many of them right now. "Refurb" is the task of removing flight test equipment, reconditioning worn or damaged parts and installing customer-unique equipment. This includes the installation of seats, lavatories, galleys and painting the customer livery.

It sounds relatively simple, but it is not for a variety of reasons. A fact that few people realize is that it takes longer to refurbish a plane than it did to build it in the first place. It is kind of like the difference between building or remodeling a house. Remodeling is made more complicated because you have to deal with the structure that is already there.

Our number one hurdle is that we just don't do this often - a couple of planes every two or three years on average. At Boeing, we are good at building airplanes. We do it all the time - every day - and we do it efficiently. You just can't get efficient when you do something so rarely. A lot of information and knowledge is lost during the down times. We are making a real effort on this program to document issues and "lessons learned" in order to prepare for future refurb projects.

For the 777-200LR Worldliner program, we are basically refurbishing one plane at a time - WD001 first and WD002 after the first one is complete. WD001 has been in refurb for a little over a month now. We are working hand-in-hand with Flight Test as they continue to pull out wiring. Right now we are split into three teams - interior, exterior and skin. That will evolve as the project goes forward.

We removed the flight test galleys and lavatories and stripped the interior down to the studs. Then we began installing the customers' galleys, lavatories and interior. In the middle of the process, we sent the plane to the paint hangar, where it was sanded and repainted in the livery of its owner, Pakistan International Airlines. Normally, we would wait to paint it at the end, but not all of our paint hangars are equipped for both sanding and painting, and we had to take the time that was available to us.

WD002 will be a smaller job in some regards. For instance, it already has the customers' lavatories and galleys in it. Shortly after it was handed off to us just a couple weeks ago, its custom interior was removed and will be put on display at the new Passenger Experience Center.

One of the first things we learned is that the space we set aside for this project just isn't big enough. This kind of work requires a lot of tooling and lots of staging area. Right now our crew members have to do a lot of snake walking through all the jacks and tooling. In the future, we'll look for space that is better suited to our needs.

Another issue we have to deal with is the fact that we are bringing previously fuel-flown planes back into the hangar. That is completely out of the ordinary. There are a lot of additional safety and fire regulations when it comes to previous fuel-flown airplanes. We have to work very closely with the fire department when opening fuel cells, and we have to get a permit from the fire department prior to using any heat-producing tools.

Yes, refurb is a challenge, but it is the kind of challenge that keeps you on your toes. Our motto is "Whatever it takes!" And, it is the kind of challenge that will be very satisfying when we deliver these planes in top shape early next year.