Randy's Journal: Archives
25 May 2005
Two launches and a first flight
One of the launches I’m talking about today is actually a new Boeing blog I think you’ll be interested in. But first, the first flight.
A new blue airplane has taken to the skies over Puget Sound. It’s the second 777-200LR Worldliner, an aircraft we’re calling WD002 for the duration of its flight test program.
WD002 taking off into the skies over Everett, Washington on its first flight yesterday.
Yesterday WD002 took off from Paine Field in Everett for the first time. She’ll now join WD001 in flight tests and certification over the next several months before their delivery to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
WD002 will have the added adventure of a stopover at the Paris Air Show next month.
And speaking of the 777-200LR, we’ve officially launched the 777 Freighter this week. Air France has ordered five of the freighters, and Air Canada included 777 Freighters in its announcement last month.
The 777-200LR is the platform for this new freighter. And what that means is this airplane will be able to carry a full payload of cargo (229,000 pounds / 103 metric tons) farther than any other freighter – about 5,000 nautical miles (about 9,200 kilometers).
The first 777 Freighter will be delivered to Air France in 2008.
Which all brings me to a launch of a different kind. There’s a new blog in the Boeing universe. This one is dedicated to the ins and outs of Boeing’s flight test program.
It’s a first, really: personal accounts of what goes into making a new airplane ready for delivery - told by the pilots, flight crews, and technicians who make it all happen, as it’s happening.
The new blog is called Flight Test Journal and it’s linked directly off the 777-200LR Worldliner home page.
If you’re at all interested in what it takes to certify a new airplane, I think you’ll enjoy it.