All-New Boeing Airplane Touches Down Safely After 3-Hour
Mission
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner took to the sky for the first time
Tuesday, ushering a new era in air travel as it departed before an
estimated crowd of more than 12,000 employees and guests from Paine
Field in Everett, WA. The flight marks the beginning of a flight
test program that will see six airplanes flying nearly around the
clock and around the globe, with the airplane's first delivery
scheduled for fourth quarter 2010.
The newest member of the Boeing family of commercial jetliners
took off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash. at 1027 PST. After
approximately three hours, it landed at 1333 PST at Seattle's
Boeing Field.
787 Chief Pilot Mike Carriker and Capt. Randy Neville tested
some of the airplane's systems and structures, as on-board
equipment recorded and transmitted real-time data to a flight-test
team at Boeing Field.
Capt. Randy Neville, Chief Pilot Mike
Carriker
Boeing Video Capture
After takeoff from Everett, the
airplane followed a route over the east end of the Strait of Juan
de Fuca. Capts. Carriker and Neville took the airplane to an
altitude of 15,000 feet and an air speed of 180 knots, or about 207
miles per hour, customary on a first flight.
"Today is truly a proud and historic day for the global team who
has worked tirelessly to design and build the 787 Dreamliner - the
first all-new jet airplane of the 21st century," said Scott
Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. "We
look forward to the upcoming flight test program and soon bringing
groundbreaking levels of efficiency, technology and passenger
comfort to airlines and the flying public."
Powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, the first Boeing
787 will be joined in the flight test program in the coming weeks
and months by five other 787s, including two that will be powered
by General Electric GEnx engines.
The technologically-advanced 787 will use 20 percent less fuel
than today's airplanes of comparable size, provide airlines with up
to 45 percent more cargo revenue capacity and present passengers
with innovations that include a new interior environment with
cleaner air, larger windows, more stowage space, improved lighting
and other passenger-preferred conveniences.
Fifty-five customers around the world have ordered 840 787s,
making it the fastest-selling new commercial jetliner in
history.