The W8 May Finally Be Over - 787 Scheduled To Fly 12-15-09!

Check out Randy's Journal (VP Boeing Marketing) for great 787 first flight updates

 Word from Boeing is the 787 first flight is scheduled for Tuesday December 15, 2009! (pending weather and any other variables)  Click the picture to see a huge hi-res version of this pic… it’s a great way to get a better feel for how beautiful the Dreamliner is.  photo: (c) Rolls Royce 2009

 My dad put 35 years in at United Air Lines, retiring in 1987 with over 10,000 hours on the 747.  It’s no surprise that he was very interested in the 787 project, and we both sat in front of my computer to watch the 7-8-07 live webcast of the Dreamliner rollout.  He passed away early in 2009, but he had an amazing life in aviation.  Please check out my 70 picture tribute to him to get an idea of how wide and deep his love for flying was.

 Because of his job and his passion for all things aviation, I was very fortunate as a kid to experience a lot of really cool things... like: we drove past Palmdale in November 1970 on the way to the unique California 1000 (1000 mile unlimited air race) and saw the prototype Lockheed L-1011 from the road as we drove by.  It had scaffolds all around it and we even said aloud that it didn’t look like it would be flying anytime soon.  It made its first flight the next day!  Didn’t get to see that one tho.

 But we did see the very first flight of the DC-10 out of Long Beach airport just a few months earlier in August of 1970.  My dad was flying as 727 captain out of LAX at the time so we kept our eyes and ears open to try to catch that first flight.  We were parked along the side of the road with a pretty good view off the departure end of runway 12.  I remember it wasn’t quite the big deal I thought it might be… just a really big, quiet, kinda funny looking airplane slowly disappearing off into the typically smoggish LA morning sky.  But wow, was I ever glad I got to see that, and I’ll never forget it.

 Prototype commercial airliners just don’t come around all that often.  And ones as revolutionary as the fanplastic Boeing 787 are extremely rare indeed.  I really (really!) wish I was able to be out at Paine Field in Everett, Washington for what will likely be the long-awaited first flight of the Dreamliner.  But it’s just not possible for me at this time.

 However, there’s some good news.  Things have changed dramatically in the nearly 40 years since those two tri-jets made their first flights.  The internet, new media, blogging and instantaneous delivery of content has made it possible for most anyone interested to be connected to the events as they unfold.  As was seen just a few days ago when Airbus provided an excellent live broadcast of the A400M first flight, you can be essentially anywhere on the globe and still experience these fantastic aviation events almost first hand.  Go to Boeing.com for info on the 787 live broadcast. 

 

 It’s not only the use of predominately composite materials that make the 787 unique… much of its shape clearly makes it easy to recognize.  photo: FlightBlogger 

 As a kid who joined the EAA the same year that the DC-10 and L-1011 first flew (1970), I gotta say it’s pretty awesome seeing ‘experimental’ displayed on the prototype 787!  photo: FlightBlogger

There’s no question I’ve been frustrated as the 787 project has fallen way behind schedule, but I’ve always kept the perspective that this is still a watershed accomplishment no matter what the calendar says.  Given the massive amount of ’new tech’ going into the airplane, (primarily composite airframe materials, higher pressure hydraulic systems, electrical systems replacing pneumatics, electric de-icing and on and on) it should be no surprise that there have been difficult challenges to face.  So it goes with being on the 'bleeding edge' of design and engineering.  Read more detailed info on 787 systems architecture in this Boeing article: 787 No-Bleed Systems.

 As this last week has brought us the likelihood of the first flight being right around the corner, I’ve already put the delays out of my mind.  Instead, genuine excitement for what this very special aircraft represents has become my focus.  Keep in mind that our ’new media’ and ’information explosion’ world has given us unprecedented access to details about this project, and while the delays are certainly not what we’ve come to expect from Boeing, I suspect that this project’s hurdles have been much the same as every other revolutionary commercial airliner.

 I still believe the 787 is likely to be a success story that only an aircraft like the 747 can challenge.  The Dreamliner has all the makings of forever changing air travel for everyone, while also forging the path for the future of all commercial airliner design.  Godspeed to all involved in getting the 787 off the ground! 

 While somewhat exaggerated in this view, you can see more of the unique shapes that make the 787 stand out when compared to traditional commercial airliners.  photo: FlightBlogger

Great video from 12-12-09 of high speed taxi test with nose wheel raised off the ground - from kpae.blogspot (Paine Field)

Another view of the nose wheel lift on 12-12-09 - this one from AirlineReporter.com

Comments

[David Parker Brown]

Great write-up and personal history.