Posted on 02/09/2010 7:41:34 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
– Boeing Co.'s giant 747-8 freighter — the biggest plane the company has ever built — successfully completed its first flight Monday, a year later than originally planned.
The huge plane took off from Everett's Paine Field shortly after noon and returned to Paine at 4:18 p.m. PST after an approximately 3 1/2-hour flight.
A crowd Boeing estimated at more than 5,000 employees, customers, suppliers and other airplane fans gathered to watch the plane take to the air. The flight came just one day short of the 41st anniversary of the first flight of the original 747 model.
At 250 feet long — more than twice the length of the Wright Brothers' first flight — the plane is about 18 feet longer than the existing 747-400 jumbo jet. The company conducted taxi tests on the freighter Saturday, with the aircraft performing well, Boeing said.
"The airplane performed as expected and handled just like a 747-400," said 747 Chief Pilot Mark Feuerstein, who was joined on the flight deck by Capt. Tom Imrich.
Monday's flight around western Washington began a testing program that will involve more than 1,600 flight hours. As pilots checked basic handling and engine performance, the plane reached a cruising altitude of 17,000 feet and speeds as high as 264 miles per hour.
Boeing also is developing a passenger version of the plane. It lists 76 orders for the freighter and 32 for the 747-8 passenger jet, with the vast majority from international customers.
The company says the jets will be much quieter, more fuel efficient and have lower emissions than current 747-400 models.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
What will its top speed be? 264 mph is a bit pokey as jets go.
Quitter, more fuel efficient, lower emission? What the difference does it make? Boeing don't manufacture jet engines. It's the G.E. and Pratt&Whitney or Rolls Royce... BS!
264 was just the test flight. I imagine that it will top out at about 550 mph.
just what the world needs.
greater dependence on middle east oil
Maybe it isn’t as simple as jack up plane, put in new green engine? I’d think the cockpit has to be made to match.
How about a natural gas version?
I believe it will cruise at Mach .86 or a little faster. The cruise for a -400 was in the .84 to .86 range.
“just what the world needs.
greater dependence on middle east oil”
Strapping a loaded pallet on the back of a carrier pigeon just won’t work, no matter what Algore says.
What are the main differences in addition to the fuel, quieter?
when people buy Chinese made trinkets online,
they just got to have them tomorrow,
not next week,
I guess
Ahhhh. Thanks.
Any news on not having to have a shoehorn to get in and out of the economy seats?
It's cruise speed is supposed to be Mach 0.86 compared to to the 747-400's cruise at Mach 0.85, or the 747-200 at 0.84. Air Force One, a highly modified 747-200, often flies at Mach 0.92+.
Especially if it is an LD-7 or LD-3!
It should help increase range by decreasing the electricity needed to run the lights.
~660 mph, that’s considerably zippier.
Haven’t they been using fluorescents already for decades? This is efficiency competitive with LED and much cheaper, though not as long lived.
Ahhhh.
Thx.
But aren’t fluorescents bulkier and heavier? It’s not just how efficient they are, it also matters how much they weigh. Fluorescents also have a rather unnatural an unflattering discontinuous spectrum that tends to be greenish. LED’s can be made to look more like daylight.
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