FAA Clears 787-10 Aircraft, Singapore up, Adds 40+ PAX loses 1000 Nautical miles..

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner an amended type certificate (ATC), clearing the airplane for commercial service in the U.S., the manufacturer announced Monday. The award caps a flight-test program involving three flight-test airplanes that clocked some 900 hours in the air. The amended certification lays the basis for approval by other regulatory agencies around the world, including the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), whose final endorsement will allow launch customer Singapore Airlines to start service during the second quarter.
The company had originally planned to use four test airplanes in the program, but as the 787-10’s commonality with its smaller sibling, the 787-9, became more and more apparent during the early stages of design, so did the lack of a need for much of the testing to demonstrate the differences between the two models.

The 787-10 and -9 use 95 percent common part numbers, not only reducing the number of test hours needed for the -10 but undoubtedly aiding work flow once full-scale production of the latest Dreamliner begins in North Charleston, South Carolina. Apart from its 18-foot stretch, the only visually obvious difference between the -9 and -10 lies in the -10's semi-levered main landing gear, leaving only some minor structural reinforcements in the fuselage and some systems modifications to account for the bigger cabin. Boeing arrived at the 18-foot stretch by inserting five frames in front of the wing and four frames aft of the wing, allowing for the addition of 40 passengers seats and total capacity of 330 in a two-class layout. Using exactly the same wing found in the -9, the -10's only other significant differences involve localized strengthening of the fuselage, an increase in the capability of the environmental control system and enough extra cargo space for one more pallet or two extra LD-3 containers in both the forward and aft holds.

While maximum landing weight increases by 20,000 pounds to 445,000 pounds and maximum zero fuel weight jumps 25,000 pounds to 425,000 pounds, maximum takeoff weight remains unchanged at 560,000 pounds. Powered by either the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-TEN or GEnx-1B, the 787-10’s range decreases to 6,430 nautical miles from 7,635 nautical miles.

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