Randy's Journal: Archives
28 July 2005
Shark fins and bullet trains
Recently, Boeing finalized the exterior look of the 787 Dreamliner. And we sure heard about it after we released the new images.
I'm so glad the 787 success is going to put Boeing back on top with recent key wins in the market. However I'm disappointed with the final exterior look compared to what the original renditions were. Gone is the shark-like fin of the horizontal stabilizer. Gone is the sleek, elongated "bullet train like" nose. Gone are the swept back, curved wings. Now it looks just a like the old plane it replaces. Is it just me, or are others just as disappointed?
Todd H.
Everett, Washington
I can understand what people are saying. But actually, the airplane's look hasn't changed as much as you might think. Take a look at the banner at the top of this page. It's a new image of the Dreamliner. Can you tell a difference?
The fact is the final design of the Dreamliner remains very distinctive. You're definitely going to know a 787 when you see it.
A final design image of the 787 Dreamliner.
As we said when we first shared our 787 design image with the world, it represented a concept. It wasn't an engineering-based image. But our engineers definitely used that image as inspiration for creating the final 787 that we see today.
In fact, the concept image has been very useful in helping our designers take the 787 beyond the typical airplane exterior appearance.
Airplane designers are limited by the requirements of performance - fuel and aerodynamic efficiency. But even so, they've managed to achieve a dramatic look for the Dreamliner.
For instance, the nose still comes very close to the original concept. The change there is minor. But you might notice that the front windshield looks different. That's because the windshield braces changed a bit.
As for the wings, you may notice that in some images we've started showing the wings in the "deflected" position of flight. All wings - regardless of what they're made of - deflect in flight as air pushes up on the wing tips. But the actual shape of the wing is unchanged from the earlier images.
Yes, the 787's composite wings will actually look like that in flight.
Then there's the tail. A lot of people have talked about this. As the comment above put it, the original concept tail was "shark-like." People thought it was pretty "cool."
Well, yes, this has changed. We knew the tail was going to be the most difficult to make work. And we'd been saying for some time that the tail might change, as our engineers took a close look at the aerodynamic performance of the 787.
We liked the shark tail too, but we had to reduce some of the "sculpting" in the name of performance and efficiency. No question about it, when you look at the 787 tail now, it has a more traditional look. But it still has more of a swept look than any of our current models. And what we've got now is a design that is both efficient and distinctive.
All in all, the 787's nose, wings, tail, as well as the size of the windows, and even the look of the engine cowl, will make this a very recognizable airplane.
Shark fins look great in the water, and bullet trains are excellent on the rails. But we still think the Dreamliner will be the sleekest thing in the air.
By the way there's a great piece about the 787 Dreamliner in the June issue of Boeing Frontiers online.