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On the flightdeck of the Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered freighter (MSN 1004) for the 3h 50min flight were Airbus test pilots Philippe Perrin and Martin Scheuermann, accompanied by test-flight engineers Wolfgang Brueggemann, Stephane Vaux and Pascal Verneau.

The late afternoon sunshine in Hamburg set the scene for the handover of the first 538-seat Airbus A380 to Air France. Operating as AFR380V, MSN033 (F-HPJA) departed XFW at 2:39 PM local time for Paris.

The first 787 Dreamliner to enter airline service with Japan's All Nippon Airways arrived on the Everett flight line late last week. The aircraft is currently buttoned up for storage while its flight test brethren are receiving the wing fix and will eventually be registered JA801A. Boeing has said the aircraft - ZA100 - will have a limited role in the flight test program to validate some weight saving structural changes. ZA100 entered final assembly in Everett in mid-June.

In addition, production standard 787s will not receive their engines for many months for two reasons. First, they are the most expensive single part of the aircraft and waiting to take delivery is good for the bottom line. Second, Boeing and Rolls-Royce are using ZA004 to test an upgraded version of the Trent 1000 to meet fuel burn targets before incorporating the changes into the production fleet. According to Boeing's latest schedule, delivery of JA801A, the seventh flying 787, is planned for late next year.

As you can see, only the tail is painted so far, begging the question: Is ANA getting a new and/or special livery for its first 787?

The first Airbus A330-200F, now fully painted, came out in the sunlight at Toulouse after departing the paint shop. The aircraft, registered F-WWYE (MSN1004), will head to the flight line toward the end of the month and will be handed over to flight test to begin ground testing ahead of its planned November 2009 maiden flight.

So you're probably asking, "What's up with that nose gear blister?"

From an April 8th article on flightglobal.com:

Images released by Airbus of the first A330-200F on the move in Toulouse reveal the modification made to the landing gear and forward fuselage to address the nose-down pitch that is a characteristic of the A330/A340 and provide a level cabin floor during loading.

This has been achieved by lowering the nose-gear leg attachment points to raise the nose height, in turn requiring a larger gear bay that is faired by a blister on the underside of the nose.

Photo Credit Airbus

Here's the full set of photos from yesterday's G650 rollout, including the flights to and from Savannah. Seven thousand people attended yesterday's ceremonies that saw the new large-cabin business jet taxi in under its own power. I suspect a power roll-in could be a first for an aerospace industry.

The first thing you notice when walking around the aircraft is the wing, which is incredibly clean and already has a slight upward curve to it. Also worth noting, the sharp angle at the edge of the cockpit windows gives N650GA an almost Cardinal-esq appearance. In case you're wondering, the windows are 16% larger than the G550's, which strangely makes the aircraft look smaller from far away. From an aesthetic point of view alone, this is one good-looking aircraft. For the sake of full disclosure, I don't think I've ever met an aircraft I didn't think was good-looking. Enjoy!

Update 3 - June 25, 2007 - 10:25pm

Sources inside Boeing say, "There is not much left to do before moving to paint shop. All doors are installed. All slats, ailerons, flaps, and spoilers are installed. They are working on access doors on the wing." Another source says, "Most everything that will be "seen" is on the airplane, save for a few odds and ends."

According to the schedule Dreamliner One will head to the paint shop after 10:00pm PDT (1:00am EDT). The airplane movement from assembly shop to paint shop usually occurs after dark to minimize the distraction of the drivers on the freeway below the bridge.

Mike Bair said today, "The aircraft will be structurally complete at rollout but will still have systems, ducting, wiring and similar work to be done before first flight. When those tasks are completed, it will be powered up and proceed to ground test before it flies."

Submitted without comment. Close. Very close. But really, folks, not quite.

Yakovlev 42D in Bykovo airport (RA-42387)

As I was beginning my Atlantic crossing last night, I was provided a rare sight out my window while cruising at 35000 feet. Off the right wing of our United 777-200ER was a sight that has become familiar to the readers of this blog, but I had yet to see one in person. This Aviation Partners/Boeing wingletted American Airlines 767-300ER was 2000 feet below us as we flew over the eastern coast of Canada. I frantically snapped about 25 pictures of the aircraft as we passed it, but of those photos, this one was the clear winner amongst a batch of blurry shots.

I woke up this morning to find some pretty spectacular photographs in my inbox. You'll recognize the plane in the photos, though the angle at which they were taken is a little different that we're used to. The following photos of ZA001 were taken from the traffic pattern over Paine Field yesterday afternoon. They really capture the proportions of the aircraft. So, we've got air-to-ground photos, now all we need are ground-to-air photos. A very special thanks to Igs who generously gave me permission to post these here.

Photo Credit Igs