How to build a Boeing 737

[bgl]

This is a very informative and pretty amazing two and a half minute video that shows the entire process of how a Boeing 737 is built. This particular video shows the construction of Boeing 737-7H4 N945WN, which was delivered to Southwest Airlines on March 31st, 2010. The aircraft is painted in a special "State of Florida" colorscheme, and was the 336th Boeing 737-700 delivered to Southwest.

Should add that all Boeing 737 fuselages are built in Wichita, KS, and then shipped via train to Renton, WA, for final assembly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=zKnsyYbfC60&feature=popular

[yachtingone]

I like the whole vidio. The painting sequence was confusing till the end!

Randy

[tinman10101]

That was a great video Bo!!! I recently watched the Discovery 4 part series on the making of the Airbus A380 ... it was absolutely amazing with all the engineering and planning involved. You probably have it on Blu-ray. Are they still back-upped on production, Bo?

Tin

[bgl]

If you're referring to the A380, then yes, they're still not "on track". What that means is that the production line is still not working the way it was envisioned. A few years ago, Airbus was planning to produce 4 A380s every month right about now, and deliver 48 every year. They have a lot of "post production line issues" and all those issues have to be addressed individually, aircraft by aircraft. If they deliver 20 A380s in 2010, they'd be lucky, and if the production stabilizes at around 2 aircraft per month, that's probably the best they can ever hope for. Lufthansa just took delivery of its first A380, and expects the second one very soon. It was just made public that there were so many post-prodction problems that had to be fixed that Airbus did not have the manpower to handle all those issues and they actually had to pay Lufthansa Technik (a Lufthansa subsidiary in Hamburg that specializes in major overhauls, and not just for Lufthansa) and Lufthansa Technik spent a total of 24,000 manhours working on these two A380s. That's an astounding amount of time and additional work, and you can imagine the unexpected extra expense, which of course Airbus was responsible for.

[tinman10101]

Wow!!! Thank you so much Bo for the thorough explanation. What a costly project this has been for Airbus. I can't even begin to imagine the cost involved to resolve all the relations to each individual airline that Airbus had contracts with. In any case, it is still an amazing piece of machinery. Knowing that many airports had to retrofit in order to accommodate this aircraft, we will hopefully soon see it flying in our skies.

Cheers

Tin

[bgl]

Well, QANTAS is using the A380 on the Sydney-Los Angeles run. And considering all the initial problems, which caused a two year delay for the entire project, and their subsequent production problems, and a very obvious lack of interest from the airlines around the world to order the A380, Airbus is probably right about now accepting the inevitable - they will never make any money on the A380. As long as they keep building it, it will always be a financial drain on their resources. It's pretty well known that every single airline that has placed an order up to this point for the A380 paid considerably less than list price. As a result, no airline executive in his or her right mind will EVER pay list price for the A380. They will always expect a major discount, which will basically force Airbus to sell them at cost. Once they get tired of doing that, then that's the end of production. But it will take quite a few years, since they first have to exhaust the current backlog of 174 aircraft, plus any new orders they may acquire in the meantime.

[tinman10101]

Bo

Doesn't it then seem only feesible to honor their initial delivery contracts and let them run out to only have the company dissolved? But of course, there always will be a need for parts and maintenance for the existing aircrafts. I now can see what a jumbled mess this project has become.

Tin

[bgl]

Well, the company itself (Airbus) is in no risk of being dissolved. The current A320 and A330 programs are very successful and these two programs are bringing in lots of cash. Likewise, the new A350 (more or less a Boeing 787 competitor) will also be very successful. These successful programs will make it possible for Airbus to continue producing A380s, even at a loss, and I have no doubt that they will continue to produce the A380s until the current backlog has been exhausted, and I'm also sure that they will attempt to gain more A380 orders, even if those new orders will probably be right around, or just above, cost. But for Airbus to abandon the A380 program at this time is pretty much unthinkable.

[freakypalmguy]

Excellent video link Bo.

[DoomsDave]

Wow!

Great link!

Thanks!