Boeing 787 Dreamliner 'power on' tests are successful

Boeing Co said Friday it had completed the "power-on" tests for its first 787 Dreamliner aircraft, a milestone for any new aircraft that involves connecting its complex electrical systems to a power grid. The news would appear to signal that the company may well be putting the worst of its production problems behind it and may be set to put the first 787 Dreamliner into the air later this year.

The successful tests come hard on the heels of a Congressional oversight body overturning an US Air Force award of a tanker contract to EADS/Northrop combine, in preference to a Boeing contender on Thursday.  The 787 'power on' success is the second piece of good news for Boeing this week.

Achieving the "power-on" milestone was crucial for the 787 for it is using largely composite material for its structure, and electronics in the place of pneumatic controls, industry experts said.

According to experts, it typically takes Boeing about 12 weeks to get new aircraft ready for flight once their electrical systems are in order. Judging by this yardstick, the Dreamliner ought to take to the skies by September or October.

Boeing had said, in a revised assessment, that it expected the 787's first flight to take place during the fourth quarter and customer deliveries to commence in mid-2009.

Boeing's original 787 production schedule had visualised the first plane's electrical systems to be operating by August 2007. The deadline was pushed back to the spring of 2008 and eventually to late June.