I will be on the Future of Flight Strato Deck taking pictures and video of the event. Check back on this blog for all the updates, pictures and video of this morning’s first flight.
NOTE: Some people have asked if they can use my pictures and video — yes please. I just ask you give credit and link back to my blog!
UPDATE 9:10am: It is mighty foggy right now. Just watched a Emirates Boeing 777 take off and it disappeared instantly into the clouds. Hopefully it burns off soon. Boeing employees are starting to gather along the runway. Posting a few foggy pictures to my Flickr.
UPDATE 10:30am: The first flight has been delayed due to weather.
UPDATE 10:50am: Been change to no definite flight time due to weather. We now just sit and wait. While waiting I uploaded a few more pictures to Flickr.
UPDATE 11:15am: Hearing the Boeing 747-8 could take off as early as noon. Also hearing 2pm. Stay tuned, I am not leaving!
UPDATE 11:50am: Told Boeing 747-8 flight flight should be happening with-in an hour. Starting to see blue in the sky.
UPDATE 12:43pm: She took off and looked wonderful! Great job to Boeing all of the people that made the first flight possible. Working to get photos and video up soon.
UPDATE 3:30pm: The Boeing 747-8 is still set to land at 4:22pm at KPAE.
Today, the Boeing 747-8 is completing it taxi tests. I was able to get a few videos of the airplane in action. The video above is the Boeing 747-8 doing 60kt tests with no problems. Below are other videos I shot today:
Boeing 747-8 #1 out on the taxi way at Paine Field at 1:15pm today
Very shortly I am off to the Future of Flight to watch the Boeing 747-8 complete its taxi testing. This test is a great sign that the 747-8 is on her way to make her first flight on Monday. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner completed similar taxi testing just days before her first flight.
I will be updating this post with pictures and video as I collect them this morning. Also be sure to follow #7478TT on Twitter since there will be quite a few Twitter followers covering this event.
UPDATE 10:10am: Boeing 747-8 is still sitting still, no strobes, no engine start up yet.
UPDATE 10:45am: Strobes came on for a few minutes, then back off. Been entertained with two Boeing 777’s land, and now a Boeing 757 taking off. Updated my photos.
Boeing 747-8 engine smoke from the start up, partly blocked by a new Boeing 777
UPDATE 11:30am: Still nothing new. Strobes are still off, stairs are still at the doors. No word on what is causing the delay yet.
UPDATE 11:45am: Word is estimating engine start at around noon for the Boeing 747-8
UPDATE 12:30pm: Reports that the door is closed and stairs pulled away. Still no strobes or engine start yet.
UPDATE 1:00pm: The Boeing 747-8 has been pulled back and engines 3 & 4 have been started.
UPDATE 1:15pm: She is out on the taxi way now. Uploaded a bunch more pics of her coming out to the taxi way on my flickr (I haven’t edited or checked them, just putting them up for now)
UPDATE 4:00pm: During the last high speed test, it appeared the plane pulled to the right. Possible brake lock-up? After that it taxied back to its parking spot. Working on getting video up.
Boeing 747-8 is set to make first flight on Monday February 8th
Jon Ostrower with Flight Blogger is reporting that Boeing will be shooting for their first flight of the Boeing 747-8 at 10am this Monday, February 8th. You better believe I will be there.
Of course weather could delay the flight so let’s all hope for sun!
Last Saturday, I decided to drive around Paine Field located in Everett, WA. I have done it before, but not since I started my blog. I wanted to see what planes I could see and how close I could get before hitting a fence. I was quite surprised with some of the views I found.
I took my camera and iPhone along and took pictures and thought you might be interested in what I saw:
The best part, it was all free and anyone can access all the areas I went. The day was gray and rainy, but well worth it. Turns out a Twitter follower, Kevin (@TxAgFlyer), followed the same path on Sunday and got some pretty nice pictures with the sky being blue and purple, instead of gray.
