SUCCESS! The plane was AMAZING taking off. Above is my video of the event. Everyone was cheering as the 787 flew over us. It will conduct 5hrs of tests and then land south down at Boeing field in Renton, WA. It was wonderful to be a part of this event, thank you to the Future of Flight for having me.
UPDATE 12:37pm: Boeing is reporting that the first flight will end early, landing at Boeing Field at 1pm. No official word from Boeing why the flight is ending early, but Boeing said they might end early. Could be weather, it has gotten much worse since liftoff.
UPDATE 1:03pm: Boeing is stating the flight is ending early because of weather, no problems with the plane. Boeing, Flight Blogger and KIRO will be covering the landing live.
UPDATE 2:38pm: Been watching the live news conference (I stayed up north and didn’t go down to the landing) via Boeing’s website. These pilots are awesome. They said the flight went perfect and can’t wait to get in the air again!
UPDATE nextday: I have had a lot of people ask “why should I care?” I answered that question with a new blog.
Picture of Boeing 787 Dreamliner picture taken about 7am today
It is almost 5:30am PST and we are about 4.5 hours away from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s first flight. The weather isn’t perfect, but so far it is still on! This is a VERY special event for a very special airplane. Much like the Boeing 707 marked the beginning of the jet age, I think the 787 will mark the start of the next generation of how planes are made and how materials are used.
I will be enjoying the event at the Future of Flight, which has one of the best views of the runway. I hope to take many photos and a few videos, and I will post them on the blog as soon as I can. Catch second by second coverage of the events on my TWITTER ACCOUNT(you don’t need to sign up to read my tweets) and I will try to keep my blog updated as the events unfold. I have two laptops, a camera, an iPhone, and a video camera. Hopefully that will be enough to share this event with you :).
Of course, the first flight is not the end of the Boeing 787 trials, but just the very beginning. I hope and expect nothing else to delay the aircraft, but there are still a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong. Jon Ostrower, the FlightBlogger, lays out what the Boeing 787 has left to do before it starts flying its first passengers.
I will be updating this post throughout the day…
* UPDATE 7:30am: Lots of people and media showing up at the Future of Flight. I just updated my picture for this blog with one I just took. Make sure to follow live feed via BOEING’S LIVE FEED and also the FLIGHTBLOGGER.
* UPDATE 8:20am: Flight aware has BOE01 listed for a 10:10am PST takeoff. Anyone guessing that might be the ZA001 Boeing 787 first flight? If you are in the Seattle area, the lobby/cafe/gift shops of the Future of Flight are open for you to warm up. You can also sign up for a raffle to win a Boeing 787 Model. If you come in you should come say hi to me!
* UPDATE 9:05am: Boeing employees are starting to line up along the runway. Hopefully that is a good sign. Pictures I have taken so far have been uploaded to my flickr account.
* UPDATE 10:32: Just watched the Boeing 787 make a successful take off. Videos and pics to follow soon!
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner with Dreamlifter in the background. Took picture this Saturday during taxi testing.
UPDATE 12:05pm: I am currently at the Future of Flight and just took some cloudy pictures of the Boeing 787. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit better.CHECK THEM OUT.
I know my blog has turned into a Boeing 787 blog recently, but that is because tomorrow could be one of the most exciting days in aviation history and I am excited to be a part of it. I say “could” because the weather could have other plans, but so far, it looks like it might cooperate. It was beyond exciting seeing the front wheel of the Boeing 787 lift off on Saturday (as you can tell by my comments and people clapping around me) and I feel privileged to be there tomorrow to witness and record the event. As I did with the taxi tests, I hope to get my content up as soon as possible and then add links to photos and videos of others that were there as well.
I won’t be providing a live feed of the first flight, although I will be taking video. I am currently researching who will be providing live feeds and I will provide you links early tomorrow morning.
Thanks for reading and if I get some time today, I will get something non-787 posted. Until then, make sure to follow #787 (follows tweets about the 787), #787FF (follows tweets about the 787 first flight), Flightblogger, FutureofFlight, PIBoeing and of course AirlineReporter on Twitter.
Above is video I took of the Boeing 787 going nose up on a taxi test. If you have sound you can hear those amazing thrust reversers in action. I was only there for about 30min, but I was there during the best 30 minutes. We had a great view off the Future of Flight’s Strato Deck. This aircraft looks amazing moving and she looks like she wants to take to the sky. Between each pass, “street” sweepers would come on the runway and clean it off. There were dozens of Boeing workers near the runway in bright yellow vests. It was surreal seeing a Boeing 737 doing touch and goes and watching other private planes land while the Boeing 787 wait to get onto the runway. I wanted to see more, but it was ending as a storm front was heading in, which was good. It was only about 30 degrees outside, but a gorgeous day to see a gorgeous plane!
The Seattle PI got these pics of the Boeing 787 testing ZA001 testing its brakes.
Today comes the next big step in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner first flight. Unfortunately I am not able to make it up to Paine Field to watch the tests, but there is a great group of aviation enthusiasts who are, including the Flight Blogger. I will be posting updates as the tests go on and a few links you can follow.
* Flight Blogger who will have live streaming
* Follow Twitter #787TT to get updates on what is going on
Wish them all warm thoughts, since it is about 25deg in SEA right now.
UPDATE 8:21am: Watch Flight Blogger’s live video stream.
UPDATE 9:38am: The taxi testing is going well. Using reverse thrusters. Aubrey at the Seattle PI has some great shots of the tests.
UPDATE Noon: More pictures added to the Seattle PI. The tests are going well! It is so wonderful to see the 787 moving in the positive direction.
UPDATE 12:13pm: The Seattle PI is posting some professional pictures taken of the Dreamliner and Dreamlifter. There are some AMAZING shots. Flightblogger reports that ZA001 has gotten up to 135kts so far today.
UPDATE 12:49pm: The nose wheel of the B787 left the ground in the latest taxi test.
UPDATE 12:52: I am free from other obligations and the 787 tests are still going on. I am heading north to Paine Field and hopefully will catch some of the action. Should be there in about 30min or so. Not going to lie, I am beyond excited.
UPDATE 1:32: Seeing this plane move is AMAZING. Looks like they are about to do another run. What a gorgeous plane!
UPDATE 1:50: ZA001 just lifted its nose wheel off the ground heading northbound, which made for some amazing photos.
UPDATE 2:00: Looks like the tests are completed. I missed most of the day, but I caught the best part. Will be heading back home soon and get some of my pictures and video up.
