Watch the 787 first flight live online

[The Inspector]

by accessing the boeing website @ www.boeing.com starting @ 10 A.M. PST (1800 GMT) today, 12/14/09 through takeoff tomorrow @ 10 A.M. PST 12/15/09 you can watch live feeds and witness the first flight on Tuesday. First flight may possibly be delayed due to weather (after two weeks of 'hurts your eyes' clear blue skies) if it's raining excessivly, higher than expexted winds, or snow the flight should be a go 12/15/09. Current KPAE weather 36 f 4 mph @280 and 2000-3000 overcast with 59% chance of precip and the same expected into Tuesday.

[262crew]

by accessing the boeing website @ http://www.boeing.com starting @ 10 A.M. PST (1800 GMT) today, 12/14/09 through takeoff tomorrow @ 10 A.M. PST 12/15/09 you can watch live feeds and witness the first flight on Tuesday. First flight may possibly be delayed due to weather (after two weeks of 'hurts your eyes' clear blue skies) if it's raining excessivly, higher than expexted winds, or snow the flight should be a go 12/15/09. Current KPAE weather 36 f 4 mph @280 and 2000-3000 overcast with 59% chance of precip and the same expected into Tuesday.

You beat me to it! You can also watch it here!


http://787firstflight.newairplane.com/ffindex.html

[Second Air Force]

She's airborne!

[262crew]

The T-33's were louder then the 87! I had a great seat North end on top of my shop! I'll try and post video later today.

[mtpopejoy]

Big congrats to the Boeing Team!!!!!!

[Bill Greenwood]

This is great, not that I am a big lover of jet airliners, but hey it is made in the USA, by Americans, and even better it has GE engines and that may help my GE stock go back up to where it used to be.

[bdk]

I believe there is a Rolls Royce powered variant as well, no?

[The Inspector]

Z1 has Rollers on it (the TRENT), the other engine option is the Genx GE growth of the CF 90. Untied Technocrats (P&W) wasn't even approached during design as they're 4084 is not the most popular big engine out there.
It poured starting about 45 seconds after liftoff, so the flight was sort of pinned in by weather to the Northern end of the Olympic Peninsula. At the post flight press conference the crew said 'if the weather would clear a bit, lets put 80 thousand pounds on and go again' (and how about that greaser of a landing?)
The aircraft is scheduled to fly again in about a week after much more flight test equipment is installed along with a bunch more orange wire (test flight wiring).
The mood around work today was like we'd all been given a shot of
Thorazine, everyone had a goofy grin on their faces.
You get so involved, you love it, you hate it, you want it to go away, you can't get away from figuring out that one nagging issue, it consumes your though processes, you spend days thinking 'why won't____________work/install correctly? The project consumes you and when it finally does defy gravity and actually fly, and fly well, it dawns on you how exhausted you have become. But little time to rest on your laurels, now the real work begins-making it an easily producible product. Working out the mountain of engineering issues large and tiny to make the thing start clicking together. You've proved it will work, now work to prove it's viable.

[bdk]

Powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, the first Boeing 787 will be joined in the flight test program in the coming weeks and months by five other 787s, including two that will be powered by General Electric GEnx engines.

[The Inspector]

9:10 A.M. PST 787 Z2 marked as ANA Airlines just took off from KPAE on whats expected to be about a 1 hour test flight that will end @ KBFI where it will be fitted with more test flight equipment. Takeoff delayed a bit due to 2 customer delivery departures and showery weather. Watched the takeoff on local TV, the airplane (obviously light) climbs steeply and very quickly disappearing into a 2500 ft ceiling before the North end of 34R was reached.
Nice Christmas present!!!!

[bdk]

The first one must have flown well enough that they were willing to have the first flight of the second one, and the second flight ever, plunge right into the overcast.

[The Inspector]

The landing @ KBFI included both MLG body doors down , early indications point to a misadjusted truck tilt switch on one of the MLG trucks, designed to prevent gear retraction if the possibility could exist for fuselage damage upon retaction, all bogey type landing gear trucks are equipped like that. (something you can't duplicate on jacks in the assembly bay)

If you go to KINGTV.com there should be a link to the takeoff, In all my years of experience of watching large aircraft take off I don't think I've ever seen todays rotation/liftoff repeated. The nose gear came off the runway and the aircraft continued in one smooth move into the air with no normal rotation to the mains then lift off. Granted, the aircraft was probably light on fuel but still a pretty good testimonial for the muscle in those Rolls TRENT 1000 engines.