Dream factories

The phrase ‘It’s what’s on the inside that counts’ has rarely been more true than in the case of the Boeing 787. Whether parked on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport or on display at the Farnborough Air Show, the newest member of the US aerospace giant’s commercial airliner stable isn’t very likely to gather many second looks: to all but the most discerning aerospace expert, it looks very much like any other medium-to-large passenger plane. It’s only when you get below the skin that it starts to become clear how different this aircraft is from the others surrounding it.

The 787, also known as the Dreamliner, is 50 per cent composite, the first commercial airliner on the market to have that proportion of non-metallic material in its structure; composites comprise major parts of fuselage, tail and wings. With development costs topping some $32billion, the aircraft is claimed to use 20 per cent less fuel than similarly-sized competitors while generating 60 per cent less noise.