Aircraft Departed From North Charleston Campus Friday Morning

Boeing's largest variant of the Dreamliner has made its maiden flight. The 787-10 took off from a runway at the North Charleston, SC manufacturing facility at 0939 EDT Friday morning on a flight expected to last about 4 hours.

The new airplane flew extensively over South Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean.

Boeing says the 787-10 is about 95 percent the same as the -9 variant, but the airplane's additional 18 feet of length allows the seat capacity to be increased to 330, and cargo capacity is larger as well. Boeing has about 149 orders for the airplane, according to a report from Reuters.

There are two different engine options for the 787-10 ... the GEnx-1B or the Rolls Royce Trent 1000.

The 787-10 is expected to cut fuel consumption and emissions by 25 percent, and have a 60 percent smaller noise footprint that the aircraft it replaces. Boeing projects it will have a 10 percent edge on competing aircraft in fuel consumption and emissions.

(Image from Boeing video)

FMI: www.boeing.com