Boeing: 787's first flight still set for end of next month

SEATTLE - Boeing now says it still intends for the first flight of the 787 to take place by the end of December.

The aircraft maker says it has solved a stress problem that prevented the first flight from taking place back in June.

At that time, just days before the first  flight of the Dreamliner was to take place, the company pulled the plug after testing found a weak joint in the upper part where the plane's wing joins the fuselage.

The problem was the result of a calculation error that said the joint should be strong enough.

But testing of a full-size airplane in a large steel device inside the Everett factory, which is designed to stress the plane without flying it, found that the strength was not there.

For months now Boeing engineers have been working on a way to provide strength in that area.

At the time, the company said it was a matter of adding a series of bolts along the joint to provide the needed strength.

Today, the company announced the first 787 test aircraft has been retrofitted... and some other test flight airplanes are already fixed.

Boeing says it's committed to fly the first 787 by the end of December, and it appears that schedule will hold.