About to board the 747-8F. More to follow.
RC501 rotated on runway 34L at 12:39 PT as the skies cleared over Everett, Washington giving Mark Feuerstein and Tom Imrich blue sky to take the first 747-8F on its maiden sortie.
More photos to follow
THE BERM, EVERETT -- RC501 is holding outside of Stall 207 waiting for
the weather to clear. Patches of blue sky are showing up, but there is
no word of the hold lifting. Boeing has until 2PM PT to fly before
today's windows closes. Mark Feuerstein and Tom Imrich need 1500 foot
ceilings to take off. Ceilings are holding at 700 feet at 11:26 AM.
Additionally, RC521 and RC522 will be initialed BW and JW,
respectively for Brien Wygle and Jess Wallick who joined Jack Waddell
on the first 747 flight on February 9, 1969.
Stay tuned. JO out.
EVERETT -- Well, today's the day. I'll be streaming live here periodically throughout the day, but look for my up-to-the-second updates on twitter and tumblr. First flight is set for 10:10 AM PT (1:10 PM ET, 1810 GMT) from Paine Field. It's going to be an exciting day here in Everett. Also make sure to watch the live feed from Boeing at 747-8firstflight.com.
Come along for the ride.
EVERETT -- The youngest Queen of the Skies is resting at the moment, preparing for its first day in the sky. This day was a long time coming, and its arrival for a long time was anything by a certainty. Much of the 1990s and early 2000s were spent trying to establish what the future held for the global icon of commercial aviation.Perhaps paradoxically, the aircraft that is the quintessential icon of Boeing, has throughout its life been asked to play second fiddle to the other commercial programs that always seemed to take precedence. Whether it was the supersonic transport, 757 and 767, 777 or 787, the 747 was rarely, if ever, Boeing's top commercial priority.
Joe Sutter, the 747's first chief engineer, now 88, says that getting to this point has been anything but easy:
"The 747-400 has been around for almost 20 years...[customers] wanted more than the 747, but trying to get the management to invest the billions it takes to do that, trying to get the engine manufacturers to do that has been a struggle for ten years.
"If the 747 disappeared, it wouldn't break the Boeing company, but with it there, Boeing's going to make more money, but if the 787 dissapeared, man that would a traumatic step. So you see why that happens," says Sutter.
In fact, the 747 is often believed to be the most profitable in The Boeing Company's history, however, that title goes to the 767-300ER which is being replaced by the 787.
"The fun of this game is convincing these guys up on the fifth floor, "hey keep spending money on the 47 so it will happen", he adds. "Then it finally happened. That's the name of the game."
.
The 747-8F owes its existence today (and subsequent delays) in large part to its composite stablemate, the 787 Dreamliner.
"You'll never convince the engine guys to build us an engine, but the 787 gave us an engine, so we lucked out. Seeing that struggle finally end in success, that's the fun of this business," says Sutter.
Saturday afternoon's taxi tests were the world's first chance to see the worlds longest mass-produced commercial aircraft moving under its own power and out of the aircraft and berm-obstructed view of the flight line.
RC501, the 1420th example of the 747, which will go by Boeing 501 Experimental for its flight test program and is expected to rotate around 145 knots from runway 34L, the same one used by RA001 in 1969. Sutter will be standing at the 4,000 foot marker at 34L as the -8F makes its takeoff roll.
February 8, 2010 is a date that should not go without note. In fact, the milestone comes one day shy of the forty-first and twenty-first anniversary of the first flight of the 747-100 and introduction into service of the 747-400 with Northwest Airlines, respectively. Boeing will pay homage to the first pilot of the 747, Jack Waddell, with the inscription of his initials - JW - on the nose landing gear door.
Though as much as the 747 requires a reflection of the road it took to get here, Boeing's attention is very much pointed toward the future. But will the 747-8 family be the last in the bloodline of the matriarchy?
"I think there's at least one more step," says Sutter. "If you look at the -400 version, it lasted about 15 years and I think the -8 will last about that long. The airplane can still be stretched and there will be even better engines available. To stretch it more though, probably needs a bigger wing, which is costly, but there's actually been wind tunnel tests, analysis on a bigger wing, it will not be a very big unknown as to how to re-treat the wing, but it's money. And so it's when the market wants it."
First Photo Credit Boeing
Travel Night and Day: Around the world the wrong way - SFO-SEA, originally uploaded by flightblogger.
The end is in sight. The last of three flights to Seattle is getting
ready to board shortly. This 757-200 (N586UA) will take me up the
Pacific coast to Seattle on United 89. I'm officially fried.
That being said, 747-8F has been running up and down Runway 16R & 34L
all day getting ready for first flight on Monday. RC501 will undergo
final pre-flight checkouts Sunday along with a full team pre-brief
before the big day Monday. Once I get to Seattle (and have a working
laptop again) I should be able to provide a better overview of what's
ahead for 747-8F, not to mention a wrap up of Singapore.
Travel Night and Day: Around the world the wrong way - LHR-SEA, originally uploaded by flightblogger.
Booking a last minute flight to Seattle has landed me in seat 24D on
board this United 777-200ER (N294UA) to Seattle on flight 955. Going
to be 11 hours to the west coast from here and the Grassy Knoll in
Everett cannot come soon enough. Catch you Stateside. FlightBlogger out.
Travel Night and Day: Around the world the wrong way - SIN-LHR, originally uploaded by flightblogger.
Greetings from seat 75K on the upper deck of Singapore Airlines A380
9V-SKC! With the massive disruption about to befall Washington, DC
with the arrival of two feet of snow, my route back to the US has
changed considerably. More importantly, with 747-8F first flight as
little as four days away, I'm bound for Seattle! My routing takes me
to London first (as was part of my original itinerary) and then to San
Francisco aboard a United 777-200ER, followed by a final leg to
Seattle on a 757-200. Yes, I know that's 12,000 miles of flying the
wrong way to the west coast from southeast Asia, but the disruption
caused by the weather in DC only allowed me to alter my UA flight as
my SQ leg was booked separately and there was no change
fee...etc...etc. Either way, I should be in Seattle by Saturday
evening. It's going to be a long ride. Next stop London...in 15 hours
and 30 min.
The Flightglobal iFDN team has the Singapore air show covered with the second edition of our interactive daily. Also, check out a video wrap up Siva Govindasamy and I did a the end of day two (below the fold). There were no commercial orders through day two in Singapore, as the discussion turned once again to the re-engining of the A320 and 737, while on the defense side, Joint Strike Fighter was making headlines.
- GE continues tests of open rotor blades
- GEnx-2B starts icing certification tests
- Boeing postpones canted tails for F-15 Silent Eagle
- 757 replacement gets new focus as 787-3 dwindles
- Bell in discussions to export V-22 tiltrotor
- Boeing looks to capitalise on F-35 woes
- Airbus and Lockheed push airlift capabilities
- Leadership turmoil hits F-35 programme
- Bombardier says 'watch this space' on Global Express successor
- Tiger advances delivery of four A320s
- Airbus aiming for A320 re-engining decision by Farnborough air show
Continue reading #SIN10: Flightglobal brings you day two with iFDN.
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