BOEING UPBEAT ON NEW PLAN
     Aerospace giant Boeing Co., which has struggled with production
 problems recently, said Wednesday it is confident it will have a new
 firm schedule in place by next spring. Meanwhile, European aircraft
 consortium Airbus Industrie said it expects to decide whether to
 launch a plane to rival Boeing's jumbo jet by the end of next year,
 or early 1999. Boeing's deliveries to airlines have been thrown into
 disarray because of production problems in meeting demand for its 737
 and 747 aircraft.
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            "Augmented" wiring speeds up plane production
     SEATTLE -- November 21, 1997 9:35 a.m. EST -- Caught off-guard
 by unusually strong demand for its 737 and 747 aircraft, the Boeing
 Company fell behind this year on fulfilling airlines' orders. It
 literally could not assemble planes fast enough.
     Now, the company is focusing on speeding up its assembly lines
 to get back on track. Computer technology is one of the tools it
 hopes will help cut production time while keeping quality high.
     Boeing is using what it calls "Augmented Reality Units," face
 shields reminiscent of those worn by virtual reality games, in the
 tricky and time-consuming task of installing the wiring on its jet
 planes.
     A Boeing jet -- the 777 model, for example -- contains hundreds
 of miles of wire, crammed into the plane in bundles. Each bundle is
 designed to last 30 years or more. And at Boeing, each one is
 installed by hand.
     Workers use a large wooden board with pegs, along with a printed
 wiring diagram, to put the wires in the right place, using the right
 connectors. Mistakes are expensive, and the process is slow.
     But with the "Augmented Reality" device, wiring goes faster,
 because technicians have everything they need right in front of
 them.
     The device comes in two parts, a display monitor and a computer;
 technicians wear a vest holding the computer, and put the display
 eyepiece on their head. A computer image appears, showing the wiring
 diagram and assembly instructions.
     When the worker moves his head, the diagram moves along with it,
 as the computer tracks where the technician is inside the plane, and
 shows him what he needs to install.
     Boeing's tests of the new head-mounted display system show that
 the wiring can be done up to 50 percent faster than with current
 methods.
     The work goes more quickly because all the information is in the
 eyepiece, rather than a separate piece of paper. And in the end, it
 helps Boeing respond "in a rapid and practical way to customer
 needs," Curtis said.
     It takes at least six monhs to build a $150 million plane like
 Boeing's 777 model. Although the wiring takes up only a part of the
 construction time, any improvements there are expected to help speed
 up the process.
     And with billions of dollars of losses piling up because of de-
 lays on the production line, Boeing is ready for any help it can
 get.
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