RENTON, Wash. - At Boeing's Renton training facility, two 787 Dreamliner simulators are up and working. In fact, they've been running for months, providing training to the training pilots from some key airlines that are buying the jet, including Japan's ANA and Houston-based Continental Airlines.
But this is the first day Boeing has gone public with the simulator, just before line pilots with ANA start showing up here next week.
Today, I got a chance to fly one. I've had the chance to fly around the world in the jump seat of a Boeing 777, and I thought that cockpit had a lot of glass. Boeing training pilot Gregg Pointon who used to fly 777s for a living says the Dreamliner has a lot more display area that shows everything from instruments to weather radar to maps.
Some of the things that show up in the displays are checklists that double check the pilots. That's just one safety improvement, and I watched as the display showed how Pointon was able to check off all the things necessary, like speed brake settings to make sure the plane was ready to land.
All 787 training is computer-based. There are no books. Even in the maintenance classroom, where mechanics are learning how to use those computers to help diagnose and fix planes. There's also a simulator to help train flight attendents in the use of emergency doors and procedures. Everything here is ready to go to put the 787 into service.
"We are delivering our products and services to our customer today," said Mike Fleming, the company's director of 787 Services and Support.
Amid growing concerns that Boeing won't be able to deliver the first production plane to an airline by the end of 2010, the company says there will be trained mechanics, flight attendents and pilots ready to go when it is.
"For us, our plan is to complete all of our products this year, to be able to deliver them to customers so they can prepare," said Fleming.
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