The first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental coming out of the Boeing hangar.
Are you ready? The first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental is scheduled to fly tomorrow, Sunday March 20th at 10am PST.
Yesterday the 747-8I completed its high-speed taxi tests and according to Boeing, it “performed well” and they are confident the aircraft is ready for first flight on Sunday.
The 747-8I is scheduled to take off at 10am PST from Paine Field (KPAE). It will then have a five hour flight before landing at Boeing Field (KBFI) at about 3pm PST. Again, all these times are subject to change due to weather and delays.
If you are in the local area, I hope you can make it out to see this orange beauty either take off or land. If you are unable to, you have quite a few options for watching the events:
* Follow @AirlineReporter, @FlightBlogger, @BoeingAirplanes, @PIBoeing on Twitter (omg what is Twitter?)
* Follow #7478FF hashtag on Twitter
* Boeing will have a live feed of the take off starting at 9:45am PST
The first Boeing 747-8I being towed out of the Boeing Factory in Everett, WA
Get your camera (and umbrellas) ready. Boeing has announced that the first 747-8 Intercontinental is scheduled to fly on Sunday March 20th.
We hope this means it will take off on the 20th, but there are a number of different things that might get in the way to delay the first flight. I will be sure to keep you all updated.
Boeing stated in a press release today, “First flight of the 747-8 Intercontinental will occur after final flight readiness reviews, receipt of documentation from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and taxi testing. Both taxi testing and first flight are subject to weather conditions.”
Boeing did confirm that they will be providing a live feed of the first flight and of course you can expect people like Flight Blogger and myself providing lots of tweets.
The business class section of the Boeing 747-8 International mock-up has amazing lighting.
The orange exterior of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental has been getting a lot of well deserved attention. But my mother always told me, “it is what’s inside that counts.” She’s right, so let’s take a close look at the interior of the Boeing 747-8I.
The plane seen at the 747-8I unveiling had no interior and Lufthansa’s first plane isn’t quite ready yet for a viewing. However, Boeing does have a full, two story interior mock up at the Customer Experience Center located in Renton, WA and I was lucky enough to be invited to check it out.
My first impression was, “wow.” I understand that the seating choices and a lot of the fanciness won’t be chosen by every airline, but just the lighting is a huge improvement. The full color spectrum LED lighting in the ceiling and along the walls makes the cabin feel bigger and the new overhead bins (also found on the 787 Dreamliner) actually make the cabin bigger.
Boeing was able to show what “standard” lighting seen today looks like versus the new lighting and it makes a huge difference. Boeing suggests that an airline makes the ceiling lighting the same color as the sky (blues to oranges), but airlines can customize almost any color. The sky colors brings your eyes up and gives a feeling of a higher ceiling and a much more enjoyable environment.
This mini-suite on the upper deck looks pretty comfy.
Unlike the mood lighting seen on airlines like Virgin American (which is also awesome), the lighting in the new interior doesn’t cause the whole cabin to change colors. Airlines have the ability to create different lighting in the ceiling and side walls, but still keep the main lighting on the passengers white.
The stairs going up to the upper deck is much more welcoming on the 747-8I than the stairs I have seen on Boeing 747-400s.Showing what could be, the upper deck of the mock up had lounge and private suite seating. Who needs a seat that turns into a bed, when you can have a seat and a bed with a sitting area right outside?
Although the mock-up doesn’t have engines attached to it, I would imagine the real 747-8I will be much quieter inside. Seeing the 747-8F take off, it is obviously much more silent than the Boeing 747-400 and older models.
Boeing will have a consistent feel across all their airlines. Now, the Boeing 737, 777, 787 and 747-8I will have similar custom lighting and more modern interiors. These new interiors will keep passengers happy and help to make airlines more profit. Sounds like a winning combination to me.
More stuff on the Boeing 747-8I’s interior:
* Check out the rest of the interior photos
* Boeing’s website showing the interior
* Video of the 747-8I interior from Flight Blogger
* Interior and exterior photos from NYCAviation
A computer mock up for what the Air China Boeing 747-8I will look like. Want bigger? Click for a 3500 x 2800 version. Photo from Boeing.
Boeing announced today that they have signed a contract with Air China for the purchase of five Boeing 747-8 Intercontinentals. This is the third passenger airline, after Lufthansa and Korean Air to purchase the passenger version of the new Boeing 747-8I.
“Air China has been operating 747s since the 1980s,” said He Li, vice president of Air China. “The new, high capacity Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental will deliver exceptional economics and a great flying experience to our customers.”
The first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental (N6067E)outside in the snow with its orange livery. Click for larger.
What is orange and white and awesome all over? The Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental in a snow storm of course (yes, bad I know).
Yesterday Paine Field saw a little bit of snow and Boeing was great enough to get out in and take this shot of the 747-8I seeing her first snow fall.Even in the snow, that bright orange really comes through. She is one gorgeous airplane.
Thank you Boeing for sharing this photo!
