Now The Fun Begins... Assembly!

The puzzle pieces are all in place... now, Boeing has to put them together. Early Thursday, the planemaker received the final major assembly for the very first 787 Dreamliner at its Everett, WA plant.

The integrated midbody fuselage consists of section 43, a forward fuselage section made by Kawasaki Heavy Industries; section 11/45, the center wheel well and center wing tank, made by KHI and Fuji Heavy Industries and joined at FHI; and sections 44 and 46, center fuselage sections made by Alenia Aeronautica. It was joined at Global Aeronautica in Charleston, SC.

The fuselage measures 84 feet long and 19 feet in diameter.

Like other segments Boeing has received over the past several weeks, the fuselage segment was flown to Everett in the Dreamlifter, a specially modified 747-400 used to transport major 787 assemblies. The Dreamlifter touched down at 1:58 am Thursday morning.

Wrapped in black, the fuselage filled the cargo bay of the Dreamlifter. Barely six inches of clearance surrounded the structure.

"What an accomplishment for our entire 787 team," said Scott Strode, 787 vice president of Airplane Definition and Production. "This fuselage section represents the hard work of hundreds of people around the globe. The Dreamliner is no dream anymore - it's real, and it's here."

The fuselage was taken immediately into the 787 final assembly factory. Final assembly of the first 787 has not yet begun, but the delivery takes the team one step closer to that goal, and the planned July 8 rollout of the first completed plane.

FMI: www.boeing.com