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March 22, 2011 - The Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental
successfully began its flight test program on Sunday,
taking off from Paine Field in
The 747-8 Intercontinental's first flight marks the
beginning of a flight test program that will finish in
the fourth quarter. With 747 Chief Pilot Mark Feuerstein
and Capt. Paul Stemer at the controls, the newest member
of the 747 family took off at 9:59 a.m. and landed at
2:24 p.m. local time.
"What a great privilege to be at the controls of such a
great airplane on its first flight," said Feuerstein.
"And what an honor to share this day with the thousands
of men and women who designed and built this airplane." |
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Sunday's
flight was the first of more than 600 flight hours in the test
program for the new 747-8 Intercontinental. The airplane
followed a route over "This a great day for the 747-8 team and for all of Boeing. What an honor it is to see such a beautiful airplane fly," said Elizabeth Lund, vice president and general manager of the 747-8 program. "I want to thank everybody who had a hand in designing, building and preparing this airplane for flight ? our engineers, our manufacturing employees, our colleagues in Boeing Fabrication, our colleagues in Boeing Test & Evaluation, our external suppliers ? for all their hard work." The 747-8 Intercontinental will have the lowest seat-mile cost of any large commercial jetliner, with 12 percent lower costs than its predecessor, the 747-400. The airplane provides 16 percent better fuel economy, 16 percent less carbon emissions per passenger and generates a 30 percent smaller noise footprint than the 747-400. The 747-8 Intercontinental applies interior features from the 787 Dreamliner that includes a new curved, upswept architecture giving passengers a greater feeling of space and comfort, while adding more room for personal belongings. |
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