Asianometry Podcast: How the Computer Helped the Boeing 787 Soar

Host: Jon Y
Date: July 20, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode offers a deep techno-economic exploration of how advanced computation and new composite materials shaped the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Jon Y unpacks the industry context, design challenges, and groundbreaking computational innovations that made the 787 possible—highlighting how computers enabled the leap from traditional metal planes to highly-optimized, composite-laden systems.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Industry Background and Market Shifts (00:02–07:45)

• Boeing’s Market Dominance: For years, Boeing led with the high-capacity 747, serving trunk routes in the hub-and-spoke model.
• Emergence of Competition: Airbus introduced the A380 to challenge the 747, aiming to disrupt Boeing’s lucrative jumbo jet market.
• Changing Preferences: The late 1990s brought passenger desires for fewer layovers and more direct flights, driven by airline deregulation and easier flight comparison via online agencies.

Notable Quote

“Passengers then take secondary flights to their final destination. This is the famous hub and spoke model.” — Jon Y (02:14)

• Failed Sonic Cruiser Concept: Boeing’s attempt to respond with the faster Sonic Cruiser faced criticism over fuel efficiency and environmental impact, particularly after 9/11 and a spike in oil prices.
• Pivot to Efficiency: Airlines demanded range and fuel efficiency, not capacity or speed, leading to the cancellation of the Sonic Cruiser and the birth of the 7E7 (eventually the 787).

2. Composite Materials Revolutionize Design (07:46–15:00)

• Why Composites? The 787 made unprecedented use of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), mainly supplied by Japan's Toray Industries.
  • 50% of weight and 80% of the 787’s volume are composites, compared to 9–12% (by weight) in the 777.
  • This saved over 18,000 kg compared to a metal equivalent.
• Challenges:
  • Assembly hurdles involved curing large fuselage sections and addressing flaws like air bubbles, which threatened structural integrity.
  • Designers had to develop both the plane design and the optimal material configuration simultaneously.

Notable Quote

“You produce this carbon fiber by first wrapping it like a tape or wallpaper around massive molds of the plane's fuselage sections. Then we cure it under heat and pressure.” — Jon Y (11:41)

3. Complexity of Wing Design and the Need for Advanced Tools (15:01–23:30)

• Wing Structure Basics: Jon describes the intricate assembly of ribs, spars, and skin, explaining the evolution from wood to metal to composites.
• Composite Wings: For the first time, a commercial aircraft’s primary wing box was entirely composite—which allows for thinner, lighter designs but with added mechanical complexity.
• Anisotropy Challenge: Metals have uniform (isotropic) properties, but composites’ characteristics depend on fiber orientation (anisotropic), massively complicating design optimization.

Notable Quote

“Their properties are anisotropic. In other words, their strength and stiffness depend on how we orient these piles in relation to the wing's axis. 45, 90 degrees, 20 degrees, so on.” — Jon Y (19:44)

4. From Wind Tunnels to Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) (23:31–29:35)

• Limitations of Physical Testing: Wind tunnels, though valuable, are limited—require costly physical models, and data is localized and sparse.
• Rise of CFD: Starting in the 1970s, designers turned to computational fluid dynamics to simulate airflow mathematically, reducing reliance on expensive wind tunnel tests.
  • By 2006, Boeing’s 787 effort racked up 800,000 hours on Cray supercomputers, using 60 times more CFD runs than the 777.
  • This shift let teams test more design variables faster and at lower cost.

Notable Quote

“CFD's greatest strength is that it can quickly and cheaply run a number of simulations on a small part of the design. It's not perfect...But it saves you from having to go to the wind tunnel.” — Jon Y (26:30)

5. Next-Level Computational Optimization: Direct Optimization and the Adjoint Method (29:36–37:50)

• 787’s Key Leap: Early 787 wing design treated composites as “black aluminum,” missing their full potential and resulting in overweight wings.
• Computational Direct Optimization: New mathematical approaches (notably Anthony Jameson’s adjoint method) enabled computers to iteratively tweak design variables for optimal lift, drag, weight, or efficiency.
  • Joris Port, lead 787 wing engineer, described pulling together compute power across Boeing to run weekend-long optimization algorithms, as senior leadership doubted results.
  • These innovations yielded a notably flexible, lighter wing—saving Boeing $1 billion in penalties.
• Holistic Optimization: The process extended beyond wings to the entire aircraft, optimizing body and engine housing simultaneously.

Notable Quote

“The first version of the 787 wing design used composites like as if they were metals...the internal phrase was something like black aluminium, referring to how they essentially assumed metal like behavior in the carbon fiber for simplicity's sake...So the first 787 wing came out way too heavy.” — Jon Y (32:00)

“The 787 wing team was able to deliver a thinner, lighter wing that saved Boeing $1 billion in weight penalties. A noticeably flexible wing too. During takeoff, the 787's wingtips can deflect up to 12% of its semi span up to 3 meters.” — Jon Y (36:54)

6. Legacy, Controversy, and Final Reflections (37:51–End)

• Controversies Remembered: While the 787 is often associated with supply chain chaos, delays (3–4 years late), and subsequent technical woes, Jon argues these shouldn’t define its legacy.
• Technological Triumph: Despite its troubles, the 787 stands as a testament to modern manufacturing, advanced materials, computational power, and the broad impact of Moore’s Law.

Notable Quote

“Boeing, in the end, delivered a beautiful thing. Exotic materials. Moore compute new algorithms. The 787 demonstrates how far modern manufacturing technology has gone and is a monument to the continued awesome power of Moore’s Law.” — Jon Y (39:19)

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• “One Boeing airline customer estimated that for a Boeing 777, reducing drag by 1% saves over 300k per plane each year.” — Jon Y (14:47)
• “Wind tunnels aren't perfect. They do not always replicate the conditions of real world flight...your insight is inherently limited.” — Jon Y (24:25)
• “With direct optimization, the computer iteratively adjusts the many variables...to maximize for a desired performance metric, like the lift to drag ratio, drag itself, weight or fuel efficiency.” — Jon Y (33:23)
• “And it was more than just the wing. Direct optimization was applied across the whole design...” — Jon Y (37:25)

Key Timestamps

• 00:02–07:45: Airline industry history, hub-and-spoke vs. point-to-point, economic shifts.
• 07:46–15:00: Birth of composites in aircraft and their implementation challenges.
• 15:01–23:30: Technical primer on wing structure and the complexity of composite optimization.
• 23:31–29:35: Wind tunnel limitations and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) revolution.
• 29:36–37:50: From “black aluminum” to direct computational optimization, the adjoint method, and project outcomes.
• 37:51–End: The 787’s broader significance, overcoming setbacks, and the future of tech-driven aviation.

Conclusion

This episode of Asianometry delivers an insightful look into the Boeing 787 project, focusing on how computational breakthroughs, material science, and industry pressures converged to produce a revolutionary aircraft—despite a tumultuous development. Jon Y’s engaging narrative, technical clarity, and sharp historical context make this podcast a compelling listen for anyone interested in aviation, engineering, or the march of technological progress.