Team Plans To Fly The Airplane To AirVenture This Summer

A unique Glasair SII sportplane being built by a team of Boeing engineers in Everett, Washington, was rolled out last week sporting a fresh Boeing paint scheme and is going through final inspections in preparation for engine start, ground testing, and first flight. Project “Opportunities for New Engineers – Build, Certify, and Fly” (ONE BCnF) could make its maiden flight in the next couple of weeks according to a project team member.

About 30-40 Boeing volunteers, in conjunction with the Boeing Employees Flying Association, have spent the last 3-1/2 years on the aircraft during their off-hours, said Brad Walker, structural stress engineer at Boeing. Several EAA tech counselors and a previous Glasair builder who also work at Boeing have provided assistance and also will help with the final inspection.

“We’re all pretty excited to be at this point,” Walker said. “We’ve spent about 3 1/2 years on it, it. The aim of the exercise was to enable our newer engineers to learn about the challenges of building airplanes – and we really learned that!”

The test pilot for the sleek composite single-engine aircraft will be one of the team members who is part of Boeing’s flight test group, he added. Its registration number is N110NE, in honor of Boeing’s Opportunities for New Engineers organization that facilitated the project.

The ONE BCnF project team is planning to bring the aircraft to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this summer – a goal reflected in its specially designed project logo.

(Image provided by EAA)

FMI: www.eaa.org