Legends of Flight (2010) Movie Script
MIKE: It has
the largest wingspan
of any bird on earth.
Its thermal efficiency,
its soaring efficiency
is almost supernatural.
It can remain airborne
for months at a time.
Quite simply,
I think it's the most
perfect flying machine
ever created.
NARRATOR: Boeing's final
assembly line at
Everett, Washington.
(MACHINE WHIRRING)
He's flown gliders,
fighters, biplanes,
helicopters, airliners.
Eight thousand hours
in more than 130 different
aircraft types.
He's an aeronautical engineer,
a flight instructor,
a navy test pilot with
300 plus carrier landings.
Mike Carriker is
a legend in the industry
and a Boeing chief test pilot.
(INDISTINCT TALKING)
MIKE: The best part
of this job is that
I have a voice in how
our airplanes are
designed and operated.
For a pilot, it doesn't get
much better than that.
It's a better place
for the flight gear,
to touch it if it's up there.
If you're willing
to go back.
NARRATOR: Here in
the largest building
on earth,
30,000 people work to assemble
10 new aircraft a month.
The newest in
Boeing's family of
airliners is the 777,
an aircraft designed
over 20 years ago.
Hi there.
MIKE: In the spring of 2001,
we had a very successful
lineup of aircrafts
still in production.
But we really needed
a new generation
to stay competitive.
We wanted to build
something radical,
something exciting.
Something that
could bring back
some of the romance
and the joy of flying.
(MAN ON PA)
(INDISTINCT)
NARRATOR: Perhaps more
money changes hands
at the Paris Air Show
than any other
place on earth.
Gambling in this market
can make or break
global corporations.
At every show, there
is a central attraction.
This year, it's the first
entirely new airliner
of the 21st century.
The largest ever built,
the Airbus A380.
With a maximum seating of 853,
the A380 will be
the world's most
energy efficient airliner
when it enters service.
MIKE: So Airbus had
played their hand
building an enormous
but efficient airplane.
Frankly, we thought
it was too big.
So we knew we would have
to match or improve
on that energy efficiency
in a smaller airplane.
But how?
All ideas start off
as a scribble on
a napkin, if you will.
Or on a blackboard.
Or nowadays, in thin air.
It's the most fun stage
of an aircraft design,
in my view,
and maybe the most important.
If you get
the basic concept wrong,
then whatever follows
could be a real dog.
I was chief test pilot
on a scribble we called
the Sonic Cruiser.
The concept was
to build a very fast
subsonic airliner,
and we all loved the idea.
But it needed
enormously powerful
and thirsty engines
that we didn't have,
and it's a good thing,
because it might
have ruined the company.
A very important lesson
in what not to build.
By the way,
some of the best flying
requires no power at all.
You watch how the snow
blows off the rocks.
You watch what
the birds are doing,
how they handle the updrafts.
You try to use every
possible advantage.
But once you get
the hang of it,
it's magical.
It's as close as you can come
to flying like a bird.
Gliders have much to teach us
about efficiency.
Very lightweight
composite materials,
smooth, polished skins,
long, thin wings
that bend upwards
that give them low drag
and high lift.
In hindsight,
a lot of the clues
as to the airplane
we were about to build.
NARRATOR: In December of 2002,
Boeing held internal
discussions around
the most critical decision
the company would make in
its entire history.
The creation of
a radically new
21st century aircraft.
Just keep working
on it all the time.
MIKE: We spend a lot
of time at meetings.
And we love to
talk about airplanes.
To me, that's the issue
that we got to work.
We've got to understand that.
And if we're gonna be afraid
of every little decision...
Who's gonna add this all up?
Who's gonna add up
all these positives
and all the negatives...
We were all over
the place at first.
I get lost in all
these conversations about
this little bit over here,
and this little bit over here,
and this little bit over here,
and then they add 'em all up
and it's like,
how do we even add them up
at the end of the day...
Do all that kind of thing.
You know, in retrospect,
the clue we were missing
could be traced back
to the first powered flight.
(FLUTTERS)
(PUMPING)
NARRATOR: Early piston
engines were a marvel of
ingenuity and simplicity.
They made possible
an enormous variety
of flying machines.
A few of them, magnificent.
MIKE: The power was limited,
but multiple wings,
good aerodynamics,
very lightweight fabric,
wooden construction
enabled early aircraft
to get airborne.
One of my
all-time favorites is
the legendary
Stearman biplane.
The carbon bonds
in the cellulose
of the wood make possible
very strong and fatigue
resistant structures.
After all, a tree can
stand blowing in the wind
for thousands of years
without breaking.
Amazingly,
here was another clue.
NARRATOR:
Carbon has been called
the enchanted element.
The carbon atom,
with four electrons
in its outer shell,
forms a huge variety
of chemicals,
including those that make
possible all life on earth.
Under intense heat,
carbon forms bonds
only with itself,
creating crystalline chains
of thin graphite sheets.
Twisted into threads
and then woven together,
carbon fiber can
be made into among
the strongest,
lightest materials on earth,
stronger for its weight
than any metal.
MIKE: What started
as a few squiggles
began slowly to
evolve into the big idea
we were all hoping for.
A radical new way
to build airplanes.
It was one scary idea
floating in that room.
Do you know any way
to put the fault
in there to see if we
can catch the fault?
Well, yeah. I can introduce
the fault here all day long.
The problem is that it
came in upstream of it,
we don't know how.
MIKE: But, you know,
there was something
even scarier,
and that was
resting on our laurels
just a bit too long.
So, second order impacts.
I mean, think about it.
(WHIRRING)
(ENGINE STARTING)
Okay. Brakes and
hydraulic system.
Check.
Beacon lights.
On.
Radios.
They're on.
Transponder.
Check.
MIKE: I remember
when I was a kid,
the hot plane, (CHUCKLES)
Or should I say
the cool plane,
was the Super Constellation,
no question about it.
(SLOW MUSIC PLAYING)
I never turn
down an offer to fly
one of these old airplanes,
because once you
get up in the air,
there's nothing to say
that you haven't
gone back in time
40, 50, 60 years.
I've flown several of
these piston airliners,
and the Super Connie
would be my favorite.
There are no computers
flying this plane.
You are connected
by pulley and by cable
to all the control surfaces.
So you can
really feel the plane,
and it will do exactly
what you tell it to do.
Good or bad, it doesn't care.
NARRATOR:
The Super Constellation
caught the imagination
of the flying public
and became a big
seller for Lockheed,
but success didn't last.
Lockheed was not prepared
for the coming revolution
in aviation technology.
(ENGINE RUNNING)
It just had all
these moving parts.
It had these pistons
going this way,
and then pistons
going that way,
and counterbalances and...
NARRATOR: Piston engines
with 18 cylinders
and supercharges
had become
extremely complex,
difficult to maintain,
and neared the limits
of their power output.
The new technology
jet engines were
dramatically simpler
with much greater power
to weight output.
MIKE: The amount of power
the relatively simple turbine
can produce
is almost unlimited,
and with enough power,
you can fly a brick.
This pretty much describes
another one of my favorites.
One of the most challenging
and dangerous
airplanes to fly.
The Harrier uses
a great deal of
lightweight carbon
fiber to accomplish
the opposite
of what the glider does.
It can come off the ground
on engine thrust alone,
without the help of its wing
and aerodynamics.
No other plane could do that.
Oh, what a great day.
Sir, did we get
the brake accumulator
all pressurized?
NARRATOR: The British designed
Hawker Siddeley Harrier
manages something
once thought impossible,
a fighter that can fly
both fast and very slow.
Man, what a great day
to go flying.
Hovering one moment,
accelerating to 700 miles
an hour the next.
Fighter jets are
great flying machines,
but they use
enormous amounts of fuel
and make ear-splitting noise.
Not something
you want in an airliner.
NARRATOR: Engine builders
Rolls-Royce,
GE and Pratt-Whitney
were already at work
on new engines for
a future generation
of quieter and considerably
more efficient aircraft.
In order to reduce stress
on a much longer,
thinner wing,
engineers envisioned something
they called the "smart wing."
Sensors will read
air currents,
sending data via a series of
computers to wing surfaces
that will react continuously
to dampen turbulence.
In effect, the wing
would act as if alive.
MIKE: It got more
and more interesting.
With carbon fiber,
the wing could be longer,
thinner, more efficient
like a glider.
We also had
a massive increase
in computer power.
We were looking at
something entirely new,
an airplane with a huge brain.
With long, thin wings,
the new plane was
starting to look like
one of the most
intriguing birds on earth.
And it's no coincidence.
We are looking for
some of the same things
the albatross does better
than any other bird,
unbelievable range
and extraordinary
energy efficiency.
But we were also
hoping to give it
just a bit of the genius
of other living flyers.
Advanced
navigation capability.
Collision avoidance.
Improved aerodynamics.
All things that
nature has been doing
masterfully for
millions of years.
It has been calculated
that a bumblebee
could fly around
the world 200 times,
nearly five million miles,
on a gallon of honey.
The monarch
butterfly navigates
by a circadian clock
and arrives at exactly
the same spot as its
grandparents once did.
Talk about software!
Geese and ducks fly
in formation to benefit
from each others' wings,
improving
aerodynamics and reducing
fatigue over long flights.
A lot of what nature
does is still a mystery,
and I find that wonderful.
So everyone got pumped up,
and we decided to join
the world of carbon flyers.
...and lose the larger bus,
you've got...
When the going got tough...
NARRATOR:
In the fall of 2003,
Boeing made
the momentous decision
to go ahead with the 787.
It is the point beyond which
there is no turning back.
The entire future of
the company will now
ride on the wings of
a radical new aircraft.
MAN: But I really
appreciate it.
In one of the largest
industrial gambles
in history,
the company and hundreds
of subcontractors will
undertake to construct
a series of entirely new
manufacturing facilities,
transitioning from aluminum
to a new age of carbon fiber.
First,
the carbon fiber threads
are woven into long strands
and impregnated
with epoxy resins.
This tape is then
laid into a wing pattern
by computer-controlled
machines.
Woven fabric subassemblies
of various parts are
next covered by plastic,
then baked under
vacuum pressure,
thus curing the epoxy resins
and bonding the carbon fiber.
MIKE: The bottom line
is we had our bird
in the incubator,
while the other guys
were getting ready
to spread their wings.
(MAN SPEAKING IN FRENCH ON PA)
NARRATOR: As the new
Airbus A380 prepares
for its first flight
at the Paris Air Show,
it has caught the imagination
of the industry and public
like no other
plane in recent memory.
(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)
(PEOPLE MUTTERING)
(PEOPLE GASPING)
Boeing sought
manufacturing partners
from around the world
among more than
40 countries
and hundreds of
subcontractors.
Using four
specially modified 747s
named Dreamlifters,
major assemblies will
be flown from Japan,
Italy and
locations around the US.
(INDISTINCT TALKING)
New handling systems
were designed and built
just to get
subassemblies on and off
the transport aircraft.
All part of a vast
industrial strategy
to build aircraft
on a global scale
in an entirely new way.
MAN: You're almost there.
Ready to turn.
Designers first assemble
the aircraft's
millions of parts
using computer-generated
graphics
long before the real aircraft
begins to take shape.
MIKE: The carbon fiber design
has all kinds of advantages.
It doesn't
corrode like aluminum,
so the cabin
can be more humid.
And higher pressure
for passenger comfort.
The windows can
be much bigger.
Electronic systems
will replace pneumatic,
all intended to make
a more energy efficient,
longer lasting airplane.
Here we come.
Here we come.
There we go.
MAN: Good?
That'll work.
I'm ready to pit down,
if that's what you like.
MAN: Pick it up.
Watch the fuselage.
Slowly.
Steady. Good.
Looking good.
Good.
All right.
MAN: Come in. Come in. Good.
Marketing is always in a rush
to get the plane rolled out.
And so, we are
never quite as far along
as we would like to be.
Yeah.
That's good, I like that.
Yeah, I can get up there.
I can't hardly decide
if I want to come
here early or not.
Is your whole family
coming out with you?
No.
Okay, take her up.
NARRATOR: The company is
under intense pressure
to get its first
aircraft completed
and rolled out to
customers before
the competition
gets too far ahead.
MAN: There.
Moving. To the left.
MAN 1: And good morning
from the management
and the employees of
KHI in Nagoya, Japan.
The working
together spirit of the 770
in Seattle and all
the global partners.
(INDISTINCT TALKING)
For all of you
that have made
this dream a reality,
I am proud to premiere
the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Thank you, all.
(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)
NARRATOR: As of rollout,
nearly 700 Dreamliners
have been sold,
worth over $100 billion.
On the shop floor,
there are rumors circulating
that the first aircraft
is an illusion,
an empty shell,
months, if not years away
from the end of the runway.
MIKE: There are two sides
to this business.
The glamour and the theater
of a gleaming new aircraft,
and then a few feet away,
behind the curtain,
behind the wall,
are the airplanes
not so lucky.
They get poked,
prodded, almost tortured.
NARRATOR: Before the first
aircraft can fly,
several others are
taken off the line
and sacrificed in
static and fatigue testing.
Okay.
MAN: And make sure
that we put that in
the logbook tonight.
Okay, you got it.
NARRATOR: These tests
subject the airframe
wing and fuselage
to repetitive bending
and pressurizing cycles
equivalent to 165,000 flights.
Just make sure
it's off straight
and everything's tight.
NARRATOR:
By the spring of 2008,
the program began
to fall months
behind schedule.
Here on the production line,
engineers and technicians
surround the first 787s.
MIKE: Once you fall behind
on the production line
and have trouble
assembling, say
an electronic or
ventilation system,
you gotta tear things apart,
redesign the system
and reinstall it,
on not just one,
but six or seven planes.
In the end,
it hits everything.
It doesn't matter
what path you're on.
Well, we haven't seen
that fault yet, though.
He's right.
MIKE: Most of
the problems were pretty
routine at this stage.
But then,
almost out of nowhere,
we had a much bigger issue.
NARRATOR:
On the static test rig,
engineers discovered
a number of
deformities in the wing
that indicated
unpredicted weakness.
(INDISTINCT TALKING)
NARRATOR: Titanium brackets
will have to be added
to the aircraft
already assembled
in order to
strengthen their wings.
It will delay
the first flight of the 787
by another six months.
You know, I'm not
really sure, I think...
MIKE: We have kept many of
the original test birds
out behind the plant.
A lot of the younger
folks don't remember
the problems
we had on the 747,
the 767 and even the 777.
They all had
issues to work through,
but every one of them went on
to have great careers.
Come on.
Look at this cockpit.
Up here. Come up.
Oh, look. Look at that.
MIKE: In the middle
of trying to do
something difficult,
you can forget how
hard it was in the past.
That's why
it's called a gamble,
because it is a gamble.
This business is not
for the fainthearted.
The program
has huge potential,
but we're not there yet.
NARRATOR: As airlines prepare
their new A380s for service,
they are anxious
to capitalize on the
public's fascination
with the largest
airliner ever.
At the same time,
hoping to rekindle
some of
the romance and glamour
long absent from air travel.
(CORK POPS)
But as the A380
enters service,
it too is years
behind schedule.
The stakes in this gamble
to reinvent the airliner
are vastly higher
than first envisioned
by either Airbus or Boeing.
It has now been six years
since the go ahead
of the 787 program.
The project has
fallen two and a half years
behind schedule.
But the first
six aircraft rolling off
the production line
are now ready to begin
a long and intensive
test flight program.
Well, it's
the first time I've actually
seen the PECs pump.
MIKE: There was
a silver lining to all
the delays,
at least from a test
pilot's perspective.
We had two extra years
to develop the aircraft
and its software,
the brains of the airplane.
It was like the airplane
was as anxious to get
airborne as we were.
Stick it up. Left.
Okay. We're clear to go.
(ENGINE WHIRRING)
NARRATOR: In a tradition
as old as aviation itself,
the first flight of
a new aircraft
is a milestone
for the builder
and its employees.
(ALL CHEERING LOUDLY)
(WHISTLING)
This feels good.
(CHUCKLES)
Okay, camp, I'm setting up.
Okay, I'm rolling left 10.
Okay, right 10.
(MAN ON RADIO)
MIKE: People often ask,
"What makes a plane great?"
Well, responsive controls,
good balance,
lots of power for safety,
but there's that
intangible, too.
Great planes seem
to enjoy flying.
(MAN TALKING INDISTINCTLY
ON RADIO)
Rarely has there
been a first flight
with so few problems.
It flew perfectly.
(ALL CHEERING)
NARRATOR: It is but
the first step in a long
test flight program,
but a triumph nonetheless.
MIKE: This morning,
we executed the test plan,
we flew a great jet,
and we came back
in here and landed.
I thought
the landing was pretty good,
I don't know about you guys.
(PEOPLE CHEERING)
NARRATOR: The journey
has only just begun.
The real test of
the 787 will come
as it endures the daily
rigors of airline service.
But perhaps one day,
40 or 50 years from now,
it too will have
an honored place
among the legends of flight.
MIKE: I love to see airplanes
filled with people.
I imagine those little kids
on their first flight,
like me those many years ago.
Kids often say to me,
"You're so lucky to
have flown everything
"and worked on so many planes,
"but now everything
has been invented,
everything is done."
I tell them,
"Not at all, not at all.
"We are only just
getting started."
(MUSIC PLAYING)
the largest wingspan
of any bird on earth.
Its thermal efficiency,
its soaring efficiency
is almost supernatural.
It can remain airborne
for months at a time.
Quite simply,
I think it's the most
perfect flying machine
ever created.
NARRATOR: Boeing's final
assembly line at
Everett, Washington.
(MACHINE WHIRRING)
He's flown gliders,
fighters, biplanes,
helicopters, airliners.
Eight thousand hours
in more than 130 different
aircraft types.
He's an aeronautical engineer,
a flight instructor,
a navy test pilot with
300 plus carrier landings.
Mike Carriker is
a legend in the industry
and a Boeing chief test pilot.
(INDISTINCT TALKING)
MIKE: The best part
of this job is that
I have a voice in how
our airplanes are
designed and operated.
For a pilot, it doesn't get
much better than that.
It's a better place
for the flight gear,
to touch it if it's up there.
If you're willing
to go back.
NARRATOR: Here in
the largest building
on earth,
30,000 people work to assemble
10 new aircraft a month.
The newest in
Boeing's family of
airliners is the 777,
an aircraft designed
over 20 years ago.
Hi there.
MIKE: In the spring of 2001,
we had a very successful
lineup of aircrafts
still in production.
But we really needed
a new generation
to stay competitive.
We wanted to build
something radical,
something exciting.
Something that
could bring back
some of the romance
and the joy of flying.
(MAN ON PA)
(INDISTINCT)
NARRATOR: Perhaps more
money changes hands
at the Paris Air Show
than any other
place on earth.
Gambling in this market
can make or break
global corporations.
At every show, there
is a central attraction.
This year, it's the first
entirely new airliner
of the 21st century.
The largest ever built,
the Airbus A380.
With a maximum seating of 853,
the A380 will be
the world's most
energy efficient airliner
when it enters service.
MIKE: So Airbus had
played their hand
building an enormous
but efficient airplane.
Frankly, we thought
it was too big.
So we knew we would have
to match or improve
on that energy efficiency
in a smaller airplane.
But how?
All ideas start off
as a scribble on
a napkin, if you will.
Or on a blackboard.
Or nowadays, in thin air.
It's the most fun stage
of an aircraft design,
in my view,
and maybe the most important.
If you get
the basic concept wrong,
then whatever follows
could be a real dog.
I was chief test pilot
on a scribble we called
the Sonic Cruiser.
The concept was
to build a very fast
subsonic airliner,
and we all loved the idea.
But it needed
enormously powerful
and thirsty engines
that we didn't have,
and it's a good thing,
because it might
have ruined the company.
A very important lesson
in what not to build.
By the way,
some of the best flying
requires no power at all.
You watch how the snow
blows off the rocks.
You watch what
the birds are doing,
how they handle the updrafts.
You try to use every
possible advantage.
But once you get
the hang of it,
it's magical.
It's as close as you can come
to flying like a bird.
Gliders have much to teach us
about efficiency.
Very lightweight
composite materials,
smooth, polished skins,
long, thin wings
that bend upwards
that give them low drag
and high lift.
In hindsight,
a lot of the clues
as to the airplane
we were about to build.
NARRATOR: In December of 2002,
Boeing held internal
discussions around
the most critical decision
the company would make in
its entire history.
The creation of
a radically new
21st century aircraft.
Just keep working
on it all the time.
MIKE: We spend a lot
of time at meetings.
And we love to
talk about airplanes.
To me, that's the issue
that we got to work.
We've got to understand that.
And if we're gonna be afraid
of every little decision...
Who's gonna add this all up?
Who's gonna add up
all these positives
and all the negatives...
We were all over
the place at first.
I get lost in all
these conversations about
this little bit over here,
and this little bit over here,
and this little bit over here,
and then they add 'em all up
and it's like,
how do we even add them up
at the end of the day...
Do all that kind of thing.
You know, in retrospect,
the clue we were missing
could be traced back
to the first powered flight.
(FLUTTERS)
(PUMPING)
NARRATOR: Early piston
engines were a marvel of
ingenuity and simplicity.
They made possible
an enormous variety
of flying machines.
A few of them, magnificent.
MIKE: The power was limited,
but multiple wings,
good aerodynamics,
very lightweight fabric,
wooden construction
enabled early aircraft
to get airborne.
One of my
all-time favorites is
the legendary
Stearman biplane.
The carbon bonds
in the cellulose
of the wood make possible
very strong and fatigue
resistant structures.
After all, a tree can
stand blowing in the wind
for thousands of years
without breaking.
Amazingly,
here was another clue.
NARRATOR:
Carbon has been called
the enchanted element.
The carbon atom,
with four electrons
in its outer shell,
forms a huge variety
of chemicals,
including those that make
possible all life on earth.
Under intense heat,
carbon forms bonds
only with itself,
creating crystalline chains
of thin graphite sheets.
Twisted into threads
and then woven together,
carbon fiber can
be made into among
the strongest,
lightest materials on earth,
stronger for its weight
than any metal.
MIKE: What started
as a few squiggles
began slowly to
evolve into the big idea
we were all hoping for.
A radical new way
to build airplanes.
It was one scary idea
floating in that room.
Do you know any way
to put the fault
in there to see if we
can catch the fault?
Well, yeah. I can introduce
the fault here all day long.
The problem is that it
came in upstream of it,
we don't know how.
MIKE: But, you know,
there was something
even scarier,
and that was
resting on our laurels
just a bit too long.
So, second order impacts.
I mean, think about it.
(WHIRRING)
(ENGINE STARTING)
Okay. Brakes and
hydraulic system.
Check.
Beacon lights.
On.
Radios.
They're on.
Transponder.
Check.
MIKE: I remember
when I was a kid,
the hot plane, (CHUCKLES)
Or should I say
the cool plane,
was the Super Constellation,
no question about it.
(SLOW MUSIC PLAYING)
I never turn
down an offer to fly
one of these old airplanes,
because once you
get up in the air,
there's nothing to say
that you haven't
gone back in time
40, 50, 60 years.
I've flown several of
these piston airliners,
and the Super Connie
would be my favorite.
There are no computers
flying this plane.
You are connected
by pulley and by cable
to all the control surfaces.
So you can
really feel the plane,
and it will do exactly
what you tell it to do.
Good or bad, it doesn't care.
NARRATOR:
The Super Constellation
caught the imagination
of the flying public
and became a big
seller for Lockheed,
but success didn't last.
Lockheed was not prepared
for the coming revolution
in aviation technology.
(ENGINE RUNNING)
It just had all
these moving parts.
It had these pistons
going this way,
and then pistons
going that way,
and counterbalances and...
NARRATOR: Piston engines
with 18 cylinders
and supercharges
had become
extremely complex,
difficult to maintain,
and neared the limits
of their power output.
The new technology
jet engines were
dramatically simpler
with much greater power
to weight output.
MIKE: The amount of power
the relatively simple turbine
can produce
is almost unlimited,
and with enough power,
you can fly a brick.
This pretty much describes
another one of my favorites.
One of the most challenging
and dangerous
airplanes to fly.
The Harrier uses
a great deal of
lightweight carbon
fiber to accomplish
the opposite
of what the glider does.
It can come off the ground
on engine thrust alone,
without the help of its wing
and aerodynamics.
No other plane could do that.
Oh, what a great day.
Sir, did we get
the brake accumulator
all pressurized?
NARRATOR: The British designed
Hawker Siddeley Harrier
manages something
once thought impossible,
a fighter that can fly
both fast and very slow.
Man, what a great day
to go flying.
Hovering one moment,
accelerating to 700 miles
an hour the next.
Fighter jets are
great flying machines,
but they use
enormous amounts of fuel
and make ear-splitting noise.
Not something
you want in an airliner.
NARRATOR: Engine builders
Rolls-Royce,
GE and Pratt-Whitney
were already at work
on new engines for
a future generation
of quieter and considerably
more efficient aircraft.
In order to reduce stress
on a much longer,
thinner wing,
engineers envisioned something
they called the "smart wing."
Sensors will read
air currents,
sending data via a series of
computers to wing surfaces
that will react continuously
to dampen turbulence.
In effect, the wing
would act as if alive.
MIKE: It got more
and more interesting.
With carbon fiber,
the wing could be longer,
thinner, more efficient
like a glider.
We also had
a massive increase
in computer power.
We were looking at
something entirely new,
an airplane with a huge brain.
With long, thin wings,
the new plane was
starting to look like
one of the most
intriguing birds on earth.
And it's no coincidence.
We are looking for
some of the same things
the albatross does better
than any other bird,
unbelievable range
and extraordinary
energy efficiency.
But we were also
hoping to give it
just a bit of the genius
of other living flyers.
Advanced
navigation capability.
Collision avoidance.
Improved aerodynamics.
All things that
nature has been doing
masterfully for
millions of years.
It has been calculated
that a bumblebee
could fly around
the world 200 times,
nearly five million miles,
on a gallon of honey.
The monarch
butterfly navigates
by a circadian clock
and arrives at exactly
the same spot as its
grandparents once did.
Talk about software!
Geese and ducks fly
in formation to benefit
from each others' wings,
improving
aerodynamics and reducing
fatigue over long flights.
A lot of what nature
does is still a mystery,
and I find that wonderful.
So everyone got pumped up,
and we decided to join
the world of carbon flyers.
...and lose the larger bus,
you've got...
When the going got tough...
NARRATOR:
In the fall of 2003,
Boeing made
the momentous decision
to go ahead with the 787.
It is the point beyond which
there is no turning back.
The entire future of
the company will now
ride on the wings of
a radical new aircraft.
MAN: But I really
appreciate it.
In one of the largest
industrial gambles
in history,
the company and hundreds
of subcontractors will
undertake to construct
a series of entirely new
manufacturing facilities,
transitioning from aluminum
to a new age of carbon fiber.
First,
the carbon fiber threads
are woven into long strands
and impregnated
with epoxy resins.
This tape is then
laid into a wing pattern
by computer-controlled
machines.
Woven fabric subassemblies
of various parts are
next covered by plastic,
then baked under
vacuum pressure,
thus curing the epoxy resins
and bonding the carbon fiber.
MIKE: The bottom line
is we had our bird
in the incubator,
while the other guys
were getting ready
to spread their wings.
(MAN SPEAKING IN FRENCH ON PA)
NARRATOR: As the new
Airbus A380 prepares
for its first flight
at the Paris Air Show,
it has caught the imagination
of the industry and public
like no other
plane in recent memory.
(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)
(PEOPLE MUTTERING)
(PEOPLE GASPING)
Boeing sought
manufacturing partners
from around the world
among more than
40 countries
and hundreds of
subcontractors.
Using four
specially modified 747s
named Dreamlifters,
major assemblies will
be flown from Japan,
Italy and
locations around the US.
(INDISTINCT TALKING)
New handling systems
were designed and built
just to get
subassemblies on and off
the transport aircraft.
All part of a vast
industrial strategy
to build aircraft
on a global scale
in an entirely new way.
MAN: You're almost there.
Ready to turn.
Designers first assemble
the aircraft's
millions of parts
using computer-generated
graphics
long before the real aircraft
begins to take shape.
MIKE: The carbon fiber design
has all kinds of advantages.
It doesn't
corrode like aluminum,
so the cabin
can be more humid.
And higher pressure
for passenger comfort.
The windows can
be much bigger.
Electronic systems
will replace pneumatic,
all intended to make
a more energy efficient,
longer lasting airplane.
Here we come.
Here we come.
There we go.
MAN: Good?
That'll work.
I'm ready to pit down,
if that's what you like.
MAN: Pick it up.
Watch the fuselage.
Slowly.
Steady. Good.
Looking good.
Good.
All right.
MAN: Come in. Come in. Good.
Marketing is always in a rush
to get the plane rolled out.
And so, we are
never quite as far along
as we would like to be.
Yeah.
That's good, I like that.
Yeah, I can get up there.
I can't hardly decide
if I want to come
here early or not.
Is your whole family
coming out with you?
No.
Okay, take her up.
NARRATOR: The company is
under intense pressure
to get its first
aircraft completed
and rolled out to
customers before
the competition
gets too far ahead.
MAN: There.
Moving. To the left.
MAN 1: And good morning
from the management
and the employees of
KHI in Nagoya, Japan.
The working
together spirit of the 770
in Seattle and all
the global partners.
(INDISTINCT TALKING)
For all of you
that have made
this dream a reality,
I am proud to premiere
the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Thank you, all.
(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)
NARRATOR: As of rollout,
nearly 700 Dreamliners
have been sold,
worth over $100 billion.
On the shop floor,
there are rumors circulating
that the first aircraft
is an illusion,
an empty shell,
months, if not years away
from the end of the runway.
MIKE: There are two sides
to this business.
The glamour and the theater
of a gleaming new aircraft,
and then a few feet away,
behind the curtain,
behind the wall,
are the airplanes
not so lucky.
They get poked,
prodded, almost tortured.
NARRATOR: Before the first
aircraft can fly,
several others are
taken off the line
and sacrificed in
static and fatigue testing.
Okay.
MAN: And make sure
that we put that in
the logbook tonight.
Okay, you got it.
NARRATOR: These tests
subject the airframe
wing and fuselage
to repetitive bending
and pressurizing cycles
equivalent to 165,000 flights.
Just make sure
it's off straight
and everything's tight.
NARRATOR:
By the spring of 2008,
the program began
to fall months
behind schedule.
Here on the production line,
engineers and technicians
surround the first 787s.
MIKE: Once you fall behind
on the production line
and have trouble
assembling, say
an electronic or
ventilation system,
you gotta tear things apart,
redesign the system
and reinstall it,
on not just one,
but six or seven planes.
In the end,
it hits everything.
It doesn't matter
what path you're on.
Well, we haven't seen
that fault yet, though.
He's right.
MIKE: Most of
the problems were pretty
routine at this stage.
But then,
almost out of nowhere,
we had a much bigger issue.
NARRATOR:
On the static test rig,
engineers discovered
a number of
deformities in the wing
that indicated
unpredicted weakness.
(INDISTINCT TALKING)
NARRATOR: Titanium brackets
will have to be added
to the aircraft
already assembled
in order to
strengthen their wings.
It will delay
the first flight of the 787
by another six months.
You know, I'm not
really sure, I think...
MIKE: We have kept many of
the original test birds
out behind the plant.
A lot of the younger
folks don't remember
the problems
we had on the 747,
the 767 and even the 777.
They all had
issues to work through,
but every one of them went on
to have great careers.
Come on.
Look at this cockpit.
Up here. Come up.
Oh, look. Look at that.
MIKE: In the middle
of trying to do
something difficult,
you can forget how
hard it was in the past.
That's why
it's called a gamble,
because it is a gamble.
This business is not
for the fainthearted.
The program
has huge potential,
but we're not there yet.
NARRATOR: As airlines prepare
their new A380s for service,
they are anxious
to capitalize on the
public's fascination
with the largest
airliner ever.
At the same time,
hoping to rekindle
some of
the romance and glamour
long absent from air travel.
(CORK POPS)
But as the A380
enters service,
it too is years
behind schedule.
The stakes in this gamble
to reinvent the airliner
are vastly higher
than first envisioned
by either Airbus or Boeing.
It has now been six years
since the go ahead
of the 787 program.
The project has
fallen two and a half years
behind schedule.
But the first
six aircraft rolling off
the production line
are now ready to begin
a long and intensive
test flight program.
Well, it's
the first time I've actually
seen the PECs pump.
MIKE: There was
a silver lining to all
the delays,
at least from a test
pilot's perspective.
We had two extra years
to develop the aircraft
and its software,
the brains of the airplane.
It was like the airplane
was as anxious to get
airborne as we were.
Stick it up. Left.
Okay. We're clear to go.
(ENGINE WHIRRING)
NARRATOR: In a tradition
as old as aviation itself,
the first flight of
a new aircraft
is a milestone
for the builder
and its employees.
(ALL CHEERING LOUDLY)
(WHISTLING)
This feels good.
(CHUCKLES)
Okay, camp, I'm setting up.
Okay, I'm rolling left 10.
Okay, right 10.
(MAN ON RADIO)
MIKE: People often ask,
"What makes a plane great?"
Well, responsive controls,
good balance,
lots of power for safety,
but there's that
intangible, too.
Great planes seem
to enjoy flying.
(MAN TALKING INDISTINCTLY
ON RADIO)
Rarely has there
been a first flight
with so few problems.
It flew perfectly.
(ALL CHEERING)
NARRATOR: It is but
the first step in a long
test flight program,
but a triumph nonetheless.
MIKE: This morning,
we executed the test plan,
we flew a great jet,
and we came back
in here and landed.
I thought
the landing was pretty good,
I don't know about you guys.
(PEOPLE CHEERING)
NARRATOR: The journey
has only just begun.
The real test of
the 787 will come
as it endures the daily
rigors of airline service.
But perhaps one day,
40 or 50 years from now,
it too will have
an honored place
among the legends of flight.
MIKE: I love to see airplanes
filled with people.
I imagine those little kids
on their first flight,
like me those many years ago.
Kids often say to me,
"You're so lucky to
have flown everything
"and worked on so many planes,
"but now everything
has been invented,
everything is done."
I tell them,
"Not at all, not at all.
"We are only just
getting started."
(MUSIC PLAYING)