http://787firstflight.newairplane.com/ffindex.html
It took 2 extra years to get it right and today, weather willing the
bird will FLY for the first time with only 2 top test pilots aboard.
The aircraft will takeoff from Boeing field, climb over the Olympic
Mountains and head out into the Pacific. Then the bird will turn and
head East, climb over the Cascade Mountains and fly out to Moses Lake,
site of one of the world's longest runway, and if alls going well,
turn and return home.
Much is riding on the test program which will use the first 6 aircraft
off the Everett, Washington production line, and more than 1000
engineers, techs and aircraft mechanics in an intensive 24/7, year
long test program of the kind than have made Boeing aircraft the
safest in the air. Wish the pilots and this new bird a safe and
successful flight.
Dave
I love Airplanes
Correction, the test aircraft will takeoff from Paine Field. Here is
yesterday's Aviation Week article on the plane and the test with a bit
more of the perspective on just why this plane is so important.
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=comm&id=news/W787over.xml
And here again is the Boeing site for the live video feed of the test
flight. I believe they will have at least 2 chase planes.
http://787firstflight.newairplane.com/ffindex.html
Dave
It's Off the ground and headed out to the coast. So far so good.
Dave
Two T-33s and a T-38 out in front several miles checking out the weather.
Great take off. That thing looks like it is flying when it is standing
still (not unlike an EC-121 d;o) )
Thanks for that site, Dave.
Dave
PS: How do you tell winter from summer in Everett, Washington? In the
winter time the rain is cold.
It is one beautiful aircraft. And we lucked out because a line of
showers was just passing thru the Kitsap peninsula headed for Paine/
Everett. We had lots of snow in the Cascades yesterday, 33", out to
Yakima in the East. Next weather situation will be Moses Lake airspace
where most of todays tests will be run. Weather for Moses from NWS a
few minutes ago is holding. . .
"Today: Snow likely, possibly mixed with freezing rain, mainly after
4pm. Cloudy, with a high near 31. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation
is 60%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. Total daytime snow
accumulation of less than one inch possible"
So if they have to come down in Moses in the snow they will at least
have a lot of runway to work with.
Not to be too cockey but building to the NW weather and moisture
regime is a good thing for planes that have to function in tougher
environments than the French Riverra. ;+))
Speaking of the 121, did you see how those composite wings flex on the
takeoff?
Dave
Fingers crossed
Someone at work called it an ornithopter.
Frank Reid
"Speaking of the 121, did you see how those composite wings flex on the
takeoff?"
Yeah! At first I thought it was my imagination, but then I said, "NO.
Those things are up several feet from their no-fly position." Cool.
And, on the 121: I flew from Travis AFB to Hawaii, then to Kwajalein
and onto Guam in one, sitting backwards of course. Then to Japan.
Flew all the way from Japan to Midway and then back to Travis. Another
great aircraft and a great company (Lockheed) too.
Dave
And not just an aircraft, but a piece of art, like the Valkyrie and
the VariEze.
oz, who saw the B-70 fly.......once
Funny about that. I worked on a lot of C-121's in the unit I was in, but
never rode in one. When I was first assigned to Travis in 1965, there were
a bunch of Radial engines for them on stands at the back of the shop we
used. Mobile Comm squadron. Never saw one used. Then went to Hamilton,
and a wing there flew 121's. So got to work on the radios. As to
airplanes. When in Costa Rica last year, ate at El Avion in Manual Antonio.
The surviving Ollie North airplane converted to a restaurant. One of the
few types of Air Force planes I flew on during my service. Normally they
gave me a ticket on a major or was a charter flight.
Growing up in El Cerrito, Calif. I got to see lots of strange planes. As
they would fly to Travis. B-36's were common as Travis was one of the few
bases they used. And saw a Flying Wing a few times.
I think you and some of the others on this thread might appreciate
this.
http://rbogash.com/Connie/connie-RME-SEA.html
It is a photo log of the disassembly and movement of a Super G Connie
from New York, cross country to the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Aug-
Sept 2009.
A bit bigger than . . . but still a beautiful bird.
Dave
Google images has 100s of C and E-121 pix. if like me you are into
plane porn.
Dave
They used to have a beautiful Curtis-Wright radial on a display stand
at the Seatac main terminal, absolutely a tribute to American
machining. Wonder what happened to the engines you saw at Travis? They
would be a great inspiration for Voc-ed kids in the JCs and HSs.
Dave
I had to look up that word, to re-member it. Yeah. Ornithopter. It
fits.
When I saw the tail on shot of the plane in the air with the two chase
planes I had this horrible instant of flashing on the problem they
were fixing last summer on the wing/body connection. Irrational but
real.
Haven't yet been able to find out how things worked out in the Moses
lake tests.
Dave
Dave
Probably shipped to a base that had C121's for a reserve unit, or went to
the scrap yard. A couple years later, I was back at Travis, and did not see
any radials or planes that used them. Last radial I flew in was an Otter
out of Kenai 3 years ago.
Forgot about 2 years ago, I got to fly front seat in an T-6G Texan as a gift
from the family.
http://www.americanwarbird.com/
Thanx.
That loss is too bad. I would love to own one, put it in a time
capsule to be opened by my great grandsons as a reminder and
inspiration to recovering the greatness that was once American
machining befor we got this national mental illness that caused people
to believe the US didn't need manufacturing anymore.
:+))
Dave
Just a belated update on the test flight. Weather, decending clouds in
the Straits of Juan de Fuca, and a T-38 scout plane report of very bad
weather and turbulance over the Cascades and into Moses Lake to the
East. Consequently they came in after 3+ hours. Test pilot said the
windshield wipers at least checked out well. ;+))
By the way this pilot had to ditch a rebuilt Stratocruser into the
Sound a few years ago. Someone forgot to re gas. Beautiful ditch
however.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/boeingaerospace/2010517316_787firstflight16.html
My father-in-law was a flight engineer on the 121... "Old Shakey."
Frank Reid
Your father-in-law or the aircraft? d;o)
After his daughter married me, both.
Frank Reid
It was the first commercial aircraft I flew on as a young Seaman
Apprentice flying from Hartford, Conn to San Diego for 28 weeks of CT A
School. I sat next to a young woman with an infant in her arms. She
asked me to hold him while she "prepared" herself to feed him. I held
him, but unfortunately he made my Dress Blues mess blues before I could
hand the little tyke back to his embarrassed mom. Then it was my turn
to be embarrassed while she nursed him.
Happy ending was the stew - it was okay to call them stewardess in
those halcyon and pre-pc days - cleaned up my shoulder with wet cloths.
I was very impressed with that plane. Its looks intrique me to this day.
Dave
(Who's Brenda's pick for the Stanley Cup come April)
So you reached Reididitity at a young age, or were you just showing signs of a
full Reidlyness (or is that Reidishness...I mean, you are a noun, but you're
also a verb, as in "Wow, Frank managed to Frank that Frankery into a Full
Reid...") yet to come...?
TC,
R
Imbecile.
g.