Mechanics going through Boeing Co.'s 25-day training course for its coming 787 Dreamliner learn to fix all kinds of problems, from broken lights in the cabin to major glitches with its flight controls. One thing they won't soon do: touch one of the planes. Using both laptop and desktop computers inside a classroom festooned with huge wall-mounted diagrams, airline mechanics will train on a system that displays an interactive 787 cockpit, as well as a 3-D exterior of the plane. Using a mouse, the mechanics can "walk" around the jet, open virtual maintenance access panels and go inside the plane to repair and replace parts. Like most new jetliners, the Dreamliner is an electronic tour de force, with computer networking cards as likely to need troubleshooting as mechanical parts. Boeing has made the training for the much-delayed jet as virtual as its first deliveries, now scheduled for sometime in the first quarter of 2011. At the end of the course, the mechanics get all training materials on a tiny memory stick. Once they are in the field staring up at an actual Dreamliner, they will also use laptop PCs to diagnose and solve real problems with the planes, Boeing says. Boeing executives admit a maintenance course that doesn't involve interacting with an actual airplane raised a few eyebrows. "We had a lot of talks with the regulatory agencies, and they were definitely a bit skeptical at first," says Don Reiter, a senior manager at Boeing's flight-training unit. "But once we brought them in here and showed them how the interactive program works, they all signed off on it." A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said the agency for years has agreed to permit computer-based training. Last Thursday, hours before the company announced yet another delivery delay of the troubled Dreamliner, Boeing officially launched the jet's training program. It will eventually train thousands of mechanics, pilots and flight attendants who will operate the 787 after it enters service.
