North Charleston, SC - What started as whispers and speculation is now a reality. Boeings decision to land a 787 assembly line in North Charleston may go down as one of the biggest economic moves in South Carolinas history.

Just how did we get here? It started back in 2004, Vought aircraft built a plant next to the airport to manufacture parts for the dreamliner.

Five years later, Boeing buys out Vought for 580 million dollars. The deal created a firestorm Everett Seattle, many in the Pacific Northwest believed Boeing would take its business to the Lowcountry.

Lawmakers and the business community there launched an all out assault to win the second assembly line, occasionally questioning if South Carolina had a capable workforce.

Back home, state leaders from Governor Sanford on down kept negotiations quite. But, lawmakers said they were prepared to offer incentives to the aerospace giant, something that did not happen in Washington.

In the end, Boeings volatile relationship with the Machinists union may have been the writing on the wall. The Union's latest strike cost the company millions in production delays, an issue now in the Boeings rear view mirror.

The 787 dreamliner is expected to be the future of boeing. The aircraft is designed to be more fuel efficent, built to carry between 210 and 330 passengers depending on the model. A first test flight is expected by the end of 2010, that's two years later than previously expected.

The dreamliner has already been ordered in record numbers, about 850 planes so far

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