Escorted by two chase planes, the latest and largest version of Boeing's iconic 747 jumbo jet took off from Paine Field in Everett on Monday.

The plane lifted off the runway at 12:39 p.m., precisely one day shy of the 41st anniversary of the first flight of the 747.

It quickly disappeared into a low cloud, but the vortex on the wings left a double swirl pattern that lingered for a few moments, marking the plane's passage.

The plane is expected to return for a landing at Paine Field at about 4 p.m.

After a two-hour wait for visibility to improve, the sky was partly cloudy as thousands of Boeing production workers cheered the massive 250-foot-long 747-8 freighter jet into the air.

Compared with the previous model 747-400s, the new plane is 18 feet longer in the fuselage, and its wingspan is 13 feet wider.

The 747-8 is smaller overall than the Airbus A380 superjumbo, with a maximum takeoff weight of 975,000 pounds compared with 1.2 million pounds for the European doubledecker. But the elongation of the 747-8 fuselage stretches it more than 10 feet longer than the A380.

Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh watched the takeoff from a cordoned-off executive-viewing area beside the runway. So did 88-year-old veteran engineer Joe Sutter, who led the legendary team of "Incredibles" that developed the first 747 in record time and launched it into the sky in 1969.

Like the maiden flight of the 787 Dreamliner in December, the 747-8's takeoff marks a turning point for a program that now seeks to put behind it more than $2 billion in extra costs and a schedule delay of one year.

Boeing has booked firm orders for 108 of the jets. It hopes to sell as many as 350 of them, extending production of the jumbo jet well into the 2020s.

The plane is listed for sale at $300 million, but an airline could likely buy one for close to half that.

With the current airline downturn, it will be some time before Boeing learns whether it can make enough sales to move from a loss to a profit on the jet.



Though based on a four-decades-old design, the new Boeing features an aerodynamically efficient wing, updated flight-control avionics, and new GE engines derived from those designed for the 787 Dreamliner.

Boeing promises that the 747-8 freighter will have 16 percent more cargo capacity, 17 percent lower fuel costs and 16 percent lower overall operating costs than the -400.

In a few days, the first test 747-8 is scheduled to fly to Moses Lake where it will stay for about a month until it acheives initial airworthiness. Two more test planes will then join the program.

To avoid any conflicts with flight testing of the Dreamliner based at Boeing Field, all three 747-8 test planes will be shifted to Palmdale, Calif., for the remaining nine or 10 months of flight tests.

First delivery of the freighter model to Cargolux is promised by year end. The passenger version of the jet is to follow a year later.

SOURCE : http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/b ... ing09.html

Un bien bel avion!!
Sympa et esthétiques les vortex au dessus des réacteurs.

N'empêche il a quand même de la gueule