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Boeing's 747-8 Freighter Completes First Flight
EVERETT, Wash.
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.
