747-800

Boeing's 787 has been getting all the attention in recent months.  It's a revolutionary new aircraft that I can't wait to fly in.  But it's not the only new one from Boeing.

Monday was the first flight for Boeing new 747-800 aircraft.  Most of the orders are for the cargo version, though a few carriers ordered the passenger version, too.  It is Boeing's largest aircraft every and builds on the historic success of the 747-400 and new technologies borrowed from the 787.

The Airbus A380 may hold more people, but it can't touch the 747-800 in style.  Despite all the problems Boeing has had with delays and unions, they still make the world's most beautiful aircraft.

You can read more about the flight, and see more pictures, at the Seattle PI.

For detailed information about the aircraft and test program, check out the Boeing site.

787 Cabin in test plane

As part of a more intense than normal testing program, Boeing actually outfitted one of their test 787 with an actual passenger cabin. This post from the Seattle PI highlights some of the features that up to now were just bullet points on a PowerPoint slide.

The also shot a short video.

If you want to stay up to date on the latest developments in the test program, you can follow it on Boeing's web site here.

In the air finally?

Great news from Boeing today.  The 787 passed a Static Wing Test, which means they bent it and it didn't break.  That's always encouraging.

It look like it will actually get off the ground later this month.  I'm looking forward to riding on this thing in the coming years.

From the Seattle PI:

Boeing has moved up the target date for its first 787 Dreamliner flight eight days, to Dec. 14, and now plans to fly its second flight-test 787 before the end of the month, FlightBlogger reported Tuesday.

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The 787 and advanced planning

When Delta airlines bought Northwest Airlines, it picked up more than just some routes, some planes, and lousy labor relations. It also picked up NW's order for Boeing's next generation airplane -- the often delay 787.

The plane was scheduled to have it's first test flight last month, but testing showed the need to delay that process again. Originally, it was supposed to be in service in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

But Delta is apparently optimistic that they will one day in the future be flying the 787-800 in and out of the S-Concourse at SEA. How can we tell? They painted parking spots for it on the ground.




You can see some more views of the paint here.

And perhaps there is reason to be optimistic. A couple days ago, Boeing conducted the first self-powered taxi tests for the aircraft. You can see the video below (source: http://boeingblogs.com/randy/)

It looks beautiful on the ground. I can't wait to see it in the air.