Tue, Oct 28, 2008
If you visited on the "right days" at Oshkosh 2008, you either
saw this monster... or were under its shadow. You could hardly miss
Boeing's huge Dreamlifter... a plane so big, it swallows 787
fuselage sections whole. The Boeing Dreamlifter is a modified
747-400 passenger airplane that can haul more cargo by volume than
any airplane in the world. It is the primary means of transporting
major assemblies of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from suppliers around
the world to the 787 final assembly site in Everett, Wash. This
reduces delivery times to as little as one day from as many as 30
days today.
Part of a four-plane fleet, the Dreamlifters will be used
to ferry 787 assemblies to WA. Granted type certification on June
2, 2007, from the FAA, the Dreamlifter has successfully passed all
of the testing and safety requirements required by the FAA.
As part of the flight test program, FAA officials flew on board
the Dreamlifter as it delivered major sections of the Dreamliner
from partner sites around the world to the Boeing factory in
Everett, WA for final assembly. Boeing reports the flights allowed
the FAA to validate the overall delivery process and tools.
The Dreamlifter is not certified to carry passengers beyond
essential crew. The Dreamlifter completed 437 flight-test hours and
639 hours of ground testing since its first flight on September 9,
2006.
With certification achieved, operation of the Dreamlifter fleet
has been assumed by Evergreen International Airlines (EIA) of
McMinnville, OR.
The Dreamlifter has a wing span of 211.5 feet, a length of 235
feet, 2 inches, and a height of 70 feet, 8 inches. It cruises Mach
0.82, can handle a cargo capacity of 65,000 cubic feet, and boasts
a max gross takeoff weight of 803,000 lbs.
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