The Boeing 777’s general manager, Phil Condit, started this project in 1992. United Airlines needed a plane that would fly long-range but was smaller than the current jumbo long-range planes. The company started by hiring and training people that would be working on this large project, 10,000 people were hired. It would take five years and five billion dollars. This project was an extremely large project and would be one of the most complex machines ever built. The Boeing 777 would consist of four million parts and weigh 297,462 lbs. The linguistics for this project were complicated because parts were being built by contracting companies from all over the world. Because of the innovations that were used by Boeing to design and build this aircraft,
…show more content…
Several life-size mock-ups (models) of the plan would be created in extreme detail. The use of life-size mock-ups would help catch and correct mistakes, i.e., interferences, before they started building the plane. These detailed mock-ups would also be used to measure the lengths cables, hydraulic lines, and pipes, test the plane for icing conditions, and test new designed parts for functionality.
One of the most innovative design ideas was the development of the computerized design system called, EPIC. EPIC consisted of eight mainframe computer systems and 2,000 computer terminals. EPIC was used to create a 3D virtual Boeing 777 environment that would consist of every single part designed for the airplane. As each part was designed by one of the many design teams, it would be loaded into EPIC. The design team could then see if the part was compatible with the other designed parts and if it fit into the whole scheme of the design model (Sabbagh, …show more content…
The engines for the 777 would be the two biggest engines every build for a commercial airplane (Sabbagh, 1996c). These engines would take up 25% of the planes total cost. Pratt & Whitney would design these engines using 3D modeling software. This advanced software technology allowed the designers and engineer to design parts that would come within a third of a degree of the standard. Six engine prototypes were created using this special software. These prototypes would be used for testing. Testing consisted of low pressure altitude tests, full throttle normal and abnormal wind tunnel tests, engine long flight tests, actual flight tests, vibration tests, blade-out tests, and high-blow tests. Speical facilitys were built to conduct the long flight tests (Remote locations were used because of noise levels.) and special laboratory chambers were all conditions could be requlated. Some tests were performed on an actual 747 prototype plane. After these flights each engine was taken apart and each part was inspected for defects. This regerus testing was a success because major defects were discovered that would have became a problem later duirng 777 testing or on actual commercial flights (Sabbagh,
Several life-size mock-ups (models) of the plan would be created in extreme detail. The use of life-size mock-ups would help catch and correct mistakes, i.e., interferences, before they started building the plane. These detailed mock-ups would also be used to measure the lengths cables, hydraulic lines, and pipes, test the plane for icing conditions, and test new designed parts for functionality.
One of the most innovative design ideas was the development of the computerized design system called, EPIC. EPIC consisted of eight mainframe computer systems and 2,000 computer terminals. EPIC was used to create a 3D virtual Boeing 777 environment that would consist of every single part designed for the airplane. As each part was designed by one of the many design teams, it would be loaded into EPIC. The design team could then see if the part was compatible with the other designed parts and if it fit into the whole scheme of the design model (Sabbagh, …show more content…
The engines for the 777 would be the two biggest engines every build for a commercial airplane (Sabbagh, 1996c). These engines would take up 25% of the planes total cost. Pratt & Whitney would design these engines using 3D modeling software. This advanced software technology allowed the designers and engineer to design parts that would come within a third of a degree of the standard. Six engine prototypes were created using this special software. These prototypes would be used for testing. Testing consisted of low pressure altitude tests, full throttle normal and abnormal wind tunnel tests, engine long flight tests, actual flight tests, vibration tests, blade-out tests, and high-blow tests. Speical facilitys were built to conduct the long flight tests (Remote locations were used because of noise levels.) and special laboratory chambers were all conditions could be requlated. Some tests were performed on an actual 747 prototype plane. After these flights each engine was taken apart and each part was inspected for defects. This regerus testing was a success because major defects were discovered that would have became a problem later duirng 777 testing or on actual commercial flights (Sabbagh,