Boeing's 787 Dreamliner Is Getting Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
When we last checked in on the 787 Dreamliner, it was doing its best to get a good grade on its initial flight tests. Things have been progressing nicely, and there have been no real issues for the new bird. There was a little problem with some junk in the fuel tank, but the engineers and mechanics at Boeing quickly worked out these issues. Some thought it was just leftover bits from the manufacturing process that trickled down into the gas tank; it wasn’t a major malfunction or anything.
The biggest overall test since its maiden journey was doing well enough in the skies to achieve airworthiness. Now with approval to move forward, things will get even more serious. The plane can now put the pedal to the medal and approach 650 miles per hour and climb to about 40,000 feet. Previously the pilots had been testing things out around 15,000 feet—just in case.
Technicians and other airplane experts will now be invited aboard to hook their computers up to the plane’s systems. We imagine there will be a lot of graphs and people pointing at pie charts on their laptops. Things are going according to schedule—for once—and the first delivery is still scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year. Maybe we’ll even be able to put a flight on this plane on our list to Santa.
Related Stories:
· Boeing: 787 Passes Initial Airworthiness Testing [Today in the Sky]
· Boeing's 787 Dreamliner Ready To Fly Higher, Faster [Seattle Times]
· Boeing's 787 Dreamliner Hits The Skies For The First Time [Jaunted]
[Photo: Dave Sizer]
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