A week at BFI - Thursday
THURSDAY, 25 FEBRUARY 2009
I arrived at Boeing Field at 1100 after an attempt to catch a fully painted flyDubai 737-8KN departing nearby Renton Municipal Airport (RNT), but the scheduled Boeing first flight ended up being canceled for reasons unknown to me. As I was driving to BFI, I saw the leased Boeing T-38 chase plane scream out of BFI to monitor the first 787 that left shortly before I arrived.
Things started off slow this morning, but it picked up as the day went on. The first Boeing test flight was a Southwest 737-7H4, a once common airline coming off the 737NG line that seems to be less and less common as time goes on. The next Boeing flight was an arriving GOL 737-8EH that just completed it's first flight unpainted in TPC. Half an hour later, BOE002 left for MWH on a test flight that stayed relatively low flying at 15,000 feet. Meanwhile, BOE001 flew to FL430, it's highest altitude yet, before returning to a sunny BFI around 1500. In the picture above, you can see Chief 787 test pilot Mike Carriker waving to thrilled children along the fence line.
I didn't realize it until just now, but it was another slow day at BFI. Maybe time flew by while reading Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany, an excellent read that I would suggest to anyone who is interested in WWII aviation.