AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft Plate 297 / 299

Plate 297 of 299 · Modern age · Long-haul wide-body airliner

Boeing 787 Dreamliner

787-9, G-ZBKC, painted as G-ZBKC, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner of British Airways, delivered new in October 2015 and flown on the airline’s long-haul routes from Heathrow: a wide-bodied twin-engined airliner of carbon-fibre composite construction, with a long, slender, highly swept wing with raked tips and no winglets, two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 turbofans in large nacelles with serrated chevron exhaust nozzles, a smooth nose with four large cockpit windows, four-wheeled main-gear bogies, a tall swept fin and a low-set tailplane: white upper fuselage over a midnight blue belly, split along a level line, the Chatham Dockyard Union flag on the fin above a red tail cone, the red and blue ‘speedmarque’ and ‘BRITISH AIRWAYS’ titles on the forward fuselage with a small coat of arms aft of them, grey wings and tailplane, blue nacelles with metal intake lips, and ‘G-ZBKC’ on the rear fuselage and under the port wing, as photographed between 2015 and 2025 (no 787 is preserved in a UK museum; shape from Boeing’s own airport-planning drawings of the 787-9, the wing shown in its static shape on the ground; the coat of arms is simplified, and the small stencils, door placards and walkway lines are left off).

3D model

Turn it over

A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as G-ZBKC, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner of British Airways, delivered new in October 2015 and flown on the airline’s long-haul routes from Heathrow: a wide-bodied twin-engined airliner of carbon-fibre composite construction, with a long, slender, highly swept wing with raked tips and no winglets, two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 turbofans in large nacelles with serrated chevron exhaust nozzles, a smooth nose with four large cockpit windows, four-wheeled main-gear bogies, a tall swept fin and a low-set tailplane: white upper fuselage over a midnight blue belly, split along a level line, the Chatham Dockyard Union flag on the fin above a red tail cone, the red and blue ‘speedmarque’ and ‘BRITISH AIRWAYS’ titles on the forward fuselage with a small coat of arms aft of them, grey wings and tailplane, blue nacelles with metal intake lips, and ‘G-ZBKC’ on the rear fuselage and under the port wing, as photographed between 2015 and 2025 (no 787 is preserved in a UK museum; shape from Boeing’s own airport-planning drawings of the 787-9, the wing shown in its static shape on the ground; the coat of arms is simplified, and the small stencils, door placards and walkway lines are left off). Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (1.8 MB)

Data plate

Specification

First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (787-8, 787-9, 787-10); engine, crew and dimensions are for the 787-9, G-ZBKC modelled here.

History

The 787-9

At the turn of the century Boeing asked airlines whether they wanted a faster airliner, the Sonic Cruiser, or a more economical one. They chose economy, and in April 2004 Boeing launched the 7E7, soon named the Dreamliner, with an order from All Nippon Airways. It was to burn a fifth less fuel than the 767 it replaced and open long, thin routes between cities too small for a jumbo. Half its structure by weight is carbon-fibre composite, the fuselage made in one-piece barrel sections rather than riveted aluminium panels, and it does without the bleed air that older jets take from their engines, running its cabin pressurisation, de-icing and engine starting on electric power instead. Its engines came from Rolls-Royce, with the Trent 1000, and from General Electric, with the GEnx.

Building it proved far harder than designing it. Large sections were made by partners around the world and flown to Everett in modified 747s, and parts arrived late or unfinished; the first 787-8 did not fly until 15 December 2009, more than two years late, and All Nippon flew the first passenger service, from Tokyo to Hong Kong, in October 2011. In January 2013 lithium-ion batteries caught fire on two aircraft and every 787 in the world was grounded for three months until the batteries were redesigned and boxed in. The stretched 787-9 flew on 17 September 2013 and entered service with Air New Zealand in 2014, and the longer still 787-10 followed in 2018. Later, durability problems with the Trent 1000 grounded dozens of aircraft, and flaws in the joints between fuselage sections halted deliveries for much of 2021 and 2022.

Thomson Airways, now TUI, became the first British airline to fly the 787 in 2013, and British Airways flew its first that autumn, from Heathrow to Toronto. British Airways has since taken all three versions, and with Virgin Atlantic and TUI the 787 is now one of the commonest long-haul airliners at British airports. More than 1,100 have been delivered. Passengers notice its larger windows, dimmed electronically rather than with blinds, and a cabin that feels less dry. No 787 is preserved in a UK museum.

This airframe

787-9 G-ZBKC

G-ZBKCThe airframe modelled

G-ZBKC is a 787-9 with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, delivered new to British Airways in October 2015 and flown on the airline’s long-haul routes from Heathrow. The -9 was chosen to represent the type because it is the most numerous 787 in the British Airways fleet. No 787 is in a UK museum, and G-ZBKC was chosen because it is the best photographed of the airline’s 787-9s, from its delivery in 2015 to 2025. The model shows it as those photographs do: white over a midnight blue belly, split along a level line, the Chatham Dockyard Union flag on the fin above a red tail cone, the red and blue ‘speedmarque’ and ‘BRITISH AIRWAYS’ titles on the forward fuselage, grey wings, blue nacelles with serrated exhaust nozzles, metal intake lips and Rolls-Royce badges, ‘G-ZBKC’ on both sides of the rear fuselage and under the port wing, and ‘BKC’ near the fin tip and on the nose-gear doors. Its shape comes from Boeing’s own airport-planning drawings of the 787-9; the long wing, which bends upwards in flight, is shown in its static shape on the ground. The coat of arms is simplified, and the small stencils, door placards and walkway lines are left off.

Where to see one

Not on charge

British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and TUI fly 787s from UK airports, but none is preserved in a UK museum.

All 299 plates

Profiles and models are procedural interpretations built in Blender from published dimensions, three-view drawings and photographs of each airframe. Treat the museum aircraft as the reference.