Boeing Dreamliner set to take off. Finally!

US aerospace giant Boeing said recently that it was all set to test fly its new 787 Dreamliner. Two years late.

The company officials informed that a static test of the fuselage was over and an analysis of the results could be finished by the end of December.

Boeing reaffirmed two weeks ago that its delay-plagued 787 Dreamliner remained on track for its first test flight by the end of the year.

On June 23, it had announced a fifth delay in the 787 Dreamliner programme to fix a structural problem.

The company expects to write off $2.5 billion based on first-flight delays and having to dedicate the first three 787s for flight testing.

A total of 850 Boeing 787s have been ordered by 56 customers as of September 2009. The Dreamliner was originally scheduled to enter service in May 2008 but delays and disturbances plagued the programme right from inception.

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Boeing launched the Dreamliner programme in April 2004 and had initially planned to deliver the first airplane to Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways in the first half of 2008.

The company's delivery of the first 787 to ANA was pushed back to late 2010.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a mid-sized, wide-body, twin-engine jet airliner currently under development by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

The 787-8 Dreamliner can carry 210 - 250 passengers on routes of 7,650 to 8,200 nautical miles (14,200 to 15,200 kilometers), while the 787-9 Dreamliner can carry 250-290 passengers on routes of 8,000 to 8,500 nautical miles (14,800 to 15,750 kilometers).

A third 787 family member, the 787-3 Dreamliner, can accommodate 290-330 passengers and be optimized for routes of 2,500 to 3,050 nautical miles (4,600 to 5,650 kilometers).

Boeing presented its first 787 in a roll-out ceremony on July 8, 2007, at Everett assembly factory.

The date of launch matches the aircraft's designation in the US-style month-day-year format -- 7/08/07.

The company made a major change in 787's design plan soon after. Instead of receiving individual parts and assembling them in Everett, Washington, Boeing assigned its subcontractors to assemble the parts themselves and deliver completed subsystems to Boeing.

Final assembling, it was decided, would takes place in Boeing.

However, some of the aircraft's major systems had not been installed at that time, and many parts were attached with temporary non-aerospace fasteners requiring their later replacement with flight fasteners.

Though Boeing had originally planned for a first flight by end of September 2007, on September 5 it announced a three-month delay citing shortage of fasteners as well as incomplete software as reasons.

On October 10, 2007, Boeing announced a second three-month delay to the first flight and a six-month delay to first deliveries.

As reasons, Boeing spoke about problems with its foreign and domestic supply chain, the lack of documentation from overseas suppliers and continuing delays with the flight guidance software.

On January 16, 2008, Boeing announced a third three-month delay to the first flight of the 787, with deliveries to first customer All Nippon Airways postponed until early 2009. This time the company said that assembling has not made sufficient progress.

On April 9, 2008, Boeing officially announced a fourth delay, shifting the maiden flight to the fourth quarter of 2008, and delaying initial deliveries by around 15 months to the third quarter of 2009.

The programme was further delayed by a Boeing machinists strike during September and October 2008.

On November 4, 2008, the company announced another delay, this time caused by the incorrect installation of some of the structurally important fasteners, stating that the first test flight would not be accomplished in the fourth quarter of 2008.

After assessing the 787 programme schedule with its suppliers, Boeing confirmed on December 11 2008 that the first flight would be delayed until the second quarter of 2009.

On May 4, 2009, a press report indicated that customers will face additional delivery delays of up to six months, because Boeing is not expected to reach its target production rate of 10 aircraft per month until mid-2013.

The first 787 to enter commercial service was at that time due to be delivered to All Nippon Airways in February 2010.

On June 15, 2009, during the Paris Air Show, Boeing said that the Boeing 787 would make its first flight within two weeks.

However, on June 23, 2009, Boeing issued a release stating that the first flight is postponed 'due to a need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft'.

On July 30, 2009, Seattle Times reported that the structural problem of the wing was worse than stated in the company's June press release.

In late October 2009, it was reported that a decisions on when and how a second assembly line will open are expected in early November 2009.

Boeing provided an updated 787 schedule on August 27, 2009 that has the first flight to occur by the end of 2009 and deliveries to begin at the end of 2010.

On November 11, 2009, it was reported the 'wing-fix' had been installed on the first production model, and that a first flight was now expected in late December 2009, shortly before Christmas.