Well, actually yesterday, June 12th. The first flight of of the 777-200. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8erXQGgr7VE&sns=em]Boeing 777 First Flight June 12, 1994 - YouTube[/ame] Currently rolling out one 777 every 2.5 days, and have been for a few years. Currently building line 1223 in Final assy. A program fostered by Alan Mullaly, "Working Together". A quote from Tim Clark of Emirates: "The 777 is the difference between good profits and stellar profits".
I was picked out one day by a guy that we had never seen. He walked into our bay and went into the bosses office and left. Several hours later I was told that I was going to Renton to work on the 767-X. It was 1988 and we were already working on the 767 Advance that became the 767-X and that segued into the 777. I was one of seven from our group, 767 C&EA, Configurations and Engineering Analysis.They went through the company and picked hotshots in every discipline and put all in one building where the work was closely coordinated. I was assigned to design a three pack AC system initially but as work progressed I did lofting on the back end and the crown line behind the flight deck. Then it was a two pack system and developing the first digital inboard profile where we prepared a 3-d presentation of the entire airplane with everything in it. I worked on the 777 from the very beginning and saw it grow into a great airplane. Many of the young engineers that came in later are now managers and leads in the PD group . Very good people.
I have to add that I am referring to the top engineers with whom I worked when I refer to the " Hot Shots" that worked on the 777 program. I worked on every program from the 707 to the 777 and I never saw a better team than those who worked on that airplane. You were there someplace, Jim. The 777 was the best run program that was ever done or will ever be done at Boeing. The idiots that are running things now at Boeing could kill the company in my opinion.
