787 Dreamliner Rendering of the Boeing 787-8 final design, in Northwest Airlines livery
|
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a mid-sized wide body, twin engined passenger airliner currently under development by Boeing and scheduled to enter service in May 2008. It will carry between 210 and 330 passengers depending on the seating configuration, and will be more fuel-efficient than comparable earlier airliners. It will also be the first major airliner to use composite material for most of its construction.
Prior to January 28, 2005, the 787 was known as the developmental designator 7E7. The early renderings released depicted a radical design with highly curved surfaces. On April 26, 2005, one year to the day after the launch of the program, the final look of the external 787 design was frozen with a less rakish nose and a more conventional tail.
Background
When 767 sales weakened in the face of competition from the Airbus A330-200 in the late 1990s, Boeing began to consider a replacement. As the Boeing 747-400 was also beginning to lose traction, the company proposed two new aircraft