Boeing Selects Crane for Weight and Balance System on New 777 Freighter

Released on Tuesday, March 27, 2007

SEATTLE, March 27, 2007 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] selected Crane Aerospace & Electronics to supply the onboard weight and balance system for its new 777 Freighter, making it the first commercial airplane program to choose the new advanced technology known as AirWeighsTM.

"The ability to quickly provide accurate weight and balance calculations will enhance the efficiency of operations for 777 Freighter customers," said Kim Pastega, engineering integration leader for the 777 Freighter Program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We are pleased to have Crane supply this technology for the 777."

The onboard weight and balance system is designed to provide measurements of the 777 Freighter's weight and center of gravity. Operators benefit from having accurate and reliable weight and balance measurements provided in real time. In addition, the system can quickly validate manual weight calculations.

"This is a significant application of our new weight and balance technology because of the advantages it offers freighter operators," said Greg Ward, Aerospace Group President of Crane Aerospace and Electronics.

The AirWeighsTM system uses an airplane's landing gear struts as scales to determine the load-bearing pressure at each strut to calculate weight and balance measurements.