Boeing's 747-8 freighter completes first flight

Associated Press ^ | 02/10/2010 | Associated Press

[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.

[HiTech RedNeck]

It’s possible to fiddle with the spectrum of a fluorescent by using a different mix of phosphors. The better phosphors cost more. An RGB LED array (I don’t know if this craft is using that kind, or just a plain “white” excited-phosphor light) would indeed have the ability to shed different hues of light.

[American Constitutionalist]

It should be 33 % quieter..

[Quix]

THX.

33% is quite a change.

Nevertheless, to me, the biggest issue is needing a big shoehorn to get in and out of the seats.

BTW, I’m not that fat. 6’1” 200 lbs. or less.

[calex59]

Air tests are never conducted at full bore the first flight out, they are gradually worked up to maximum. This saves on prototypes and pilots by reducing the number of crashes that might occur if they hopped into the plane and put the throttle to the wall.