Boeing 787 Dreamliner Goes Public At Oshkosh 2011 (14 Pix)

 Even tho the 787 didn't come to Oshkosh in 2010 like I had hoped (and begged for), the appearance of the Dreamliner this year on Friday July 29th was even more than I could have hoped for.

 After making a nice pass down the runway, the 787 landed on runway 36 a little after 9am. It was then tugged into place on the main ramp pointing to the west. A large crowd had quickly been drawn to the airplane... in fact there were so many people crowding in that getting the airstair truck into position proved to be a bit of a challenge. It wasn't long tho before everything was in place and the crew came down the stairs to greet the interested crowd, including EAA Rod Hightower and founder Paul Poberezny.

 

 Mike Carriker, chief pilot for the 787 program, took a few minutes to address the enthusiastic crowd. He's an EAA member, as are many of the Boeing people who came with the airplane. It's both very special and very cool that Oshkosh was the first place for the public to have the chance to see the airplane up close and personal. 

 It had been announced that the public was going to be allowed to walk thru the airplane while it was on display... this was pretty incredible since this was the first opportunity for 'everyday' people to get inside. Even better for me, I was in a group of media people that was going to get in before the public walk thru was to begin.

 The interior was mostly filled with test equipment, but it was in great condition considering this was ZA001, the prototype 787. There were quite a few Boeing personel onboard to answer questions and keep everyone from touching the do-not-touch-stuff. We were even given the chance to take a quick look inside the cockpit. I was really pleased with how open Boeing was with the airplane.

 While it was a really great opportunity to see the inside of the Dreamliner, my favorite part was being able to walk all around the outside of the airplane pretty much without restriction. I got hundreds of images from all over the airframe. You can expect to see a major post coming before long with many of those pix plus loads of detailed info. 

 Thank you Boeing and thank you EAA for bringing the 787 Dreamliner to OSH11!