747LCF Arrives In Nagoya! (Pics) 787's Final Steps Begin

urbanflyer · #1 Posted: **Jan 10, 2007, 1:14 PM**

The 787 is nearing the final stage in her early development. This evening the 747LCF arrived in Nagoya to pick up the first fuselage and wing sections. Tomorrow she will be loaded and Friday she'll depart for South Carolina to pick up two other components before being flown to Everett, WA to begin prototype assembly.

Despite terrible wind chill and a lengthy arrival delay, I greeted the LCF on Centrair's skydeck along with several hundred other photographers and employees of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Aisin-Seiki, and numerous other industrial heavyweights in Nagoya contributing to Boeing's newest commercial product.

Apologies for the awful night shots...I was expecting arrival around an hour before sunset.

3:30 pm...the pros are already setting up

the specialized loader is in position (the road Mitsubishi built to carry her wings from the delivery barge to the apron can be seen in the background)

As dusk settles, workers gather to greet the LCF

The sun sets over chilly Ise Bay

Boeing 876 has yet to arrive one hour past the scheduled arrival time

Finally, at 5:45 local, she touches down smoothly on runway 36 and taxies in

Eager staff from Boeing, MHI and KHI welcome the Dreamlifter

A flurry of activity begins at Spot 403

Nagoya looks forward to seeing the LCF much more often after tonight

Bigtime · #2 Posted: **Jan 10, 2007, 5:31 PM**

Hey wait a minute, didn't I see this exact same thread somewhere else?

Hmmm, big time deja vu happening here!

Buckeye Native 001 · #3 Posted: **Jan 10, 2007, 6:24 PM**

Cool pics!

urbanflyer · #4 Posted: **Jan 10, 2007, 11:11 PM**

Haha bigtime, I think it was actually posted here first...

WonderlandPark · #5 Posted: **Jan 11, 2007, 2:20 AM**

They still haven't painted the dreamlifter?

bbeliko · #6 Posted: **Jan 11, 2007, 2:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Hey wait a minute, didn't I see this exact same thread somewhere else?

Hmmm, big time deja vu happening here!

maybe airliners.net
by the way are there some spotters in naggoya that can bring us images of the lcf being loaded

urbanflyer · #7 Posted: **Jan 11, 2007, 3:04 AM**

The first plane hasn't been painted yet - the second LCF is currently finishing its modifications in Taipei and will be painted when finished. They will likely paint this one once the others are operational.

As for photos of the LCF being loaded, it will depend on whether or not they do it at night. The LCF is based in the airline overflow parking area on the international terminal side so daytime loading may interfere with normal operations.

Lexy · #8 Posted: **Jan 11, 2007, 4:14 AM**

I love it Urb!!!! You are very lucky to have seen this bizzare looking "thing". I envy you, but you have to admit...that is one strange looking aircraft. LOL!!!

Stratosphere · #9 Posted: **Jan 11, 2007, 4:51 AM**

So how many LCFs are they building?

Stratosphere · #10 Posted: **Jan 11, 2007, 5:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lexy

you have to admit...that is one strange looking aircraft. LOL!!!

Well, there are some other aircrafts that look like it.

Airbus Super Transporter - nicknamed Beluga - based on the A300-600.

and before it, the Aero Spacelines Guppy - based on the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.

urbanflyer · #11 Posted: **Jan 11, 2007, 5:14 AM**

The Guppy and Beluga are even uglier than the LCF

Boeing plans to have a fleet of three Dreamlifters for now, but if 787 production ramps up to two production lines, they may need to bring a few more online.

JiminyCricket II · #12 Posted: **Jan 11, 2007, 9:34 AM**

thanks for the pics urb. I thought that they were going to paint that thing... the current "boeing livery" would make it look less dolphin and more blue wale though.

Daquan13 · #13 Posted: **Jan 11, 2007, 1:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stratosphere

So how many LCFs are they building?

I think it's three or four, but they are not being built from scratch. Just a few revamped 747-400s to include the huge bulbous fuselage.

The_Analyst · #14 Posted: **Jan 11, 2007, 9:20 PM**

I have to admit I am not an expert at airplane economics or design. But, if they can modify the 747 the way they have here to carry the 787 pieces, could they not simply add seats to make it a competitor with the A380? I think I saw that Boeing is working on a larger 747 passenger variant but if this design is already flying, why not use it for passengers? Aside from the fact that it is not very sleek looking, maybe the issue is that it can fly but not very economically.

Stratosphere · #15 Posted: **Jan 11, 2007, 9:21 PM**

Volumetrically, is the Dreamlifter larger than, say, the A380 and the An-225?

Daquan13 · #16 Posted: **Jan 11, 2007, 11:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Analyst

I have to admit I am not an expert at airplane economics or design. But, if they can modify the 747 the way they have here to carry the 787 pieces, could they not simply add seats to make it a competitor with the A380? I think I saw that Boeing is working on a larger 747 passenger variant but if this design is already flying, why not use it for passengers? Aside from the fact that it is not very sleek looking, maybe the issue is that it can fly but not very economically.

I had asked that a while back myself.

urbanflyer · #17 Posted: **Jan 12, 2007, 12:07 AM**

I think I saw that Boeing is working on a larger 747 passenger variant but if this design is already flying, why not use it for passengers? Aside from the fact that it is not very sleek looking, maybe the issue is that it can fly but not very economically.

This design is only for carrying and supporting 112 foot sections of fuselage and wing for the 787. The fuselage modifications have incurred a huge fuel burn penalty on these 747s due to a massive increase in drag. Look at how far the hinges for the rear fuselage door swing protrude and it's easy to imagine why. Normally the 747 is the fastest commercial airliner with an average cruise of 0.85 mach, but its rumored the LCF can do 0.82-0.83 at best.

Just to maintain the 744's range for these missions, they had to replace all of the underfloor cargo space with extra fuel tankage. For that reason alone, this design modification would be absolutely useless in a passenger application because cargo is the key to flight profitability.

So, for several reasons, you're correct that it can't fly economically as a passenger airplane. This is a specialized design for high volume payload only.

sammyk · #18 Posted: **Jan 12, 2007, 2:45 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Analyst

I have to admit I am not an expert at airplane economics or design. But, if they can modify the 747 the way they have here to carry the 787 pieces, could they not simply add seats to make it a competitor with the A380? I think I saw that Boeing is working on a larger 747 passenger variant but if this design is already flying, why not use it for passengers? Aside from the fact that it is not very sleek looking, maybe the issue is that it can fly but not very economically.

The 747LCF is actually not a very efficient design (per Boeing) and was designed for a specific task in a very short amount of time. So it probably would not serve well as a passenger or even typical cargo aircraft.

JiminyCricket II · #19 Posted: **Jan 12, 2007, 3:41 AM**

besides the previous comments, Boeing doesn't want to compete with the A380, there isn't even a large enough market for a monopoly(A380) let alone a competitor in that segment. Boeing chose a market right under the a380, we'll see how that pans out...

bbeliko · #20 Posted: **Jan 12, 2007, 4:14 AM**

take a look on what the LCF will carry