The 737 MAX taking off for its first flight
BOEING 737 MAX FIRST FLIGHT: Follow us live
Earlier today, the Boeing 737 MAX successfully completed its first flight. We have been doing things a bit differently and sharing our live coverage of the flight here. Later, we will update our story with photos and more information. Think of this as more of an evolving story, and don’t forget to come back for more!
Several thousand Boeing employees and media braved the rain to witness the first flight of the 737 MAX
The 737 MAX took off on its first flight at 9:46 am (PST) to the cheers of several thousand of Boeing employees and media. The plane flew for nearly three hours, before landing a few miles away at Boeing Field (BFI) at about 12:32 pm. You can watch a live feed from Boeing and we will continue to cover the event live on our Twitter feed below:
Up, up, and away! The 737 MAX leaves the ground on its maiden flight. We’ll catch up with it soon at Boeing Field.
Hello David,
Thanks for the wonderful presentation you made with Twitter this morning for the first flight of the 737 Max. The Tweets helped in the moment as I waited in the soggy northwest morning. A “just” NW day for this event to occur.
It was quite a morning in Renton today as we all got to witness a rare first flight of a Boeing aircraft. Today’s was just as exciting as any event of this nature when you get to watch a product of man’s engineering endeavors accomplish what it was intended to do. A beautiful product, a beautiful plane.
As you and many others were able to stand over on the eastside (press area) of the field taking some excellent pictures of the fledgling plane right at the moment of rotation, then gliding so effortlessly into the grey, rain laden sky and gaining its first few hundred feet over Lk. Washington. I was standing in the usual SW corner of the field where I and many others come with an AvGeek obsession to witness many first flights of planes coming out of the Renton plant faster and faster with each passing month.
When I come to this spot next to the airfield to watch the next plane go through the regular engine start-up, the slow taxi to the north end of the field, the full thrust engine taxi test and finally the painfully slow taxi down to the south-end threshold. I envision at that point, the pilot preparing for the moment when he can push the throttle levers forward letting the engines spin up, causing a rush of exhaust gases to roar behind it into the barriers at the end of the runway. The plane shaking and straining, waiting for the second the brakes are released. (Kind of like lead-footing it with a classic V8 muscle car)
Finally, the moment comes with the tone of the engines pushing as hard as they can. The new plane darts down the field until the moment the pilot rotates it into the air and leaves the valley soil for the first time and the last time. Then it’s off to its first landing at another field within a hundred miles of where it was made. Never to return to the airfield in Renton. Many more cycles ahead of it. Many memories created over the next few decades of passengers.
This morning was all the more special because we saw the future of the 737 program take flight.
Thanks again!
Jim Harja