The first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental to be delivered (A7-HHE) lines up on 16R at Paine Field.
Yesterday, Boeing delivered their first 747-8 Intercontinental. Although we know that the customer is the government of Qatar, Boeing was tight-lipped about who the customer might be.
Other than the registration number and information from reliable sources, there has been no official confirmation from either Boeing or the government of Qatar. Boeing stated that they are following the wishes of their customer and not publicly confirming or denying if it is the government of Qatar.
Boeing Executives answer questions about the Boeing 747-8I program before take off.
Before the delivery flight, Boeing held a press conference to answer questions about the 747-8 program. Present were Bruce Dickinson, VP and Chief Project Engineer, 747-8 Program, Elizabeth Lund, Vice President, 747 Program, Captain Steve Taylor, President of Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) and Jim Proulx, Boeing 747 Communications.
When asked if the Intercontinental might participate in a world tour, like the 787 Dreamliner, Lund explained that they are in discussion about the possibly and would prefer to work with an airline customer, like Lufthansa.
How would you like a bed in the nose of a Boeing 747-8I? Photo showing potential 747-8I BBJ interior from Boeing.
Currently there are nine 747-8 VIPs on order and Taylor stated that it is safe to say that all of them are going to government customers.
One government customer who does not have a 747-8I on order yet is the President of the United States. Lund stated that Boeing has spoken to the president and assured him that Boeing is more than ready to build the next Air Force One.
You have to love the extended upper deck of the 747-8 Intercontinental.
The first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental that will go into commercial service with Lufthansa is still going through its final testing phase, which should be completed in the next week. Since the passenger version has things like seats, in-flight entertainment and more, it needs the additional time before being ready for delivery.
Lund stated that Boeing is working to get an official delivery date for the aircraft to Lufthansa and they hope to announce that date in the next few weeks. Previously, they have stated that they hope to deliver the first passenger Intercontinental in March of this year.
This is a mock up of a possible interior of a Boeing Business Jet 747-8I. The one delivered yesterday was empty. Photo by Boeing.
Near the end of the press conference, BBJ President Steven Taylor had to politely leave, since not only does he oversee the BBJ program, but he is also a pilot, that is rated to fly the 747-8I and he was going to be flying during the delivery flight. How cool is that?
After the press conference, it was time to head to the Future of Flight’s strato deck to wait for the the 747-8I to take off. Luckily it was not raining, but it was windy and very cold. Unfortunately, the aircraft was late taking off, so by the time she taxied out and lined up, my hands were having a hard time taking photos due to frozen fingers.
It was disappointing that we were not able to tour the interior of the aircraft and it was also not parked next to the Future of Flight where we could get better photos from the tarmac. But it is still not a bad thing to gather with aviation media to watch the first 747-8I to be delivered.
And lift off. The Boeing 747-8I heads off to Vancouver.
At about 1:01pm, the 747-8I lifted off from Paine Field, with cheers from the Boeing and media folks that gathered to watch.
First, the 747-8I flew to Vancouver for a few hours to complete customs paperwork before heading to Wichita, Kansas to begin its two year interior installation. There, the Aeroloft, which is a sleeping berth in the rear of the aircraft, will be installed before heading to Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg, Germany for the rest of the interior installation.
Once completed in 2014, the aircraft will be able to carry 100 passengers in style, up to 8,840 nautical miles.
CHECK OUT MORE ON THE FIRST BOEING 747-8 INTERCONTINENTAL DELIVERY:
* 29 additional photos of the event
* Check out additional photos (from a different angle) by NYCAviation.com
The first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental (A7-HHE) sits next to ANA's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner (JA801A) in September 2011 at Paine Field. Photo by Jon Ostrower.
Tomorrow, the very first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental will be delivered to its owner, but who is it? There have been many rumors and guesses about the plane’s owner, but nothing has officially been announced. Boeing is not talking and even though the delivery event is scheduled for tomorrow morning, there is no plan to announce the owner tomorrow and that the owner will not be present during the event. We know that the 747-8I is a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) and most rumors have speculated that the aircraft is going to a head of some government.
I have gathered enough information and feel confident in announcing that the owner of the first 747-8 Intercontinental will be Qatar Amiri Flight, which is a VIP airline owned by the government of Qatar. According to Wikipedia, they operate, “worldwide charters on demand and caters exclusively to the royal family of Qatar and other VIP government staff.” Qatar Amiri Flight currently has two 747-8I’s on order.
The delivery event is set to start at about 11:00am PST tomorrow, the 28th and I am told the aircraft should depart by Noon. Make sure to follow me on Twitter and the hashtag #7478VIP as is covered live.
Image: Jon Ostrower aka the Flight Blogger
Shenzhen Airlines Boeing 737-800. Recent livery change means that it is hard to read the airline's name.
Shenzhen Airlines is the fourth largest domestic airline operating in China and started flying passengers in 1993. They have a fleet of over 100 aircraft, including the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. Shenzhen is planning to have 180 aircraft by 2015.
The back part of their livery is red, with the front half white. They have recently made a change to make the red area longer, which works well in theory, but in practice it has caused problems with being able to read their titles. Looking at the older version of their livery, the full “Shenzhen Airlines” is all on the white. The new paint scheme puts the airline’s name partially on the white, but also partially on the red and gold striping, making it very difficult to read at a distance.
The tail sports the “National Roc.” According to the airline’s website this is “the totem aggregating the traditional and modern Chinese cultures. The design is harmonious and the colors of red and gold are gloriously lined with one on the other, agglomerating the soul of the oriental culture. Tallness and straightness, fullness of vitality, are the reflection of progress and prompt response.”
Overall, I think it is a great livery, my only suggestion would be to move the English titles back onto the red and make them white.
Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren
Flying on a CRJ 700 down to LAX to catch my flight to Hawaii.
Maresa writes the blog Around Puget Sound and when she was recently taking a trip to Hawaii on United Airlines, I asked her to write up a review from a non-airline nerd perspective. This is her review in her own words:
My United Airlines Review – The Beginning
I’m on my way from SEA to LAX to ITO (Hilo, HI). It’s time for a vacation; to get away and escape from the fast paced life we all seem to live in these days. I’m hoping for good weather for hiking, biking, and snorkeling. I’ll be staying in my very favorite vacation rental: Papaya Sunrise on the East side of the Big Island during the week of my visit.
Currently, I’m traveling from Seattle to L.A. I’m riding in a CRJ700 and it’s tiny! I’ve never been in a commercial jet this small on the mainland before. As many of you know, Hawaii has many inter-island jets that are about the same size.
We took off from Sea-Tac only about 10 minutes late, but our expected arrival is still ’˜on-time’. I have about a four hour lay-over in LAX, but the way I see it is I’d much rather have way more time than necessary than be stranded somewhere I just didn’t mean to be.
It’s always exciting to fly. I love the views I get over Washington. I feel extra fortunate when I get the added bonus of flying past Mt. Rainier–talk about a spectacular view!
One of the nice parts about the smaller jet is it took hardly anytime to board the plane. Also, United was willing to check larger bags for free at the gate that were too big to fit in the narrow overhead compartments. My carry-on bag fit just fine, but it was nice to have the option to check it and to have enough space up ahead for my backpack. The folks on the flight who did check their bag will be able to pick up their bag right after getting off the plane without going to baggage claim.
Right now, the woman next to me is dozing with four radiant sunflowers clasped in her grip, undoubtedly from Pike Place Market. It’s a good reminder of Seattle, of the summer to come, and the sunshine that I’m on my way to see.
I’ll let you know about the next leg of the trip when I get that far…
From LAX to ITO, I rode on a Boeing 737-800. Not this exact one, but one like it. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren
Over Five Hours Later
Wow, LAX was huge! My connecting flight wasn’t too far from where I landed. I have to tell you though, this second flight is shaping up to be much stranger and unpredictable than the first part.
When my fellow passengers and I were waiting to board, many people were struck by how rude the gate agent collecting boarding passes was to fellow passengers. ’œNo, don’t go in that line! I said the right line–not the left!’ The United/Continental worker shouted to customers. ’œNo, rows 30 and higher may board, only rows 30 and
higher!’ Calm down lady–I think you’re taking this all a bit too personally.
I found out a few minutes later that she wasn’t looking or scanning at the tickets she was collecting from people either, which meant that anyone with a ticket of any sort could board the aircraft–and someone did. A man got my plane to Hilo but didn’t find out he was on the wrong plan until he found someone sitting in his seat–how could there
be two people in seat 28E? ’œIsn’t this flight going to Denver?’ The man asked. ’œNo, we’re going to Hilo as in Hawaii…’ The flight attendant responded sounding surprised. The man quickly grabbed his things and deboarded the plane. ’œIn all my six years of working as a flight attendant, I’ve never had that happen!’ The flight attendant said shaking his head.
After only 20 minutes in the air the pilot informed us that we’d be experiencing some turbulence for the next 150 miles–how long it would take to pass through, they didn’t say.
Now I’ve done a lot of traveling and encountered some pretty bad turbulence but this far surpassed it all. The flight attendants were all losing their footing and desperately trying to hold on. The SnackPacks were bouncing all over in the carts and were about ready to bounce out onto the floor. At the moment that I thought someone might
actually start to panic, one of the flight attendants actually did. He exclaimed, ’œBuckle up, buckle up! We’ll come back with the drinks and food, is everyone buckled, because I need to go buckle up.’
After a while, the turbulence settled down and the beverage service began again.The flight attendants were going right along and missed my row entirely. I called him back and wound up drinking a flat Ginger Ale. Great.
Mauamai Beach on the West side of the Big Island.
Right Now
The flight attendants have just come back with another round of beverages and somehow they missed my row and walked right passed us again. When the attendant was called back by my seat-mate the man serving the drinks said abruptly to me, ’œWhat’d you want?’ ’œCranberry juice please,’ I asked. ’œHere–’ the man says shoving the can of juice
at me.
United/Continental, I was not amused…not amused. I heard one passenger say, ’œNever have I seen passengers treated with such disrespect,’ but thank you for getting us all to paradise safely.
If you are looking for things to do around the Puget Sound region either as a resident or a visitor, be sure to check out Maresa’s blog, follow on Facebook or Twitter.
On July 2, 1966 this Lockheed Constellation (G-ALAL) had some weight issues. Click for larger. Photo by Ken Fielding.
Aviation enthusist Ken Fielding shared his photos with me about a Contellation in 1966 that had some weight issues and he was lucky enough to take some photos. Below are descriptions from Ken’s Flicker Account:
Oops!!! The ramp at the old Liverpool (LPL) terminal sloped away from the terminal quite sharply. This aircraft arrived from Belfast (BFS) with around 8,000kgs of cigarettes (although it was actually over 11,000kgs… but that’s another story!).
It was 3 tonnes overweight and also out of trim. I met it on arrival and as it stopped and they cut the engines, the nosewheel lifted about 6″ off the ground before slowly settling back on the ramp. I collected the loadsheet and as I walked back to the office I was wondering what would happen when the 4 crew got off the flight deck and our 6 hulking loaders jumped on the back to start the offload. At that moment there was a sickening crunch and thud and I turned round to see it on its tail.
Ropes are an interesting idea, but probably not going to work. Click for larger. Photo by Ken Fielding.
The idea here was to sling a rope over the tail with 6 loaders hanging on to it and use a rope on the nosewheel leg tied to a tractor to put it back upright… Until the flight engineer suggested that if it tipped too quickly the nosewheel leg could be pushed up through the flight deck floor!!! So on to ‘Plan B’.
The fire department comes to the rescue. Click for larger. Photo by Ken Fielding.
Enter the Airport Fire Service with some inflatable bags which were used after some of the cargo had been offloaded. Very gradually the aircraft came back on it’s nosewheel.
The aircraft was back in service later the same afternoon after Ace Freighters ferried up two tail fin bottoms to replace the crushed ones, and a replacement radio aerial cable which had snapped.
When we check weighed the cigarette cartons, we found they weighed almost 15kgs each instead of the 10kgs it said on the manifest.
Some additional information that Ken shared via email about the incident:
Just as an addition to this, there was a national dock strike in the UK at the time and the aircraft had been flying backward and forward between Liverpool (LPL) and Belfast (BFS) twice a day for about 10 days bringing in the same load. Personally, I think the crews were well aware the aircraft was overweight, however, on such a short trip it wasn’t over the maximum structural take off weight although it was well over the maximum zero fuel weight.
Another point about aircraft trim. Constellations, like DC-4’s, were very nose heavy when they were empty and very tail heavy when fully loaded. I recall that this aircraft always carried 5 x 50 gallon oil drums lashed down at the back of the aircraft. These were always filled with water before an empty ferry flight and (supposedly) emptied again before the return trip.
Thanks Ken for sharing your story and photos!
