Boeing will delay the 1st delivery of the 747-8 freighter by several months and add a 5th aircraft to the flight test fleet to correct a series of problems. The 1st delivery to 747-8F launch customer CARGOLUX is reset from late 2010 to mid-2011. The delay follows a series of "discoveries" that disrupted the schedule for completing certification testing on time: a low-frequency vibration that appears in "certain flight conditions" must be resolved, Boeing said. Also, an inboard aileron actuator is not working as expected. Boeing said that neither issue requires structural changes to fix the problems. Boeing originally planned to deliver the 1st 747-8F in late 2009, but1st delayed the program in October 2008. Delay to the 747-8F comes 1 month after Boeing pushed back the 1st delivery of the 787 from late 2010 to the 1st quarter of 2011.
Boeing has not made any changes to the schedule of the 747-8 Intercontinental passenger aircraft, pictured above, despite pushing back the delivery date of the freighter version. A spokesman for Boeing said there is "no change" to the 747-8I plan. He said that the 1st example is "on plan and scheduled to deliver in late 2011", although cautions that there are always risks attached to 1st model development.
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