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- So, this is one of our four main Dreamlifters.
There's four of 'em in the world.
They're a modified 747-400.
They were actually passenger passenger aircraft.
So Malaysia Air, China air, we got them from those guys.
Operated and ran by Atlas Air.
So, we actually contract with them to fly the aircraft.
It was modified over an EGAT type A.
It took a few years to do.
Essentially what they did is they took a saw,
cut off the top and waterline 200
and then built the structure higher
so we were able to withstand our larger payloads
like the wings and the midbody.
So, everything back of the bulkhead is non-pressurized.
Everything from the bulkhead forward is pressurised.
The other modifications that we did,
we actually took off the wing tips on the outside.
We had a little bit of a flutter issue in flight tests.
So, we took those off, and that went away.
And then our other modification,
we actually made the tail a little large,
so, about a 10 foot increment on the vertical bend
to help with the weight and balance issues.
- What are the range for the 747, for a LCF like this?
- So, typically what we'll do, depending on the winds,
is we'll fly from our five main hubs.
So, we fly in Everett, Charleston, Wichita,
Grottaglie, Italy, and Nagoya, Japan.
- All right, let's go check it out.
- Okay.
This is our lower lobe cargo area.
We have seven of these pallet positions.
This is where we haul more of our pieces
or smaller end item cargo.
So, right now we're doing a lot of one-piece frames
to Italy, CMK kits to Japan,
and we're doing some terminal end fittings for the 777.
And now I'll take you one up here to our main cargo deck
where we store most of our product during flight,
the larger end items.
- [Sam] Okay, following you.
Oh, wow.
- So, starting up front here,
we have this large bulkhead.
This our bulkhead that's about 3-1/2, four feet wide
to protect the pilots in case of an aircraft emergency.
So, if we were ever to have a hard landing,
the SMEA that sits on these rails
would actually sheer lose and go flying into the bulkhead,
and it should, in theory, protect the pilots.
- Wow, this is so tall.
It's like two deck of a 747,
which, of course, they've modified.
Not every day you get to see something like this.
This is something that technology, architecture marvels.
- So, we're back here at the aft of the aircraft.
This is where the tail actually swings open,
so our swing tail system.
So, as I mentioned earlier, our MTS,
or mobile tail support, we have a bald assist in the back
that provides hydraulic power,
and it slowly disengage the 21 locks
on the inside of the tail.
You can kinda see where these actuators or the locks are
that make up the 21 that go around the outside of the tail.
- [Sam] Why there is a tail like this?
Why this tail is needed like this?
- Yeah, so we actually looked at a bunch
of different concepts.
We looked at either taking off the roof
or going through the side.
We developed the tail because we felt like it was easier.
So, we're able to swing open the back side of the tail
and get the product in and offloaded
in a fairly short amount of time versus the other concepts.
The other thing that you'll notice on the side here,
we have these yellow boxes.
So, the yellow boxes is a laser guidance system
for our loader to make sure that we have
a standardised set height
when we're ready to offload the product.
So, this is an example of the actuators or the locks
that make up the inside of the tail.
Again, there's 21 of those that lock and unlock
the back side of the LCF tail.
You can kinda see the crack in the tail right here.
This is our hinge point where the tail
will actually swing out over the left wing.
Structure in here, this is typically where we'll store
all of our product that's waiting for final assembly.
So, today we have a set of wings over here.
We have a 41 from Wichita.
We have an aft and then a midbody from Charleston.
So, it's all ready to go.
It just has to head over to final assembly now
for final join and to polish it off.
This the 41 section.
It comes out of Wichita from Spirit.
We typically get, we'll do two of these at a time.
We typically have a bunch of product overflow in here
that will be waiting until final assembly is ready for it.
This is our midbody section right here.
So, this is a conjoinment of the 43 section
out of KHI in Japan, the 44 section out of Italy
and then the 46 section out of Italy, as well.
So, it goes to Charleston as three pieces,
gets conjoined into one major large piece
and then gets shipped to Everett for final assembly here.
So, typically it takes up
about the entire rack during flight.
This would be the only production article
that would be flying on the Dreamlifter at that time.
And this is the aft section, the 47, 48.
It's made in Charleston, gets shipped here to Everett.
As mentioned, we have two final assembly locations,
both Charleston and Everett.
So, some of 'em will stay in Charleston and be built there.
Some of 'em are sent here, stored on our rack
until they're ready for final assembly,
and then they'll be taken over
to our Everett final assembly to make the 77 production.
This is our wing shipment.
It's actually manufactured at MHI, Mitsubishi Industries.
It's actually (music drowns out speaker)
over to our facility over in Nagoya,
which is actually in Thailand.
We go over there, fly the Dreamlifter in,
pick it up, and we'll bring it here to Everett
or on to Charleston, wherever the final destination is
for our final assembly.
It'll typically be out here for a day or two,
and then it'll go over to final assembly for final journey.
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