Boeing Dreamlifter bulkhead

davehud · May 9, 2017

Back in 2005 the shop I was working in got a contract to machine some Boeing Dreamlifter bulkheads. The Dreamlifters were actually four 747 cargo jets that were converted to become Dreamlifters. Bulkheads are not too hard to program, usually an outer moldline and a whole lotta pockets. Programming in Catia pockets are easy and quickly done. I recall we messed one up, floors were to thin or something like that. Boeing accepted the part because it was a Boeing owned plane. If it had been a production plane going to a customer the bulkhead would have been scrapped. In the last photo you can see where the bulkheads go in between the cargo bay floor and the bottom of the fuselage.

Photos here:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/150702754@N04/cx11a3

norb · May 9, 2017

I always see pictures of aircraft parts with that lime green looking "paint". Is that some special coating?

John Welden · May 9, 2017

norb said:
I always see pictures of aircraft parts with that lime green looking "paint". Is that some special coating?

Zinc chromate - Wikipedia

moonlight machine · May 9, 2017

norb said:
I always see pictures of aircraft parts with that lime green looking "paint". Is that some special coating?

I believe it is called zinc chromate,It is for corrosion protection.

Bobw · May 9, 2017

norb said:
I always see pictures of aircraft parts with that lime green looking "paint". Is that some special coating?

Mil-PRF-23377. and some other specs.. I can smell it in my sleep.. Like John said, zinc cromate,
Its like paint and alodine all in one, used obviously as a primer, but also when you have to install
helicoils and bushings and other shit. A little over $100 a gallon down at Sherwin Williams if you
want some.

SteveBausch · May 9, 2017

Looks like some generation of Guppy, to me.

http://www.allaboutguppys.com/pg/377pgf.htm

Jashley73 · May 9, 2017

How those wings generate enough lift to raise that thing off the ground - fully loaded no less - is, and always will be a mystery to me. I get aerodynamics, airfoils, phyiscs, math and all that stuff, but it looks more like a bumble-bee to me... (Don't even get me started on helicopters...)

cncFireman · May 9, 2017

I typically spend my days only feet where gallons upon gallons of that zinc chromate is being sprayed onto parts. Much precaution has to be taken upon entering airspace and equipment where painting is taking place and paint dust is collected.

SIP6A · May 9, 2017

Thats pretty cool. I spend most of my time making parts that you can close your hand and not see them. So parts like that are always impressive. Thanks for posting

706jim · May 9, 2017

Shin Nippon Koki (SNK)
My first large machining center but had nothing on this one.

gkoenig · May 10, 2017

FFS... This belongs in the home shop forum along with the other clapped out Bridgeport hobby work.

Speedie · May 10, 2017

Wow 2 travelling gantries on one base with 3 heads each....we are not worthy
..we are not worthy. Seriously one heck of a part.

mkd · May 10, 2017

Doug said:
Back many years ago when I had a real job in engineering at Boeing I would walk through the factories at lunch hour watching the huge spar mills running. The ones I remember were Cincinnati's. Now that I think about it, I don'r recall how they handled clearing the huge amount of chips. Note the shop vac on the table in one picture (just one of the pockets shown could fill the vac).

The OP noted a mistake on a thickness dimension. It was common on very expensive in-house made parts for Boeing to change drawings to match the part. Not so common on sub-contracted parts though.

Boeing-subcontractor machinist saying "they need to change the print to match my part!"
i thought it was just a joke :cheers:

SteveBausch · May 10, 2017

Years ago, a trade magazine ran an ad for an industrial strength utility vacuum, the text was superimposed over a parade of grim men waiting their turn to toss a shop vac in the dumpster.

cncFireman · May 10, 2017

A lot of the large gantry stuff I have been around have vacuum systems to remove the chips with shrouds around the spindle nose that are servo controlled.

Dangle_kt · May 11, 2017

Kudos, I love seeing stuff like this!

Vancbiker · May 11, 2017

Doug said:
Back many years ago when I had a real job in engineering at Boeing I would walk through the factories at lunch hour watching the huge spar mills running. The ones I remember were Cincinnati's. Now that I think about it, I don'r recall how they handled clearing the huge amount of chips.

Most of the times I went through the large machine areas, there would be a guy with a snow shovel and a good sized chip bin on the table.

Dupa3872 · May 11, 2017

I make small parts, 3 inches round is on the high side of our normal turning work. I love getting something bigger in the shop and ripping into a large blank on a lathe. I could stand there for hours watching the chips jump off the cutter,,,I can feel it now. Someday when I have money to burn I'm buying a larger capacity CNC lathe and getting some real parts to machine, the kind of parts you know will scare the crap out of half the people in the shop.

Nice work thanks for sharing it with us.

Make Chips Boys !

Ron

Larry Dickman · May 11, 2017

I was curious why they would have painted parts back on the shop floor. Did somebody say "rework"?

Johnny Larue · May 11, 2017

davehud said:
Back in 2005 the shop I was working in got a contract to machine some Boeing Dreamlifter bulkheads. The Dreamlifters were actually four 747 cargo jets that were converted to become Dreamlifters. Bulkheads are not too hard to program, usually an outer moldline and a whole lotta pockets. Programming in Catia pockets are easy and quickly done. I recall we messed one up, floors were to thin or something like that. Boeing accepted the part because it was a Boeing owned plane. If it had been a production plane going to a customer the bulkhead would have been scrapped. In the last photo you can see where the bulkheads go in between the cargo bay floor and the bottom of the fuselage.

Photos here:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/150702754@N04/cx11a3

o cool....I used to run a RAMBAUDI 4 HEAD DUPLICATOR for GE AIRCRAFT ENGINES...that looks like a new 2 head duplicator...or was it just a mill with 2 heads...I did not know they make em that big now

Boeing Dreamlifter bulkhead

Cast Iron

Cast Iron

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Titanium

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Titanium

Johnny Larue

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