Aircraft

Rolls-Royce announced at the show a successful first flight for its Trent 1000 turbofan - the lead powerplant for Boeing's 787 twinjet. The first phase of the flight-test programme is being conducted from Waco, Texas using the UK engine manufacturer's RB211-powered 747 testbed, which has been converted by L-3 Communications.

"We gave the engine a hard time for its first flight, but it did everything we asked. It was very stable and predictable," says R-R chief test pilot Phill O'Dell. "Normally at this stage we would have expected to leave the engine at fixed thrust, but we gained confidence so quickly that we used it to manoeuvre the aircraft." R-R recently delivered the first set of Trent 1000 engines to Boeing, which are being installed on the first 787 for its roll-out on 8 July.

• Trent 1000 completes testbed run
• Boeing unveils its 787 flight-test plan with four R-R Trent 1000-powered, 2 GEnx aircraft
• L-3 lands R-R contract for Trent 1000 flying testbed