I am not going to lie. This is the best livery possible. Can you do better? Click photo for full 360 interactive version.
WARNING!Reading this story might lead one to spend a good chunk of their day designing their own Boeing 787 liveries. Do not continue if you have other, more important things to do with your day.
All joking aside, Boeing has recently released the ability for anyone to create almost any livery on a 787 Dreamliner and it works pretty slick. You have to agree not to put cuss words on your plane and that you are over 18 and then you are given a clean, white 787 Dreamliner to start your design. You are able to add symbols, text, free hand and a much more in any color your heart desires. Although there are a few things that can become frustrating, the tool is relatively easy to use. The key is to remember that you need to make the same design on both sides, otherwise your design doesn’t really work in the 360 view.
Once you are done, you can submit it to the gallery and it takes about 24 hours for Boeing to approve your design. There are already quite a few designs to look through online now. Some are pretty amazing and some are… well not so amazing.
If the custom designs are not your thing, you can still check out the 787 in the livery of many airlines on NewAirplane.com.
Do you like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner? Of course you do. Do you live in the Seattle area? Well, if you do come check out the very first Boeing 787 Dreamliner (ZA001) at the Museum of Flight on October 9th from 10am to 5pm. Here is the schedule:
10 am to 5 pm: 787 Number One on view in the Museum parking lot. Free. Up-close viewing with Museum admission. Flight simulators in the Museum’s Aviation Learning Center configured to fly like 787. Free with admission to the Museum.
11 am: Dreamliner Family Workshop. Free with admission to the Museum. ’œTip-to-Tail Tour’ of 787. Free with admission to the Museum.
1 pm: Dreamliner Family Workshop. Free with admission to the Museum.
1:30 pm: Lecture: Dreamliner Program Overview with Boeing Chief Pilot Randy Neville. A pilot who flew the plane on its historic first flight, Boeing Chief Pilot Randy Neville, will talk about the Dreamliner program during a 1:30 p.m. presentation at the Museum. Neville will provide an overview of the Dreamliner and its test flights. Since the maiden flight on Dec. 15, 2009, specially outfitted 787s have been actively flying in an extensive and demanding flight program to test the new technologies developed for Dreamliner. The 787 has since achieved FAA certification, and deliveries of new 787 airliners recently began on Sept. 26, 2011.
3 pm: ’œTip-to-Tail Tour’ of 787. Free with admission to the Museum.
Unfortunately, there will not be access to the interior of ZA001, but it doesn’t really have an interior anyhow, so that is okay. To learn more, check out the Museum of Flight’s website.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner (ZA001) and Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental (RC020) flying side-by-side. Photo by Boeing. Click for much larger.
If a picture is worth a 1000 words, this is worth probably around a million. This is the eye candy of eye candy for airline nerds, so please enjoy the 747-8 Intercontinental (RC001) and the 787 Dreamliner (ZA001) flying next to each other during flight tests. The photo was taken April 16 by flight test photographer Leo Dejillas over Washington state. Yea, he has a rough job huh? Click the photo for a larger version.
One year ago today many waited at Paine Field for the first flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner ZA001. The aircraft’s first flight had already been delayed and the weather wasn’t looking so great, but hopes were still high. After the clouds cleared, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner ZA001 made her way to the south end of the runway for take off (photo). Boeing employees had lined up along the runway to watch the airplane they have worked so hard on take off for the first time (photo). The energy was amazing as the first 787 Dreamliner started to move for takeoff. I was standing on the Future of Flight’s strato deck (photo) with folks that yelled in excitement as ZA001 lifted off. It was quite amazing and a memory those of us that were there will always have. You know, one of those stories you will tell your grandkids that they won’t care about.
Yes, the Boeing 787 hasn’t been living the dream. The last year has been riddled with issues and more setbacks. Not to re-create the wheel, Jon Ostrower has an very comprehensive look at the 787’s year in review. I have had the privileged of watching the Boeing 787 take off and land multiple times since the first flight, but I have to say it never gets old. The way she looks, how her engines sound (just listen) and of course how her wings bow up during flight; she is one beautiful airplane. I still hold that now it is easy for us to look at the constant delays, but I am sure a few years after the Dreamliner is in service and successfully flying, people will start to forget all the issues and delays and enjoy the next generation of airliner. So, cheers to Boeing and all those who have worked hard on the 787 on this one year 787 Dreamliner flight anniversary.
