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Dreammaterial

www.boeing.com/frontiersFrontiersAUGUST 2012 / Volume XI, Issue I

787 pioneers advancedcompositesand waysto recycle them
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18Living in a materials world

On the Cover

Ater a decade o research, Boeing and the aerospace industry are on the threshold o large-scale compositerecycling. Its a signicant transormation that benets the environment, consumers and manuacturers. It alsomeans the 787 Dreamliner, the advanced passenger jetliner that makes extensive use o strong and lightweightcomposite materials, will be more recyclable than a metal airplane when it reaches the end o its useul lie.

COVER IMAGE: PAUL CAMPBELL, BACKGROUND, AND CHAN TEP INSPECT A 787 COMPOSITE STRUCTURE MANUFACTURED AT BOEINGS FREDERICKSON PLANT SOUTH OF SEATTL

BOB FERGUSON/BOEING

PHOTO: BETTY RAUTIO, FOREGROUND, AND RON SODEN CONDUCT THE COMPLEX BAGGING PROCESS OF COMPOSITE SKIN MATERIAL BEFORE LOADING IT INTO AN AUTOCLAVE

AT THE FREDERICKSON PLANT. BOB FERGUSON/BOEING

This ad shows a

777-300 Extended

Range jetliner fying

over Cape Town,South Arica. With

its long range, high

eciency and best-in-

class cargo capacity,

the 777 helps connect

Arica to the world. The

ad will run in trade and business magazines

throughout Arica.

The stor ies behind the ads in this issue oFrontiers.

Inside cover: Page 6:

Ad watch

This Flight International

ad eatures the winners

o the Boeing-sponsored

Engineering Student o theYear Award. Part o the

Flightglobal Achievement

Awards, it recognizes

outstanding students

working on aeronautical

or space technology and

was presented at last

months Farnborough

International Airshow in

the United Kingdom.

Design or the

Environment is one in

a series o innovation

stories told by Boeingemployees such as

Jeanne Yu. Learn more at

www.boeing.com/stories.

Back cover:

BOEING FRONTIERS / AUGUST 2012


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Publisher: Tom Downey

Editorial director: Anne Toulouse

EDITORIAL TEAMExecutive editor:

Paul Proctor: 312-544-2938

Editor:

James Wallace: 312-544-2161

Managing editor:

Vineta Plume: 312-544-2954

Graphic designers:

Brandon Luong: 312-544-2118

Cass Weaver: 480-216-4539

Photo director:

Bob Ferguson: 312-544-2132

Commercial Airplanes editor:

Don Smith: 206-766-1329

Defense, Space & Security editor:

Diane Stratman: 562-797-1443

Engineering, Operations & Technology

editor:Junu Kim: 312-544-2939

Human Resources and Administration

editor:

Geo Potter: 312-544-2946

Shared Services Group editor:

Beriah Osorio: 425-577-4157

Staff writer:

Eric Fetters-Walp: 425-266-5871

ONLINE PRODUCTIONWeb manager:

Wendy Manning: 312-544-2936

Web designer:

Michael Craddock: 312-544-2931

Web developers:

Lynn Hesby: 312-544-2934

Keith Ward: 312-544-2935

Information technology consultant:

Tina Skelley: 312-544-2323

HOW TO CONTACT US:E-mail:

[email protected]

Mailing address:

Boeing Frontiers

MC: 5003-0983

100 N. Riverside Plaza

Chicago, IL 60606

Phone:312-544-2954

Fax:

312-544-2078

Web address:

www.boeing.com/rontiers

Send all retiree address changes to

Boeing Frontiers, MC 3T-12

P.O. Box 3707

Seattle, WA 98124-2207

Postmaster: Send address corrections to

Boeing Frontiers, MC 3T-12

P.O. Box 3707, Seattle, WA 98124-2207

(Present addressees, include label)

Frontiers

table oDierencemakersNearly 3,000 Boeing employees around

the world, along with riends and

amily members, pitched in to help

their communities last month during

Boeings annual Global Day o Service.

At events in more than a dozen countries

these volunteers showed Boeing

employees are dedicated to making

the planet a better place to live.PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS

12

14 Early birdIt typically takes three to ve years tobuild and test a satellite. By streamlining

processes and standardizing designs,

employees with Space & Intelligence

Systems in El Segundo, Cali., have

turned that standard on its head,

delivering a new medium-power

satellite to the customer in recordtimejust 29 months.PHOTO: DANA REIMER/BOEING

Technologysbread and butteWhether its a saer and more ecient

way to test uel tanks or a device thathelps mechanics drill straight and true

each time, the replication o good ideas,

new technology and innovations across

the companys programs and worldwide

acilities, led by employees o Boeing

Research & Technology, bolsters saety,

productivityand competitiveness.PHOTO: MATTHEW THOMPSON/BOEING

26
http://www.boeing.com/frontiershttp://www.boeing.com/frontiers


5/40BOEING FRONTIERS / AUGUST 2012

contentsINSIDE

28 Leading lightThe Airborne Laser Test Bed, a modied 747-400 carrying a hugechemical laser designed to shoot down ballistic missiles, has been

retired. But the groundbreaking research the program conducted in

directed energy weaponsand the talented employees who perormed

itare adding value throughout Boeing. PHOTO: KURTISS HUMPHREY/BOEING

Flying throughchangeBoeings rotorcrat acilities near

Philadelphia are being transormed aspart o a massive construction project

that is renovating actory and oce

space even as Chinook helicopter

production rates have increased. The

renovation has created an improved

working environment or employees

and is being accomplished on time

and on budget. PHOTO: FRED TROILO/BOEING

32

07 Leadership MessageBoeings people are the key to its utur

and its vital that the talent pipeline

continue to fow, says Mike Delaney,

vice president o Engineering, Boeing

Commercial Airplanes. The company

has great opportunities ahead, he says

but its also going to lose thousands o

years o experience as older employee

retire. Initiatives are under way to mak

sure a new generation o employees is

ready to lead the way.

08 Snapshot/Quotables

09 Why Were Here

10 Historical Perspective

37 Milestones

42 In Focus
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Leadership Message

People are Boeings uture and

its critical to keep the talent

pipeline fowing

Mike Delaney Vice president of Engineering, Boeing Commercial Airplanes

PHOTO: ED TURNER/BOEING

What makesBoeinggreat

The uture is bright or Boeing. We have great products,

great customers and huge market opportunities. Our people

create those products, serve those customers and enable

us to capture and sustain major portions o our markets. In other

words, our people make this company and its products great.

When talking with employees around the company, I am oten

asked what I oresee as potentially limiting Boeings ability to

prosper. That answer also has to do with people and whether

Boeing can continue in the uture to develop, build and support the

innovative products that saely serve millions every day, protect

reedom, and drive commerce and economies around the world.

We need to ensure we have the talent to compete in the uture.

Ironically, Boeing will soon nd itsel in a period o almost

unparalleled opportunity or its employees, coupled with an equalamount o risk. Let me explain.

We have a large population o employees nearing the end o their

careers, with decades o know-how, and a smaller but expanding

population with just one to ve years o experience. Between is a

deep valley; knowledge and experience are not equally distributed

across the workorce. This is important, as the leaders o tomorrow

those who will drive development o the next great productstypi-

cally emerge rom the population between early-career employees

and the more experienced. But that population is small.

For example, 22 percent o the Commercial Airplanes engineer-

ing workorce is eligible to retire. In ve years, another 25 percent

will become retirement eligible. While we dont expect everyone

to leave the company at the same time, once we hit this ve-year

window we could lose 1,000 to 1,500 o our most experienced

people in engineering every year. Thats 25,000 to 37,500 collective

years o experience leaving annually.

Unless we retain people or nd ways to pass along what they

know, we will lose that knowledge orever. The demographics are

comparable across many parts o the company and across the

aerospace industry in general.

Commercial Airplanes is working on a variety o talent-management

initiatives as part o our corporate Engineering Excellence eort

our strategy or achieving technical excellence while delivering

business results. Eorts include developing the pipeline o uture

technical employees by supporting Science, Technology, Engineerinand MathSTEM programsin school districts where Boeing has

large populations o employees.

We also are tapping surplus engineering talent rom Boeing de-

ense programs aected by shrinking deense budgets, and recruitin

the best, brightest, most capable people rom engineering schools

across the United States and internationally. Once they join us, key

initiatives such as the Ed Wells Partnershipadministered jointly b

Boeing and the Society o Proessional Engineering Employees in

Aerospacehelp develop these employees skills and careers.

Other eorts involve a number o methods to transer knowl-

edge rom our experienced employees to early-career employees

including training, mentoring, knowledge capture and leveraging

the learning o our subject-matter experts and Technical Fellows.

Even the way we identiy candidates or manager and executive

leadership positions likely will change. Given the demographics

I described, we need to promote people into management and

executive roles earlier in their careers than ever beore. This will

present great opportunity or many.

Boeing has a proud, long, pioneering history in aerospace.

Our colleagues beore us bequeathed us the responsibility to carry

on the tradition o building industry-leading productsproducts

that change the world. It is our turn to do the same.

Our people are our uture. It is time to challenge them and allow

them to grow into the leaders o tomorrow. n

Our people are our uture.

It is time to challenge them

and allow them to grow into

the leaders o tomorrow.


8/408 BOEING FRONTIERS / AUGUST 2012

Quotables

The language werehearing rom several o the

customers is that theyreready, and theyre vyingto be ... the rst.

U.S. Marine Col. Greg Masiello, who runs the V-22 Osprey

program, explaining the strong interest of international

customers in the Bell-Boeing V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft to

reporters at the Farnborough International Airshow in

the United Kingdom. Reuters, July 10.

Snapshot

We negotiated what webelieve to be the best

airplane with the bestengine at the best price.

Jeff Smisek, United Airlines president and chief executive,

telling reporters why the airline ordered 100 Boeing 737 MAX

airplanes instead of the competing plane from Airbus.

United also ordered 50 Next-Generation 737-900ERs

(Extended Range). Chicago Sun-Times,July 12.

UNITED WE STAND: An estimated 1,000 employees rom Boeings Renton and Fabrication acilities in Washington state commemoratethe more than 10,000 orders Boeing has received or all models o the 737 jetliner since the program began in 1967. Last months purchas

by United Airlines o 50 Next-Generation 737s and 100 o the 737 MAX now in development pushed Boeing past the milestone. The 737

is the only commercial jetliner to receive 10,000 or more orders. PHOTO: MARIAN LOCKHART/BOEING



Lasers can do wondrous things, and Boeing uses them

or applications such as helping align 777 uselage

sections during nal assembly and in precision-guided

and directed energy weapons. But since they can produce

tremendous energy, I know that this is not a place to take

shortcuts in workplace saety.

With 44 years experience in the design, development,

integration and test o electro-optical and high-power lasersystems, Ive taken it upon mysel to do what I can to help

create a saer workplace.

Early in my career, I saw a co-worker get badly hurt by

a laser. I had to physically push him out o the beam to stop

the burn. That incident really hit home or me and made me

realize that workplace saety is something we shouldnt

take or granted.

That interest in saety has inspired me to earn laser saety

certication and led to membership on a cross-industry

committee that oversees laser saety standards. Ive helped

create a comprehensive saety process and culture at my

Bright lights,big safety

Why Were Here

Boeing scientist has a laser-likefocus on workplace safety

By Terri Christofferson

work site, where we use potentially lethal high-energy laser

systems every day.

Ive also sought out training and seminars that enabled me

to create a custom electrical saety class, tailored specically or

our sites needs. The course, modied and certied by Boeings

Hazardous Energy Process Management team with Environment

Health and Saety, was approved or companywide use. Im

happy to see that my work is helping strengthen workplacesaety training at other Boeing sites.

Everyone is trying to be more productive. But sometimes it

seems that people are trying to do what they think will be aster

when they should ocus on doing things saely yet eciently.

There are always opportuni ties to work more saelywe

just need to identi y them and nd solutions. I eel ortunate to

work in an environment where those actions are recognized an

encouraged. And its gratiying to know that my contributions

help people across Boeing work saelyso they can be

productive both at work and at home. n

[email protected]

Denny Rossbach is a chie scientist or Boeing Test & Evaluation in Albuquerque, N.M., and an expert on laser technology. In thisFrontiers series that proles employees talking about their jobs, Rossbach explains why hes also developed a passion or workplace

saety. PHOTO: BOB FERGUSON/BOEING



Compared with the massive and spacious International

Space Station that circles Earth today, Americas rst

space laboratory, Skylab, was a little like roughing it

in a tent on a camping trip.But Skylab, which was launched into orbit nearly our

decades ago, was a leap orward in spaciousness and amenities

compared with previous spacecrat, and it demonstrated that

people could live and work in the harsh environment o space.

Skylab has taught us that man is worth ar more than

his weight in machinery and computers in overcoming unore-

seen diculties in space, said Sanord Sandy N. McDonnell,

ormer president and chie executive o McDonnell Douglas

Corp., which built Skylab. This should put an end to the

debate about mans ability to perorm useul work in space.

The Skylab mission, however, almost ended beore it began.

During launch by a Saturn V rocket rom Cape Kennedy on

May 14, 1973, a meteoroid shield protecting Skylab tore o,

ripping away one o the spacecrats two solar panels that were

to provide electrical power.

The loss o the meteoroid shield caused the temperatures

in Skylab to rise to 126 degrees Fahrenheit (52 degrees

Celsius), making it uninhabitable. Engineers at NASA and

McDonnell Douglas, along with other industry experts, worked

or 10 days to devise a plan to train astronauts how to repair

the damaged station.

An Apollo spacecrat carrying astronauts Charles Conrad Jr.,

Paul Weitz and Joseph Kerwin was launched and rendezvoused

with Skylab on May 25. They successully made repairs, reeing

the remaining but jammed solar panel and placing a protectiveheat shield that dropped the inside temperature to 75 degrees

Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius).

By June 4 the orbiting workshop was ully operational.

Skylabs mission was not just to determine whether humans

could live and work in space or long periods o time. It was

designed as a laboratory to gather inormation about Earths

resources and the environment and to use its solar telescope

to better understand the sun and how it aects Earth.

The largest section o Skylab was a converted third stage o

the mighty Saturn V rocket developed to send U.S. astronauts

Higher

learningSkylab expanded our knowledgeabout Earthand how we couldlive and work in spaceBy Henry T. Brownlee Jr.

Historical Perspective



beyond Earths orbit on their way to the moon. McDonnell

Douglas in Huntington Beach, Cali., built the third stage o

the Saturn V or the Apollo lunar program and would modiy

it into the Saturn Orbital Workshop, the living and workingquarters o Skylab.

A separate Airlock Module or Skylab was built by McDonnell

Douglas in St. Louis.

In all, three three-man crews o U.S. astronauts, including

those on the repair mission, occupied the workshop or a

total o 171 days, 13 hours. Skylabs 10,000 cubic eet

(280 cubic meters) o living and working area was the site o

nearly 300 scientic, technical and lie science experiments,

according to NASA.

The nal Skylab crew let the workshop on Feb. 8, 1974,

ater completing its 84-day mission. Among its duties was

observing the comet Kohoutek.

Early on, there were discussions about possibly reurbishing

Skylab and boosting it into a higher orbit using a space shuttle.

But when the shuttle program was delayed, Skylabs ate

was sealed. Uninhabited, it re-entered Earths atmosphere in

July 1979 and burned up, scattering debris over the Indian

Ocean and sparsely inhabited Western Australia.

LeLand F. Belew, Skylab program manager at the NASA

Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., perhaps best

summed up Skylabs accomplishments at the time, when he

said: The wealth o inormation obtained during mans longest

journey into space has provided the answers to many questions,

as well as revealing new questions and knowledge about the

sun, the Earth, space and man himsel. An adventure o today,Skylab was also an investment in tomorrow. Its results are

a legacy or all orever. n

[email protected]

PHOTOS: (Left) Ater Skylab was damaged during launch,astronauts reed its remaining stuck solar panel and placeda protective sun shield on the lab, shown here. (Insets, fromleft) The Skylab 4 crew demonstrates weightlessness; theSkylab 2 crew trains beore its fight. NASA



Sending a powerul message

about the importance o com-

munity service, thousands o

Boeing employees volunteered in

nearly 100 events in 13 countries

across the globe during Boeingsthird-annual Global Day o Service

last month.

From mentoring children in Beijing

and cleaning beaches in Caliornia

to assembling ood packages in Israel

and building oyster rees in Charleston,

S.C., nearly 3,000 employee volunteers

and their amilies and riends helped

in their communities.

The annual event serves as a

ocal point or the many volunteer

Thousands o Boeing employees volunteer or Global Day o ServiceBy Peter Pedraza

One day, a world of difference

activities that Boeing employees engage

in year-round.

For nearly 100 years, corporate

citizenship has been an important part

o Boeings culture, said Lianne Stein,

vice president or Boeing GlobalCorporate Citizenship. We continue

to contribute time, money and resources

to strengthen communities around

the world and we are proud that

Boeing employees give their talents

to help others. n

[email protected]

PHOTOS:(Clockwise from top left)Boeing South Carolina employeesrestore oyster habitat. JOSHUA DRAKE

Boeing India and Aviall employees hostan interactive learning event in New Delhi.ASSOCIATED PRESS Illinois Institute o TechnologysBoeing Scholars learn how to prepareresumes and cover letters. BRANDON LUONG/BOEING Employees host technology-centric

education or the St. Louis Youth andFamily Center. PETER GEORGE/BOEING Tel Avivemployees assemble ood packages orthe needy. ASSOCIATED PRESS Boeing Deence

Austral ia employees plant a ParadiseGarden at MacDonald Nursing Home.BOEING Employees clean up Navy Beachin Seal Beach, Cali. BRITTANY KUHN/BOEINGBoeing China supported Beijing SpecialOlympics students. LIU ZHIJIAN(Center)Boeing employees repair the ImagineChildrens Museum in Everett, Wash.PAUL GORDON/BOEING(Opposite page) BoeingSouth Carolinas Anthony Soto. JOSHUA DRAKE



We continue to contribute

time, money and resources

to strengthen communities

around the world and we

are proud that Boeing

employees give thei

talents to help others. Lianne Stein, vice president fo

Boeing Global Corporate Citizenshi


14/40

From celery to cellphones, the time it takes to get a product

to market is critical or sellers and buyers.

In the satellite business, the pressure is magnied. The

worldwide demand or servicessuch as mobile communication,Earth observation and space surveillanceincreases daily. But it

takes years to manuacture a complex spacecrat that can provide

the needed capability or a lie span o almost two decades.

Typically a new satellite gets bui lt and tested in three to ve

years. But Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems employees in

El Segundo, Cali., are turning that standard on its head.

They completed the companys rst 702MP (medium-power)

satellite in just 29 months, one month ahead o the aggressive

schedule set with its customer Intelsat, a Luxembourg-based pro-

vider o global mobile communications. The spacecrat, designated

Intelsat 22, or IS-22, was launched in March and is now on orbit

and providing video, network and voice service to customers.

With the second 702MP on deck or an August launch, the

Boeing team completes new 702MP

medium-power satellites in record timeBy Diana Eastman

Space & Intelligence Systems team has continued to keep an ey

on cycle time. It will deliver that payload ahead o schedule as

well. The third satellite also is on track or early delivery.

When we nished IS-22 and I heard we did it in 29 months,

I was pretty amazed, said Patrick Cooke, a structural analyst

engineer with the space systems team. Weve never done a rs

build that ast. Its a credit to the hard work o a lot o people.

The 702MP design was introduced to the market in 2009 in

Frontiers magazine, and Intelsat became the rst customer. The

spacecrat is engineered to hold both a primary and secondarypayload. A secondary, or hosted, payload enables a commercia

satellite provider to oer business, government and military

customers a aster, more economical way to get into space

than buying a dedicated satellite.

The introduction o a medium-power variation o Boeings

successul 702HP (high-power) spacecrat is part o an aggressive

strategy by Space & Intelligence Systems to re-establish its

business in the burgeoning commercial satellite market.

We are known or our technical excellence and breadth o expe

rience, but staying competitive means we also must oer aordabl

fexible and creative solutions. We see the 702MP and hosted

payloads as game-changers, said Jim Simpson, vice president o

Business Development or the Space & Intelligence Systems division

The 702MP is not a completely new designits an evolutiona

model that draws heavily rom the fight-proven 702HP, which

reduces the risk or customers. The satellites modular design

enables it to be scaled to dierent communication needs.

The division has kept the 702MP aordable in part by empha-

sizing standardization in design, electronics, supplier agreements

and production. Streamlining eorts in the satellite actory also has

reduced costs and increased throughput.

Our employees understand the marketplace and our need

or speed, Simpson said. Their success in building a new,

high-quality satellite in record time is a big deal and has led

to a very satised customer.n

[email protected]

14 BOEING FRONTIERS / AUGUST 2012

Early

delivery



Weve never done arst build that ast.Its a credit to the hardwork o a lot o people.

Patrick Cooke, structural

analyst engineer

PHOTOS: (Above) Space & Intelligence Systems developed the702MP (medium-power) satellite to extend market reach and helpmeet the global demand or greater communications bandwidth. BOEING(Insets, from top) Four 702MP satellites such as this one are beingbuilt or Intelsat at Boeings Satellite Development Center in El Segundo,Cali. CRAIG COOK/BOEING Structural analyst engineer Patrick Cooke inspectsthe center tube o a 702MP payload module during static testing, the

rst o a series o tests to ensure the satellite can withstand the rigorso launch and space. GLADYS WICKERING/BOEING


16/40

Saety coordinator Craig Morgan

knows rsthand how a workplace

injury can change a persons

lie. And hes committed to helping his

co-workers avoid a similar challenge.

Morgan was a mechanic installing 747

cargo doors at the Everett, Wash., actory

in 2002. One day, while using his eet

to help guide the rolling tool that carried

the doors, Morgans let oot slipped and

twisted on a tool edge, tearing tendons

and ligaments attached to his let ankle.

You know how everybody says they

want you to go home the way you came

in? That day I didnt, and it has aected

me ever since, he said.

Morgan has endured ve surgeries in

the past 10 years, and while able to work,

he can no longer take part in several o

his ormer avorite pastimes, including

competitive sotball and jogging.

He has, however, brought his personal

experience, perspective and passion or

saety to his current job as ull-time saety

coordinator in the 777 jetliner program at

the Everett actory. Saety coordinators

have played an important rolealong

with a robust saety plan, new workplace

saety tools and activities and engaged

leadershipin helping the 777 program

reduce the number o lost work-time

The 777 program

has sharply reduced

workplace injuries with

a ocus on saetyBy Patrick Summers and photos by

Gail Hanusa

Safety in actioninjuries by 42 percent in 2011.As the airplane program with the

largest number o employees at the Everet

site, the 777 had a lot o room or improve

ment, said Rick Monger, program saety

manager. We still have a lot o work to do

and a long journey ahead o us to reach th

target o zero workplace injuries.

Saety leaders aim to continue reducin

workplace injuries this year by building on

the oundation put in place with the 2011

saety plan. The strategy they designed

eatures both new and established solu-

tions and activities, including:

Newemployeesmustcompletea

seven-week physical conditioning clas

delivered by Shared Services Group

Health Services beore they start work

on the actory foor.

Athletictrainersandphysicaltherapists



17/40

provide stretches or deep-tissue massage

to help prevent strains or sore muscles

rom becoming more serious injuries.

Safetycoordinatorsandmanagers

investigate every injury or near miss,

with the goal o being notied within

30 minutes o an incident.

Managerswalkthefactoryoorto

help ensure compliance with saety

requirements.

The 777 saety plan is supported by a

network o nearly 140 employees through-

out the program who address local saety

concerns and work with the coordinators

to ocus the companys resources on

issues that need attention.

Our attitude is saety in actioni

you see something that needs attention,

dont let it go; x it beore somebody

gets hurt. Be proactive, said 777 saety

coordinator Chris Malou.

Ater showing substant ial improvement

in 2011, the monthly-average rate o

decline in 777 workplace injuries leveled

o this year and began to move in the

wrong direction, prompting a sharp ocus

on compliance with saety requirements

and personal accountability.

The core o a saety culture is a

continuous-improvement mindsetthe

desire to always be better than the day be-

ore, said Jason Clark, 777 manuacturing

director. The areas where we have the

strongest saety culture are where we also

have the best demonstration o servant-

leadersmanagers who enable employees

to be active in the improvement process.

Clark said he has about 175 employee

involvement teams active in all areas

o operations, including saety.

A strong culture also means caring

enough to stop and tell a co-worker

i they arent wearing saety glasses

and having the person say thank you

because they are truly grateul or the

reminder, Clark added.

For Morgan, the visibility o the coordi-

nators helping people on the actory foor

may be the most important component

o a credible saety culture.

I used to walk out on the foor and no

get much o a response, he said. Now

Ill have our or ve people come up to me

and ask or help xing something. They

trust its going to get done.

Morgan said earning that trust is

important. I see a lot o people come

through here. I just want everyone to

go home sae. n

[email protected]


PHOTOS: (Opposite page, clockwise from left) Saety coordinator Craig Morgan replaces a panel covering a gap on the foor; teamsaety leaders perorm regular workplace inspections; Trang Le perorms daily actory-foor warm-up exercises at the start o a shit;

Brandon Bent joins in. (This page, clockwise from left) Electrician Terence Page wins prizes in a weekly Treasure Chest drawing tharecognizes sae behavior, while Morgan looks on; Larry Seng, let, leads daily warm-up exercises; team saety leaders Robert Delvechio,let, and Ben Cool lead regular saety inspections; team saety leader Rob Huss, let, and Morgan replace protective temporary fooring.



Recycling composites oers many benetsor Boeing, the environmentand the 787By Robin McBride

advantage

Material

PHOTOS: (Clockwise from top left)Excess composite material let over romthe barrel-winding process at Boeing

South Carolina is collected and recycled.The site produces the 787 Dreamliner47 and 48 sections. ALAN MARTS/BOEINGSmall pieces o composite material rom ashredded 787 test wing are gathered orrecycling. BILL CARBERRY/BOEING Pete Georgeuses a kayak paddle made rom reclaimedcarbon ber; composite manuacturingemployees Chan Tep, let, and PaulCampbell prepare to perorm a qualitycheck on a 787 structure at theFrederickson, Wash., plant. BOB FERGUSON/BOEING A completed 787 Dreamliner.ED TURNER/BOEING



Pete George never expected his work with

advanced composites or the 787 Dreamliner

program to benet his weekend kayaking

getaways. But it has.

Our paddles have a bit o the Dreamliner in them,

said George, an Associate Technical Fellow with Next-

Generation Composites, Boeing Research & Technolog

They are lighter and more ecient, just like the 787.

Produced by a company in Washington state, the

kayak paddles used by George are the rst commercial

products to employ carbon ber reclaimed rom production o the 787.

These paddles are a great rst step in Dreamliner composites recycling, said Bill Carberry, project

manager and strategy leader or Sustainable Materials, Airplane Environmental Perormance and Boeing

Commercial Airplanes Product Development. Its a un and tting way or this benecial reuse to emerge.

Boeing and the industry today stand at the threshold o large-scale global composites recycling, a trans-ormation that will benet manuacturers, consumers and the environment. Getting to this point required a

decade o concerted eort across the enterprise as Boeing experts explored the issues then identied and

ostered technologies or composites recycling. Boeing also created benecial global alliances.

We are condent all this collaboration will pay o, Carberry said. We now know that when a composite

airplane like the 787 reaches the end o its useul lie, it will actually be more recyclable than a metal airplane

because we can reclaim a higher percentage o high-value material rom it.

Carbon-ber composite materials were essentially unrecyclable in 2002 when Boeing experts rst began

to study the issue. The 787 program was then two years away rom launch, and it would be many decades

When a composite airplane ...like the 787 reaches the end o its useul lie, it willactually be more recyclable than a metal airplane.

Bill Carberry, project manager and strategy leader for Sustainable Materia ls, Airplane Environmental

Performance and Boeing Commercial Airplanes Product Development



PHOTOS:(Clockwise from top left) Mechanics Zaak Walton,Jim Bush and Kipp Walter assemble a 787 vertical n; laminatingmachine operator Sun Vedder, let, and Quality Assurance inspectKandi Rowland inspect workmanship; mechanic Adrienne Fergusoworks on 787 tip assembly; mechanic Corey Haywood checks apart in the assembly process. BOB FERGUSON/BOEING

Making ...the 787 recyclable benets

Boeing by reducing the planes

environmental manuacturing

ootprint, and because

manuacturing scrap can

be turned into new airplane

components.



beore the rst Dreamliners were retired rom service. Nevertheless,

Boeings design ocus rom the start spanned the entire product

lie cycle o the Dreamliner, including what happens to the airplane

when its time to be scrapped at the end o its service lie.

At Boeing, we Design or Environment because its good

or the earth and good or business, said Jeanne Yu, director

o Environmental Perormance or Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

One aspect o our environmental commitment is that werealways looking to see how we can make tomorrows airplanes

even more recyclable than todays.

A recyclable Dreamliner benets airl ines because it is worth

more both during its service lie and when its useul days come to

an end and it is scrapped. Making the 787 recyclable also ben-

ets Boeing by reducing the planes environmental manuacturing

ootprint, and because manuacturing scrap can be turned into

new airplane components or sold to provide additional revenue.

Were deeply involved in composite recycling because it benets

us and our customers, Carberry explained. As this emerging

market sector grows, our strategy has been to align our suppliers

and ourselves with top-quality airplane recyclers worldwide.

Early on, Carberry and his team surveyed aircrat recycling

companies around the world and sought out alliances with the

best o them. Out o this activity grew the Aircrat Fleet Recycling

Association, ounded in 2005. This nongovernmental organization

supports the responsible recycling o all aircrat, whether metal

or composite. A valuable global orum, it promotes industry bestpractices, regulatory compliance and environmental sustainability

in aircrat disassembly and the salvaging or recycling o parts

and materials.

Known inormally as AFRA, this association has grown steadily

Today it has more than 60 members in 16 nations around the

world. In addition to dening recycler accreditation standards, the

association has published, with Boeing assistance, the industrys

rst-ever guidance or end-o-lie scrapping and recycling o

composite aircrat such as the 787.

Starting nearly a decade ago, Boeing also evaluated composite



recycling technologies. Most were in their inancy when the 787

program began.

We assessed emerging composite recycling startups around

the world and developed relationships with the nest o these,

George said.

In 2007, Boeing teamed with the University o Nottingham in

the United Kingdom because o promising composite recycling

research under way there. Stephen Pickering and his University o

Nottingham team were working on a novel way to restore someo the strength sacriced when cured composites are cut up or

recycling, severing their long carbon threads.

With Boeing nancial assistance and expertise, Pickering and

his team successully developed a process that removes these

chopped bers rom their encasing epoxy and then realigns

them to create a stronger recycled material.

The research weve completed is challenging, satisying

and important to the world, Pickering said. We look orward

to scaling these solutions up to commercial volumes.

Cured composites recycled in this manner will nd a variety o

Were always looking to see howwe can make tomorrows airplaneseven more recyclable than todays.

Jeanne Yu, director of Environmental Performance

for Boeing Commercial Airplanes

sporting, automotive and aerospace applications, though not in prima

structures such as aircrat uselages. With global demand or high

grade composites burgeoning, the patented University o Nottingham

Boeing process promises to increase prices that recycled composite

will command in the marketplace, ensuring the emergence o a

vibrant composites recycling industry without government suppor

Boeing experts also gained valuable hands-on experience by

scrapping a pre-production 787 uselage test section in 2009.

We learned quite a lot about how to take a 787 apart andhow not to take one apart, Carberry noted with a smile.

Building on this oundation, Boeing Fabrication recently implemente

pilot composite-recycling programs at two Puget Sound sites, Frede

ickson and Advanced Developmental Composites, as well as at Boein

South Carolina. Frederickson manuactures the 787 composite tail n

as well as other 787 parts. Boeing South Carolina assembles 787s.

At all three sites, workers routinely collect composite manuacturin

scrap, both uncured and cured. Uncured composite is a resin-

impregnated, pliable carbon-ber abric or tape. A cured composite ha

already been hardened into its nal shape by being baked in an auto-



PHOTOS: (Clockwise from left) Tim Anderson, ar let, andMarci Coen, background, use an instrument to check or leaksin the bagging material beore a part is cured in an autoclave,while Tim Wright checks the pleats in the material; compositeabricators conduct a nal check on a completed 787 verticaln beore shipping; mechanic Vadym Vasylyshyn on the 787vertical n assembly line; laminating machine operator SheilaLampkin bags a part or the autoclave. BOB FERGUSON/BOEING

clave. Boeing recycling eorts address both types. Cured composites

are a bit harder to recycle, but there will be greater need or cured ma-

terial as market demand grows or recycled ber, according to Carberry.

A cultural change is under way at the Boeing sites, too.

Workers are embracing the collection and segregation o scrap

or recycling. Some o the recovered material is used or research,

but the majority is sent to Materials Innovation Technology, a

pioneering composites recycler at Lake City, S.C., some 90 miles

(145 kilometers) rom Boeing South Carolina. Boeing hopes toeventually entice a similar acility to serve the Puget Sound region,

avoiding the need or transcontinental rail shipping.

Recycling composites oers countless benets, said Odette

Schindler, an environmental engineer with Environment, Health

and Saety at Boeing Fabrications Frederickson site.

One o those benets is helping Boeing meet whats known

as ISO 14001 requirements to continually decrease a sites

environmental impact. Frederickson is one o many Boeing sites

certied to ISO 14001, a comprehensive body o environmental

management standards promulgated by the International

95%Recycling composite scrap

material requires 95 percent less

energy than would be needed

to produce virgin material.



Most exciting ...and rewarding are the

environmentally responsiblematerial orms were creating.

Pete George, Associate Technical Fellow with Next-Generation

Composites, Boeing Research & Technology



Organization or Standardization.

Recycling is a key element o the comprehensive Boeing

Environmental Strategy, which also addresses energy use,

greenhouse gases, hazardous waste and water usage.

At Boeing South Carolina, or example, composite recycling

is one reason the site achieved the zero-waste-to-landll

designation in March 2011.

Composite recycling also allows signicant reduction in thecost and environmental impact o aircrat production. And there

are other advantages. Boeing engineers are pursuing closed-

loop reuse, a concept that will see lightweight composite scrap

material go back into new 787 Dreamliners.

We generate scrap when we cut out the 787s windows

and doors, said Tony Soto, the Environment, Health and Saety

senior manager at Boeing South Carolina. The companys vision

is to have this unavoidable scrap recycled and then put it back

into our products in nonstructural applications.

In a closed-loop system, what would normally be discarded

PHOTOS: (Clockwise from far left) Boeing manuacturing sitescollect excess carbon ber material or recycling. ALAN MARTS/BOEINGBoeing South Carolina produces one-piece 787 compositeuselage barrels, known as the at uselage sections 47 and 48.ED TURNER/BOEING Richard Moore loads a composite skin panel ontoan abrasive water jet trimming machine; mechanic Fred Staplesmeasures astener height on a 787 vertical n; CompositeManuacturing Center employees prepare to load a completed787 vertical n onto a trailer or shipping. BOB FERGUSON/BOEING

as waste or scrap is reused. This saves money and energy and

is better or the environment. Recycling the composite scrap

material requires 95 percent less energy than would be needed

to produce virgin material, according to Carberry.

On the commercial ront, recycled composites might become ai

crat lighting xtures, mounting brackets or passenger cabin sidewal

and ceilings. The Interiors Responsibility Center at Everett, Wash.,

which manuactures passenger cabin xtures and components oBoeing jetliners, is evaluating a newly developed recycled material

created rom uncured 787 composite scrap, that has a superb nish

As a chemical engineer, whats most exciting and rewarding

or me are the environmentally responsible material orms were

creating, said George, the Associate Technical Fellow. Its not

oten you get to bring something entirely new into regular use.

Small wonder, then, that George sees so much more than

mere paddles as he propels his kayak through the scenic waters

o the Northwest. n

[email protected]



Marty Inman, a 767 mechanic with Commercial Airplanes,

recalled the days o wearing protective suits and respira-

tors while running tests o the airplanes wing uel tanks.

The gear was necessary because the tests involved hazardous

ammonia gas and spraying indicator paint.

Today, his team can do the same work wearing jeans and

T-shirts, thanks to a new testing process that uses helium.

Using helium has improved the saety and testing processsignicantly, said Inman, a lead mechanic with the 767 wing

test team in Everett, Wash.

The helium leak test method, where workers pump a combina-

tion o helium and oxygen into uel tanks and then use wand-like

tools to detect leaks, was rst used by the 777 line in 2001. But it

has since been replicated on every airplane built in Everett, making

the site ammonia-ree or the rst time since the 1970s.

Its an example o how Boeing Research & Technology, part o

Engineering, Operations & Technology, is always nding ways to

replicate across the company the technology that is developed

to improve Boeing products or services.

Whether its a saer, more ecient way to test uel tanks or

a device that helps mechanics drill straight and true each time,

technologies that are benecial to the initial customer oten gain

more lie through replication at other Boeing acilities around

the world.

Replications are the bread and butter o technology develop-

ment, said Amir Anissipour, a program integration manager with

Boeing Research & Technology who helps connect successultechnologies with programs.

Theres no need to reinvent the wheel when innovative and

fexible options exist.

As the companys advanced, central research and develop-

ment organization, Boeing Research & Technology is strategicall

situated within the company to acilitate the dissemination o

ideas across Boeing. The organization supports not only Boeing

Commercial Airplanes and Deense, Space & Security business

units but also the U.S. Deense Department, Homeland Security,

NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration. All are trying to

nd better, aster and more aordable ways to design, develop,

successReplicating

Innovative minds at Boeing Research& Technology are replicating technologyacross the company By Nathan A. Hulings



produce, deliver, operate and maintain current and uture products,

systems and services.

When it comes to innovation that benets customers and

the Boeing enterprise, replication is just as important, i not

more important, as invention, noted Matt Ganz, Boeing Research

& Technology vice president and general manager.

Boeing has an advantage over other aerospace companies

its the power o One Boeing, Ganz said. When we combine

the talents o our business units with the technical and unctional

leadership provided by EO&T, we are able to solve our customerstoughest technical challenges. Once we do that, we want to

replicate the solution as much as possible. Given the size, scope

and diversity o our operations, its hard to imagine why we cant

replicate great ideas two, three or even more times in dierent

places throughout the enterprise.

Consider the widespread success story rom the use o a new

drilling device known as the Halosensor.

Like his other teammates, Dino Go, an engineer with Boeing

Research & Technology, keeps an eye out or discoveries that can

help multiple Boeing programs. Go knew he had a game changer

when he began working with the drilling device several years ago

ater seeing it demonstrated at a trade show in Seattle.

Equipped with a computer processor, the Halosensor works

by latching to the outside o a wing while a magnet is placed

on the blind side to create a magnetic eld. A screen showing a

cross-hair turns green once the pilot hole is ound, providing an

accurate location or nal drilling.

The devices accuracydown to the tens o thousandths

o an inchhas drastically reduced errors on the Everett and

Renton, Wash., assembly lines. Beore the Halosensor, workers

used a manual tool that was not as accurate, requiring timely an

expensive rework that added weight to the wing and required

additional stress analysis and FAA oversight.

We knew this device had the potential to solve a lot oproduction issues, Go said.

The devices original success on the 747 line caught the

attention o others, and soon the use o Halosensors was

replicated on the 737, 767 and 777 lines. n

[email protected]

Replicationsare the bread and butter o technology development.

Amir Anissipour, program integration manager, Boeing Research & Technology

PHOTOS: (Above) Marty Inman, a 767 mechanic, uses a wand-liktool to perorm a helium leak test on a 767 wing uel tank in EverettWash. (Below, clockwise from left) Mechanic Chung Nguyenperorms a helium leak test on the lower 767 wing uel tank at theactory in Everett, Wash.; Inman; Nguyen. MATTHEW THOMPSON/BOEINGGlaze operates the Halosensor. TIM STAKE/BOEING

PHOTOS:(Left) Mechanic Curtis Glaze operates the Halosensoron the 767 wing to locate blind pilot holes or more accuratedrilling. Since being introduced several years ago, the Halosensorhas been replicated on the 737, 747, 767 and 777 lines.TIM STAKE/BOEING


28/40

When a distinctly bulbous-nosed

747 landed on a cloudy day in

the Arizona desert earlier this

year, it closed out a two-decades-long

experiment that pushed orward the

possibilities o laser deense.

The Airborne Laser Test Bed, a modied

747-400 carrying a large chemical laser,may now sit in storage. But the program

let a legacy o not only technology thats

being used in Boeings continuing directed

energy programs but also a group o

talented engineers adding value to a

variety o programs across the company.

There is a realization, even i you

werent an Airborne Laser an, that there

was technology and lessons learned we

should hold onto or the uture, said Mike

Rinn, vice president o Directed Energy

Lessons learned rom Airborne Laser program will helpshape uture o directed energy technology By Eric Fetters-Walp

Ahead of its time


KC-135 to test a small gas-dynamic laser

in its Airborne Laser Lab program. Beore

it was retired, the laser lab destroyed ve

AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and a

Navy BQM-34A target drone in tests.

While the rst proposals or the

Airborne Laser Test Bed program were

prepared in the early 1990s, it gainedocial ooting in 1996 when the Air Force

awarded a development contract to the

Boeing-led team. Boeing was tasked with

providing the aircrat, battle management

systems, overall systems integration and

testing. Northrop Grumman provided the

megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine

laser, or COIL, and associated targeting

lasers. Lockheed Martin developed the

beam and re control systems.

Once the Airborne Laser Test Bed

Systems and the Airborne Lasers program

manager or several years.

Many o the Boeing employees who

developed the Airborne Laser, along with

colleagues rom Lockheed Martin and

Northrop Grumman, say the program

was unlike anything else on which

theyve worked.It was exciting. There were lots o

struggles, technically and programmatically,

but it was a great challenge and a very

rewarding time, said Richard Flanders,

ormer program manager or the Airborne

Laser Test Bed. It stretched people, and

I think they really enjoyed that.

The idea o an aircrat-mounted laser did

not start with the Airborne Laser program

in the 1990s. From the mid-1970s through

1984, the U.S. Air Force modied a Boeing


29/40

was assembled and tested, the COIL was

the highest-energy laser ever red rom an

aircrat and the most powerul mobile laser

device in the world.

The program, which averaged 500600

employees and peaked at about 1,200

people, was never large, but it was the

highest-prole program in Boeings laserweapons portolio or a long time, said

Dale Parkes, who was lead engineer or

the Airborne Lasers re control system.

At one point at the Albuquerque,

N.M., site, almost everybody had worked

on this program. It became an area or

career development in addition to the

intellectual property and technology,

said Parkes, now technical lead engineer

or Modeling and Simulation in Boeings

Directed Energy Systems organization.


Robert Vets, who served in a variety o

systems engineering and team lead roles

on the Airborne Laser program between

1997 and this year, said the diculty o the

programs goal made it attractive.

The Airborne Laser is an important

type o program because we accomplished

things that had never been done and thatexperts said couldnt be done, said Vets,

now a project engineer or Boeing Com-

mercial Airplanes Innovation Center. Its

important or Boeing to have programs

that do the impossible and push the

rontiers o technology.

He and other alums remember well the

evening o Feb. 11, 2010, the programs

shining moment. The Airborne Laser

Test Bed aircrat took o rom Edwards

Air Force Base that day and headed or

the Western Sea Range o the coast o

Southern Caliornia. At 8:44 p.m. Pacic

time, a short-range ballistic missile was

launched rom a mobile launch platorm

on the ocean.

With a mix o Airborne Laser employees

military ocials and others watching rom a

control room at Naval Base Ventura CountPoint Mugu in Caliornia, the Airborne Lase

aircrats sensors detected the boosting

missile and tracked it with a low-energy

laser. The aircrat then red a second low-

energy laser to measure and compensate

or atmospheric disturbance. Finally, the

Airborne Laser Test Bed red the high-

energy COIL, which heated the boosting

ballistic missile to critical structural ailure.

Seeing that missile get destroyed, it

was remarkable, Flanders said. Given

We accomplished things thathad never been done and that

experts said couldnt be done. Robert Vets, who served in a variety of engineering and team lead roles

on the Airborne Laser program, now with the Boeing Commercial

Airplanes Innovation Center

PHOTOS: (Left) The Airborne Laser Test

Bed, a modied 747-400, fies over EdwardAFB, Cali. U.S. AIR FORCE(Inset) The beam romthe laser was directed through this optic inthe aircrats nose. KURTISS HUMPHREY/BOEING


30/40

all the publicity around the program, Im

not sure everyone understood what was

accomplished, what was demonstrated.

Added Parkes: The wow actor o

shooting down a ballistic missile with light

was just amazing.

The entire engagement occurred within

two minutes o the target missiles launch.

But they were eventul minutes, marking

the rst time a laser weapon had engagedand destroyed an in-fight ballistic missile

and the rst time any system had accom-

plished it in the missiles boost phase

o fight. It ollowed the Airborne Lasers

successul intercept and destruction o

a research rocket launched rom the

ground on Feb. 3, 2010.

Technical challenges prevented a

repeat o the successul shootdown in

attempts over the ollowing year. In all

2009, the Pentagon shited the Airborne

Laser rom a potential weapons system

program to a research and development

program and then canceled it in 2011.

Despite the challenges, the U.S. Missile

Deense Agency awarded its Technology

Pioneer Award in 2009 to three Boeing

Airborne Laser Test Bed engineers and

three o their teammates or advancing

key program technologies. And in 2010,

the Air Force Association honored the

program with the Theodore Von Karman

Award, the associations highest honor

in science and engineering.

The uniqueness o putting a powerul

laser on an airplane and then ring it,

accurately, while accounting or atmospheric

distortion it will be many years untilthose accomplishments are repeated,

said Greg Hyslop, vice president and

general manager o Strategic Missile

and Deense Systems. Those things

are no-kidding rocket science.

The Airborne Laser Test Beds complex

technology, including its adaptive optics

which corrected or atmospheric distortion

in targeting the laser on missile and sys-

tems or controlling high-energy lasers,

now is being used in other Directed Energy

Systems programs, other Deense Depart-

ment programs and even in astronomy. For

example, Rinn said, the High Energy Laser

Mobile Demonstrator (HEL MD) program

or the U.S. Army wouldnt exist without the

Airborne Laser programs developments,

noting that programs manager and some


o its employees came rom the Airborne

Laser team.

Former Airborne Laser employees also

are helping to develop the Mk 38 Tactical

Laser System as well as other Directed

Energy Systems weapons. Others who

worked on the Airborne Laser now are

applying their experience to engineering

and testing or Commercial Airplanes.

Very ew actually retired, said Flandersnow a scheduler or 787 Test & Validation.

We placed somewhere around 95 percen

o the engineering sta that was on

that program.

While the Airborne Laser Test Bed air-

crat now sits in the Air Forces Boneyard

in Arizona, many who worked on the

program say the groundbreaking research

and eats accomplished were ahead o

their time.

Were already looking at next-generatio

airborne lasers, Rinn said. Its taking the

pathnding work that the Airborne Laser

did and carrying it orward. n

[email protected]

The High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator

(HEL MD) program for the U.S. Army wouldnt

exist without the Airborne Laser programs

developments.

Mike Rinn, vice president of Directed Energy Systems

PHOTOS:(Right)The retired AirborneLaser Test Bed is now parked in theBoneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.KURTISS HUMPHREY/BOEING(Inset) The High EnergyLaser Mobile Demonstrator is being devel-oped or the U.S. Army by Boeing Directed

Energy Systems using knowledge gainedon the Airborne Laser Test Bed. BOEING



1996 U.S. Air Force awards contract to Boeing-led team to

develop the Airborne Laser.

2001 The Air Force acquires a Boeing 747-400 Freighter, retired

by Air India, and the aircrats wingless uselage was used

to test the systems components in the System Integration

Laboratory at the Edwards Air Force Base Birk Flight Test

Center in Caliornia. The chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL)in the lab was red successully more than 50 times.

2002 Ater completing major modications to a new 747-400F,

known as YAL-1, the aircrat makes its rst fight rom

Boeing Wichita on July 18.

2004 First light o the chemical oxygen iodine laser is achieved

in ground testing, along with the rst fight o the Airborne

Laser aircrat tted with the battle management and

beam/re control systems.

2005 While aircrat fight tests continue, the team res the

Airborne Lasers high-energy laser at lethal power andduration in ground tests.

2006 The team completes modications YAL-1 to accept the

COILs modules and integrate the systems two solid-state

illuminator lasers into the beam/re control system

on board the aircrat.

2007 During active fight tests, the Airborne Laser Test Bed

homes in on, tracks and then res a low-power test laser

at a target board attached to an Air Force test aircrat.

2008 The Airborne Laser team completes installation o the

high-energy COIL in the aircrat and begins ring the

laser in ground testing.

2009 The Airborne Laser begins fight tests in April with the

entire weapon system integrated aboard the aircrat.

In August, the high-energy laser res or the rst time

in fight.

2010 Ater tracking and engaging a target rocket during January

and destroying a ground-launch research rocket in early

February, the Airborne Laser successully destroys a boostin

ballistic missile o the coast o Caliornia on Feb. 10. Less

than an hour later, the system engages a second solid ue

short-range missile to meet all test criteria.

2012 The Airborne Laser Test Bed aircrat is fown on Feb. 14rom Edwards Air Force Base to Davis-Monthan Air Force

Base in Arizona, where it is in storage with the 309th

Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group.

Advancing technology at the speed of light



Anyone who has ever tackled a

home-renovation project knows

how tricky upgrading an older

home can be. One change oten leads

to others, and sticking to a budget and

schedule can be challenging.

Imagine renovating an 83-year-old

rotorcrat actory, upgrading 400,000 square

eet (37,000 square meters) o manuactur-

ing space and aging inrastructure, all

Makeover modelRenovation o Boeings rotorcrat site near Philadelphia is accomplishedwithout disrupting vital productionBy Debby Arkell and photos by Fred Troilo

while workers are building high-technology

helicopters at ever increasing rates.

Such is the task o Project Implemen-

tation teams at Boeings actory in Ridley

Township, a Philadelphia suburb, where

CH-47 Chinook military helicopters are built.

Fuselage assemblies or the V-22 Osprey tilt-

rotor aircrat also are produced at the site,

but in a dierent building.

Project Implementation, a service group

within Shared Services Groups (SSG)

Site Services, is responsible or the major

construction. In June 2009, Project Imple-

mentation teams in Philadelphia began this

massive project. That work continues

within budget and on schedule.

This is by ar the biggest Boeing

investment made at Philadelphia, said

Boeings Chris Calhoun, project manager.

Its one thing to build new to support a

PHOTOS: (Clockwise from above left) Upgrades completed at Boeings rotorcrat plant near Philadelphia have turned an 83-year-oldbuilding into a state-o-the-art manuacturing acility; reintroduction o windows at the Chinook actory lets in lots o natural light and allowemployees to see test fights o the helicopters they build; more than 1,100 construction workers have been involved in the renovationeort; the project has required careul choreography so construction crews do not interere with ast-paced helicopter production.



site like we did in South Carolina. To ully

overhaul existing, aging buildings is quite

another. At Boeing South Carolina, a

new nal assembly actory was built or

production o 787 Dreamliners.

The multimill ion-dol lar renovation to

the Ridley Park site, which has involved

more than 1,100 construction workers, is

occurring in phases. Phase one addressed

inrastructure needs associated withincreased Chinook production rates, which

will have doubled by the time the entire

project wraps up in 2015.

Flight ramp improvements and oce

and actory modernization are complete,

creating a much improved working environ-

ment or employees. (See the July 2011

issue oFrontiers.) Massive windows

replaced solid steel walls, providing terric

views and bringing natural light into the

work area; installation o a central utility

plant now provides much-needed

air conditioning.

Indeed, many o the sites buildings

were originally constructed in the 1920s

or steel manuacturing. The buildings had

no lights at the time; the work area used

natural lighting, streaming through glass

walls and an atrium, two design eatures

the renovation re-emphasized.

Its bright, clean and new, said engi-

neer Kevin Morais, H-47 Manuacturing

lead and a 20-year rotorcrat employee.

Theres more room or the support unc-

tions to colocate, and everyone I need tohelp support the production line is now

an arms length away. Its great seeing the

aces o olks coming through on tours.

They cant believe its the same place.

Construction teams now are replacing

the sites ancient boilers and reconguring

manuacturing-support areas into oce

and training space as well as a new

caeteria. Latter stages o the project

will include urther mechanical and

electrical inrastructure improvements

and conversion o the old boiler house

into a rehouse.The sitewide overhaul and consolida-

tion includes Boeings rst Leadership in

Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

actory renovation, meeting criteria en-

acted by the U.S. Green Building Council,

and supports Boeings initiative to be a

leader in energy-ecient design.

Wereoptimizingthis workenvironment

to bring thebest or theemployee,customerand Boeing.

Leanne Caret, vice president andH-47 Program manager

Leanne Caret, vice president and

H-47 Program manager, said the invest-

ment in upgrading to a world-class acility

was necessary to achieve productivity

targets needed to meet current customer

commitments. It also will help Boeing

win new business.

These renovations are a refection

o Boeings commitment to our customer

our employees and the Philadelphia regionCaret said. The way the improvements

are being executed demonstrates our

partnership with SSG and across the

enterprise, and we couldnt be more

proud o how were optimizing this work

environment to bring the best or the

employee, customer and Boeing.

The biggest challenge since the massiv

project began more than two years ago

has been managing the projects phases to

avoid disrupting Chinook production. Not

only has production increased during the

ongoing renovation, but the construction

work has been accomplished with no lost

time due to accidents.

They laid out a good plan beore start

ing each phase, Morais said. Disruption

has been minimal, and its been a pretty

smooth ride considering all the work that

been going on.

Tim Lunger, a manager with Deense,

Space & Security who serves as the project

actory representative, has worked closely

with Site Services and construction and

planning teams. He said the renovationrequired careul choreography between

construction and production work.

The success o undertaking such

a massive project and not interrupting

vital production, he added, mirrors the

groundbreaking Move to the Lake

initiative in Renton, Wash., where Boeing

builds 737 jetliners. Boeing consolidated

operations there nearly 10 years ago.

Engineering and administrative oces now

are close to the actory foor, improving

operations and eciency.

Like Renton, were connecting ocespace and the products we produce,

Lunger said. This investment speaks to

how important our work is to Boeing,

to our customers and to the soldiers

we support. n

[email protected]


34/40



Change is in the air at Boeing build-

ings around the world.

Advancing the environmental

perormance o the companys buildings

and acilities may not be the most visible

initiative at an aerospace company known

or its innovation and technology. But with

more than 85 million square eet (7.9 mil-

lion square meters) o actory, oce and

laboratory space to manage, operate and

maintain, the challenge to be cost-ecient

while moving toward more sustainable

business practices is a growing priority.

Taking specic measures to conserve

and increase energy eciency, said

Keith Warner, program manager or the

companywide Conservation Initiative,

has a direct impact on cost-savings or

our business partners while at the same

time improving the air quality or local

communities. Improvements such as thesebenet all stakeholders, including our

customers and suppliers.

The Uti lities and Conservation team

or Shared Services has been working

to apply a common set o environmental

building standards to Boeing acilities.

Most notably, Boeing has adopted the

U.S. Green Building Councils Leadership

in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

rating system as a design standard or

increasing the sustainability o new con-

BuildingperformanceEcient acility operations support business goals and meetenvironmental challengesBy Kathy Spicer

struction or major renovations. Additionally,

Boeing has achieved the U.S. Environmen-

tal Protection Agencys ENERGY STAR

label or 10 buildings or outstanding

building energy eciency, and it has been

an ENERGY STAR Partner o the Year

or the past two years.

The benet o these programs, Warner

explained, is the ramework they provide

or Boeing to operate its acilities with

less waste, increased recycling and reuse

o materials, improved energy and water

eciency, and reduced pollution. Upgrading

and improving mechanical systemssuch

as air-handling, lighting and water tower

operationsare critical in maintaining

these savings.

Most recently, Boeing received an

ENERGY STAR or the central Boeing

Deense Systems building in St. Louis

and LEED certications or Boeings Space& Intelligence Systems headquarters

building in El Segundo, Cali., and the

chemical processing acility expansion

in Portland, Ore. The company is also

pursuing a LEED Silver rating or its joint

venture composite manuacturing acility

in Tianjin, China.

And there are plans to meet environ-

mental standards or the companys

new Boeing Long Bridge construction

in Arlington, Va.; the renovated Chinook

actory near Philadelphia; and the new

delivery center or twin-aisle commercial

jets in Everett, Wash.

Our goal is to operate our actories

and oces with the highest standards

o eciency while making the right

decisions or the environment, said

Rich Noviello, SSG Site Services Opera-

tions director, who is leading the eort

to collaborate with manuacturing and

process leaders to promote energy

eciency and conservation.

Its a big challenge, he said,

but with a building portolio the size

o Boeings, every inch o savings can

make a dierence. n

[email protected]


36/40

With a growing feet o Boeing jets, Oman Air is ocused

on expansionvertically.

Perhaps thats only tting or an airline based in Muscat,

nestled against the Hajar Mountains that dominate the landscape

o this country on the southeast coast o the Arabian Peninsula.

Vertical expansionadding fight requency, not more routes

continues to be key to growth or Wayne Pearce, the man who took

the reins o Omans national airline as chie executive earlier this year.

We want to urther enhance the operations o our current

feet by adding more fying hours to each aircrat, said Pearce,who expressed satisaction with the operating economics o the

airlines 737-800s. Oman Air operatesthrough lease and direct

purchasea feet o 13 737-800s and two 737-700s and has

six more 737-800s on order.

The 737 is able to operate eectively in very hot climates,

Pearce said, adding that the Boeing jet has proved itsel with its

dispatch reliability, ease o maintenance and saety record.

Keen to play an active role in promoting tourism in Oman, a

country known or its stunning natural landscapes, architecture and

history, the airline also plans to gradually expand its regional and

international destination network, especially ater it takes delivery

o its six 787s that were ordered at the Dubai Airshow in 2011.

The operating economics o the 787 and enhanced passenger

experience will not only allow us to continue pursuing our vertical

growth strategy, Pearce said, but will also enable our plans

to expand our network, while increasing business and leisure

trac into Oman.

The airline operates a feet o 26 airplanes and fies to 41 destina-

tions worldwide. It has won both praise as a Four Star airline (named

by SKYTRAX) and the title o Worlds Best Business Class Airline

Seat or two consecutive years (2011 and 2012 World Airline Awards).

Perhaps ew Omanis are bigger ans o Boeing airplanes

especially the Next-Generation 737sthan Adil Al Sheibani,

As it adds 737s, Oman Air is poisedor greater success By Saffana Michael

Upward mobility


senior manager o Development Engineering or the airline. He

joined Oman Air in 1994 as an apprentice and has completed

a course in Renton, Wash., where the 737 is assembled, or

his B1 aircrat maintenance license.

This airplane has the minimum [entry-into-service] issues,

Al Sheibani said o the 737. I just want to thank the people up

at Renton or assembling such a great airplane.

Al Sheibani is part o the airl ines campaign to encourage mor

Omanis to join the aviation sector. Pearce noted that 57 percent

o the airlines pilots are Omanis, and many more will soon start

working or the airline.

We want to be prepared when we get our new 737s and

787s, Pearce said.

For Al Sheibani, its a matter o national pride.

Even today, he said, one o the most gratiying moments

is to see our airplanes take to the skies and know that our

engineering crew have ensured the saety and comort o our

passengers, which is o paramount importance to us. n

[email protected]

The 737 isable to operateeffectively invery hot climates.

Wayne Pearce, Oman Air CEO

PHOTO: OMAN AIR

PHOTO:An Oman Air 737 lands at Oman International Airport.With a current feet o 15 737s, the airline has six more 737-800son order. OMAN AIR



Milestones


38/4042 BOEING FRONTIERS / AUGUST 201242 BOEING FRONTIERS / AUGUST 2012

In Focus

BANK SHOT

A Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet perorms a steep banking maneuver during a fight demonstration at last months Farnborough

International Airshow in the United Kingdom. The special eect is caused by water vapor that condenses around the aircrat during

high-speed maneuvering in certain atmospheric conditions, such as when the air is humid, and the low pressure o airfow around the

jet. Other Boeing aircrat making demonstration fights or on static display at the Farnborough show included the Bell-Boeing V-22

Osprey, F-15E Eagle, C-17 Globemaster III, AH-64D Apache, and the 737-900 and new 787 Dreamliner jetliners. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES


39/40BOEING FRONTIERS / AUGUST 2012BOEING FRONTIERS / AUGUST 2012


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