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.
Can you keep track of all the Virgin airlines that are out there now? Yes, the ones that are “Virgin ______” are easy to tell, but some aren’t so easy.
V Australia gives a big hint with the big “V”.The airline is the “sister” to Virgin Blue. The airline departs from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and flies to LAX and Phuket. Flights to Fiji will start on December 18th and they hope to get to Johannesburg by March 2010.
Virgin Blue put the name of the new airline up to vote. The final name choices were: Matilda Blue, V Australia, Australia Blue, Virgin Pacific, Amelia Blue, Didgeree Blue, Liberty Blue, and Virgin Australia. Of course V Australia won and they named their first plane after the 2nd place name, Digeree Blue.
They currently run four Boeing 777-300ER’s in a 3 class layout. Any guesses on what the next Virgin airline wil be called?
Being a flight attendant can be a very stressful job. I know when I am having a bad day I like to have a little space. I couldn’t imagine dealing with a bad day locked in a tube 30,000 feet in the air with 300 needy people.
However, it is a job and one should not be putting their personal issues out on customers. The Consumerist goes into great detail what happened in the incident. It is a good read, but a little dramatic. After reading that, then make sure to also read Heather Poole’s (she’s a flight attendant) response to the incident. She points out that 1 bad incident over 27,300 flight legs aren’t bad odds — which is very true.
That’s right folks. According to Jon Ostrower with Flight Blogger, Boeing OFFICIALLY announced the first flight of the long anticipated Boeing 787 Dreamliner will be taking to the air on December 15th at 10am (as long as the weather participates).
I feel very lucky and privileged that I will be there during the first flight and I will, of course, be covering it via Twitter, pictures and video. Don’t worry, if you have a few extra bucks laying around you get be there too.
UPDATE: 8:09PST: Boeing is officially announcing it on their main page and their NewAirplane.com site.
