What’s better than a Boeing 787 Dreamliner first flight video? One with commentary from Boeing employees, including the lead pilot Christine Walsh. The sixth 787 Dreamliner took to the skies on October 4th and had a successful (yet shortened) first flight.
Source: BoeingBrowsing Tag: KPAE
Two Royal Air Maroc and one JAL Boeing 787 Dreamliner next to the Future of Flight
Here it is, the beginning of October and for some odd reason we are having really nice weather in Seattle. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining. Knowing Saturday was probably going to be one of the last sunny days we are going to see around these parts and knowing Boeing towed three Boeing 787’s right next to the Future of Flight, I figured it was a really nice day to go visit Paine Field (KPAE) again.
How many brand spak'n new Boeing aircraft can you identify here?
There are a lot of Boeing 787 Dreamliners sitting outside waiting for parts. There are so many, that Boeing is having to get creative with where they are parking the aircraft. There are now three 787 Dreamliners parked next to the Future of Flight and two more outside the Boeing hangars. The three by the Future of Flight are two Royal Air Maroc Dreamliners and one JAL. By the hangars is a JAL and one all white 787 (photo).
That's a lot of eye candy at Boeing's fuel dock
The Dreamliners aren’t the only thing overly impressive on this trip. There were also five aircraft sitting at the Boeing fuel dock. Two Dreamlifters, one Boeing 747-8, one Boeing 777 for V Australia and one Boeing 767 for JAL.
It is a stare off between Boeing 747-8's
On the east side are quite a few new Boeing 747-8s. The British Airways World Cargo 747 is still sitting with just a blue belly as it was a few weeks back. There is also a nice collection of Boeing 747-8F in Korean Air Cargo and Cathay Pacific liveries. There was also one that just has the rudder painted and is a Nippon Cargo Airlines 747-8F (photo).
Visiting Paine Field is always an awesome experience, especially when it is sunny. I feel very lucky to live just a quick 15 minute drive from one of the most interesting airports in the world.
Allegiant Air MD-83
If you follow Allegiant Airlines on Twitter, you noticed a lot of announcements for new routes recently. I have been talking a lot about their Boeing 757’s getting painted in their livery, but I wanted to talk about all the new action their MD-80’s will be seeing. Here is a list of new routes they announced that will be starting next week:
Some of the new Allegiant routes start next week
Just in time for the winter to allow people in colder climates to get to warmer ones. All these new flights will be flown by Allegiant’s MD-80 aircraft. This means (hopefully) there should be some more announcements here in the near future that involve Allegiant’s new Boeing 757s.
One destination I am disappointed not to see is Paine Field. As I discussed earlier in the year, Allegiant Air and Horizon Air were looking to fly into Paine Field, which is located about 20 miles north of Seattle. At this point, everyone is still waiting and no decision has been made.
Image: Silenus81
Brand new United Airlines Boeing 747-400 (N174UA) at Paine Field in 1989
This is a photo of a brand spanking new Boeing 747-400 outside of Boeing’s hangars at Paine Field. The photo was taken in 1989 with probably my favorite United Airlines Livery. She was given the registration number N174UA and had an interesting incident shortly after delivery.
In 1990 the nose gear did not extend all the way and BAM, the aircraft’s nose ended up hitting the tarmac (photo1 & photo2). There was minor damage and she was quickly back out flying. In fact, she is still flying for United Airlines today. She will be flying today from Narita International Airport to Los Angeles. A lot has changed as far as technology and the equipment inside, but she is still the beautiful bird she was back in 1989.
Full sized image or 91 Photos of N174UA on Airliners.net
Photo by EuroNorb (Dave)
Boeing 787 Dreamliner undergoes fatigue testing at Paine Field. Photo from Boeing
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has started it’s fatigue testing. The fatigue test frame might look like a crazy construction rig, but think of it more like a time machine.
The fatigue rig will put the Boeing 787 through 100,000 simulated flights, which is equivalent to about three times an expect life of the Dreamliner. The best part? It never has to leave the ground.
The fatigue test rig simulates every part of the flight. From the push back at the airport to the arrival at its destination. This process is called a ground-air-ground (GAG) cycle. Boeing has five different GAG cycles that put the aircraft through different simulations, ranging in duration and flight severity.
While the structural test program already has validated the strength of the airframe, fatigue testing looks at long-term, continued use. It allows Boeing engineers to see what will give over time and create inspection techniques for airlines.
“Every kid’s dream is to build something and then try to break it, right?,” asks Peter Brownlow, the fatigue testing conductor for the 787 program. “In essence, that’s what we’re doing. We take an airplane and we try to put it through its paces and try to break it at the end.”
To create this havoc, 100 mechanical devices have been connected to the exterior of the Dreamliner. Engineers in a control room use the devices to mimic actions the 787 will go through.
Boeing told me that they expect the fatigue testing to take about three years. Not bad. Too bad someone can’t earn any frequent flier miles for all those flights!
Also Check Out:
* Randy’s Journal with additional photos
* Awesome video from Boeing on the 787 fatigue test
* Photos of the test Boeing 787 coming out of the hangars in January