Bad year for Boeing

Boeing’s cultural sense of time seems to be on the Mexican standard. That is; not very exact. There are exceptions (Boeing Super Hornet etc) but timelines on the Boeing 787, Boeing 747-8 and Boeing Wedgetail have suffered.

Add the Italian 767 tanker to that list. They are still trying to fix the refueling system.

Boeing’s delivery of 767 tanker aircraft to the Italian Air Force has slipped again as the company fixes a problem with the hose-and-drogue refueling system, a senior Italian defense source said.

Italy ordered four tankers in 2002, with deliveries first expected in 2005, before a series of hitches, including vibrations in wing pylons, pushed the schedule back.

Italy is waiting to begin official checks on its first tanker before taking formal delivery, a process known as the tender for acceptance (TFA). In September 2008, Boeing officials said the TFA would start by the end of 2008.

The source said the start date was subsequently pushed back to the end of November 2009.

"That provisional TFA date has now slipped to January 2010," he said. "But that is just guesswork, and things could change from week to week." If the January appointment is kept, all four tankers could yet be delivered during 2010, he added.

Italy has ordered tankers with four different refueling points: A boom that extends from the rear of the aircraft, two hose-and-drogue systems extending from wing pods, and a central hose and drogue extending from the fuselage between the wings. Japan, which has also ordered the Boeing tanker, requested a boom but no hose-and-drogue systems.

In 2007, Boeing fixed a flutter problem on the pylons holding the wing pods on the Italian aircraft. The fix proved successful during test flights.

The new problem, said the source, concerns the stability in flight of the central drogue, or basket, fixed to the end of the refueling hose that is extended from the center line of the fuselage.

"Boeing is dedicating a team to fixing this latest problem," the source said. "They appear to have found a solution, but test flying has yet to confirm it, and we have been down this road before."

.