Newest Boeing Freighter Touches Down Safely After 3-Hour,
39-Minute Mission
Just a day shy of the 41st anniversary of the flight of the
first B747 ... the latest variant, Boeing's 747-8 Freighter,
successfully took to the sky for the first time Monday as more than
5,000 employees, customers, suppliers and community leaders looked
on. The flight begins a test program for what Boeing says is the
world's most efficient freighter. With 747 Chief Pilot Mark
Feuerstein and Capt. Tom Imrich in the flight deck, the newest
member of the 747 family took off at 1239 PST from Paine Field in
Everett and landed at Paine Field at 1618.
"It was a real privilege to be at the controls of this great
airplane on its first flight, representing the thousands of folks
who made today possible," said Feuerstein. "The airplane performed
as expected and handled just like a 747-400."
Today's flight was the first of more than 1,600 flight hours in
the test program for the newest member of the Boeing freighter
family. The airplane followed a route over Western Washington,
where it underwent tests for basic handling qualities and engine
performance. The airplane reached a cruising altitude of 17,000
feet (5,181 m) and a speed of up to 230 knots, or about 264 miles
(426 km) per hour.
Powered by four General Electric GEnx-2B engines, the 747-8
Freighter will transition its testing program to Moses Lake, WA,
and Palmdale, CA, where the other two test airplanes will join it
in the coming month. "This truly is a great day for The Boeing
Company and the 747 program," said Mo Yahyavi, 747 program general
manager and vice president, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "It's the
culmination of the hard work and dedication of our employees,
suppliers and customers. While there is still much to do, I am
excited to begin the flight-test program, which will demonstrate
the capabilities of this airplane."
The 747-8 Freighter is the new, high-capacity 747 that will give
cargo operators the lowest operating costs and best economics of
any freighter. The airplane is 250 feet, 2 inches long, which is 18
feet, 4 inches longer than the 747-400 Freighter. The stretch
provides customers with 16 percent more revenue cargo volume
compared with its predecessor. That translates to an additional
four main-deck pallets and three lower-hold pallets.
"The 747-8 Freighter continues the leadership of the 747
Freighter families, which carries more than half of the world's air
freight, making it the standard of the air cargo industry," Yahyavi
said.
Boeing launched the airplane on Nov. 14, 2005, with firm orders
for 18 747-8 Freighters, which Business Week reports carry a price
tag of $303 million each. Overall, Boeing has orders for 76 of the
freighters and 32 orders for the 747-8 Intercontinental, which will
seat as many as 467 passengers.