A proud day for the Boeing family: After the four-month grounding of the Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner fleet due to a battery fire in January, the airliner has made a decisive comeback with the maiden flight of its brand new 787-9 Dreamliner. The aircraft completed the five-hour test run on Tuesday afternoon which took off from Paine Field Airport, Everett, Washington and landed at Seattle’s Boeing field.
Boeing 787-9 is an upgraded version of the 787-8; 20 feet longer than its predecessor; improved passenger capacity by 40; and improvement in the aircraft’s range of about 300-350 nautical miles. Compared to other flying beasts of similar size, the 787-9 is 20% more fuel efficient and 20% more environmentally friendly.
The test flight was headed by Captain Mike Bryan and Captain Randy Neville who expressed their delight and satisfaction on the subject of the latest creation by Boeing. The flying machine was ready by August, but the first delivery to its first customer Air New Zealand isn’t expected until mid 2014. The president and CEO of Boeing, Ray Conner, expressed his confidence on the Dreamliner’s prospects on becoming the 787 fleet’s backbone. Boeing has already received orders for 82 of the 787s out of which around 30-35 are for the brand new 787-9.
This has been a glorious reappearing magic trick, for Boeing, after January’s set back as well other isolated incidents, including the American Airlines’ emergency landing in Houston after the aircraft’s braking system malfunctioned; the outbreak of a fire on Ethiopian Airlines at Heathrow Airport caused by the emergency locator beacon; and the discovery of faulty fuel pump indicators and oil level indicators on United flights.
The brand new Boeing 787-9 is the latest addition to the Dreamliner fleet; however, it will not be the last. Boeing has already announced the launching of the 787-10. The start of the aircraft’s assembly is scheduled in 2017 with the first delivery expected the following year – 2018.
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