What comes up, must come down. After being in the air, flying over the Olympic Peninsula and heading over towards Mount Rainier, the Boeing 747-8 landed at Paine Field in Everett, WA a little after 4:15pm today. The day started foggy and we weren’t sure if she would take off, but it turned into an amazingly sunny and clear day. I would imagine Boeing got some wonderful pictures of the 747-8 flying today. Hopefully they will share soon.
The day started out pretty foggy today and the first flight of the Boeing 747-8 was delayed for a few hours. It was well worth the wait, because when she took the air, the sun was out and the sky was blue. The Boeing 747-8 was surprisingly quiet on take off and the chase planes made much more noise.
The Boeing 747-8 is scheduled to be in the air until 4:22pm, when it will land back at Paine Field (and I will be there to take video/pictures).
CHECK OUT MY 64 PICTURES OF TODAY ON FLICKER
Other good stuff from today (will be adding as more posts through out the day):
* Video of the Boeing 747-8 take off from KING5
* Video from the sky of the take off from KIRO7
* Keep up with all the details from Flight Blogger
* Video from the Future of Flight
* Photo gallery of the Boeing 747-8 from Seattle Times
* Pictures from the morning and take off from @TxAgFlyer
* Awesome close up photos from NYC Aviation
The Boeing 747-8 right after take off. Taken from the Future of Flight's strato deck. By Kevin Frysinger
On Saturday the Boeing 747-8 successfully completed her taxi-tests. Everything is in order for her to take to the skies and fly this morning at 10am PST.
The weather is looking like it will participate for this morning’s Boeing 747-8 first flight, although it won’t be as nice as it was on Saturday.
On Twitter be sure to follow: @AirlineReporter, @FlightBlogger, @ImperfectSense, @FutureofFlight, and #7478FF.
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.
CHECK OUT 64 PHOTOS AND A VIDEO FROM THE FIRST FLIGHT
Image from @TxAgFlyerToday, 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:
* VIDEO: During last taxi test, the Boeing 747-8 stopped suddenly before going back to her stall
* VIDEO: The Boeing 747-8’s final taxi on the runway before calling it a day
* VIDEO: The Boeing 747-8 pulls out of her stall and on to the taxi way
* VIDEO: The new 747-8 turns and situates herself on the runway
Other cool finds on today:
* My pictures on Flickr
* @ImperfectSense took some amazing photos and video
* Photos from the Seattle PI
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 2:00pm: Taxi tests so far going great. Added 23 more photos.
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.
CHECK OUT MY PICTURES ON FLICKR (will be updating through out the morning)