Boeing's static test airframe for the Boeing 787 leaving the Boeing hangars
It is always fun to see the large hangar doors at Boeing open. It is more fun to see it when aircraft comes out. Today, I got to see the Boeing 787 Dreamliner fatigue airframe leave the Boeing hangars. I snapped a few pictures from the Future of Flight and from a road close to the test plane. The Boeing 787 is a beatiful aircraft, but you could tell this jet-less airframe has been used and abused — she didn’t look so great. Flight Story Aviation Blog has some great pictures of her back in April 2008.
Matt Cawby, who runs Paine Field Blog, also got video of the test Boeing 787 being rolled out. Notice how Boeing had take two Boeing 777’s out of the hangar to get the beat up Dreamliner out.
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Thai Airways Boeing 747-4D7 HS-TGO in newer airline livery
Thai Airways is the national carrier (can you guess) of Thailand. It was founded in 1960. It is almost 54% owned by the Thai Government and has achieved profit over the last 40 consecutive years.
As of October 2009, Thai Airways had almost 100 aircraft. The largest being a Boeing 747-400 and smallest an ATR-72. The airline also owns a 39% stake in Nok Air.
Check out a video that shows a Boeing 747-400 landing with old livery, then one with new livery. You can also see two Boeing 777’s next to each other — one with the new and one with the old livery.
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Image: Thomas Becker
Big long Boeing truck hauling what down the freeway?
The other day while going down I-405, which is just east of Seattle, I saw this very long Boeing truck being escorted by a Boeing van.
It is so long there is someone steering the rear wheels in the back. I have tried to do some research, asked a few people in aviation, put it out on Twitter, and talked to people at Boeing, but no one can tell me what it is hauling and what Boeing calls the truck.
So, time to use the power of my very smart blog readers (that is you!). What is the story behind this truck and what is it hauling?
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Air France Boeing 747-400
Business Class is just not what it used to be anymore. Earlier this month, five passengers were robbed of over $5,000 on an Air France flight from Tokyo to Paris. It was a red-eye flight and many passengers were in a deep sleep.
One passenger lost about $4400 and is the one that notified the flight crew. When the plane landed in France, police were waiting, but the thief was not found.
It is the airline’s policy to be responsible for luggage, but not for personal items, including cash, that passengers bring aboard. It might seem odd that someone would bring so much cash on a flight, but a one-way Business Class ticket on this flight can cost around $7000. Comparability that would be like me bringing $94 cash on a $150 one-way trip from Seattle to New York, which doesn’t seem so bad.
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Source: BBC Image: Caribb
A Boeing 777-200 landing in front of a Boeing 787 today at Paine Field
I took three videos earlier today while watching the Boeing 787 Dreamliner ZA002 taking off that you might find interesting:
#1: BOEING 777 LANDS: While the Boeing 787 waited to takeoff, a Boeing 777-200, not yet painted and on a test flight, landed directly in front of it.
#2 BOEING 787 SPOOLS UP: Testing the engines out, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner starts its engines allowing one to hear the jets in action (make sure you have the sound up). Notice how this is quite a bit louder than actual take off and the horizontal stabilizers and wing-tips shaking.
#3 BOEING 787 ZA002 TAKING OFF: What a beautiful day to watch the Dreamliner lift off. From the Future of Flight’s Strato Deck, one can see Mt Baker to the north and Mt Rainier to the south (sorry it is a little jumpy — first time with new tri-pod).
Other great finds:
* Video from Future of Flight of the takeoff
* KIRO 7 has video from their helicopter (I need to get one of those helicopters to video this stuff)
* Update by Guy Norris over at Aviation Week on ZA002’s progress
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