787 wings land in Everett

The wings have landed — leaving just one final piece of the first 787 Dreamliner still to come into Everett.

The first set of 787 wings arrived at Paine Field beside the Boeing final assembly plant early today, delivered from Japan aboard one of the new Dreamlifter superfreighters.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industres did the detailed design of the parts for the main structural section of the wing, known as the wing box, and assembled it in a new facility in Nagoya.

The Japanese manufacturing giant also attached the fixed trailing edge of the wing, supplied by neighboring Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and the fixed leading edge, supplied by the Spirit AeroSystems plant in Tulsa, Okla.

The Dreamlifter, a customized 747 jumbo jet with a bulbous top and a tail that swings fully open for loading, carried the wings across the Pacific with a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska.

After a journey of more than 11 hours including the Alaska stop, the Dreamlifter touched down in Everett at 4:10 a.m.

In Everett, Boeing Machinists will complete assembly of the wings, adding the wings tips from the aerospace manufacturing division of Korean Air Lines; the movable trailing edge from Boeing's Australian unit; the movable leading edge from Spirit in Tulsa; the engine pylons from Spirit's facility in Wichita; and the rear pylon fairings from Boeing Canada.

Then the wings will be joined to the long, joined central fuselage that is the only section of the airplane still to come.

That final piece is built in Charleston, S.C., by Global Aeronautica, a company jointly owned and run by Alenia Aeronautica of Italy and Vought Aircraft of Dallas.

The central fuselage should arrive soon. The first Dreamliner is scheduled to be put together for a rollout ceremony on July 8.