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Product Name: 747-400F
Product Description
TAIPEI, Sept. 09, 2006 -- The Boeing [NYSE: BA] 747-400
Large Cargo Freighter took to the skies for the first time at 10:38 a.m. (UTC/GMT
+8 hours) today, initiating the flight test program that will culminate in U.S.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification.
The two-hour, four-minute flight was the first of 250 expected flight test
hours for the unique freighter, a specially modified 747-400 that will transport
major composite structures of the all-new 787 Dreamliner.
The enormous jet -- with its enlarged upper fuselage that can accommodate
three times the cargo by volume of a standard 747-400 freighter -- gracefully
took off under rainy skies from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (formerly
Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport). Boeing flight test pilots, Capts. Joe
MacDonald and Randy Wyatt, took the airplane north, and then flew roughly 150
miles south following along the east side of the island before heading north
again.
"It went beautifully," MacDonald said after the flight ended. In
fact, the airplane handled so well, "quite often during the flight, it was
easy to forget you were in an LCF rather than a regular 747-400," he said.
Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp., part of Taiwan's Evergreen Group, is
modifying the fleet of three airplanes at its facility at the airport.
"This is a key moment in the Dreamliner program," said Scott
Strode, 787 vice president of Airplane Development and Production. "The LCF
fleet is the foundation of our lean, global production system and enables us to
meet the unprecedented customer demand for the 787. I congratulate the global
LCF team -- our design and production partners, our modification partner EGAT,
and our incredible Boeing team -- for this remarkable achievement."
The flight test program is expected to last through the end of the year. The
LCF also will complete more than 500 hours of ground testing in Taipei and
Seattle combined. This comprehensive test program will ensure the LCF's
reliability and ability to fly its intended mission.
After completing initial flight tests in Taiwan, during which the airplane's
handling characteristics will be evaluated as well as ensuring the LCF is free
from flutter and excessive vibration, the airplane will fly to Seattle's Boeing
Field to complete the remainder of the flight test program. The ferry flight to
Seattle is expected to occur mid-month. A fleet of three LCFs will ferry 787
assemblies between Nagoya, Japan; Grottaglie, Italy; Wichita, Kan. and
Charleston, S.C., before flying them to the Boeing factory in Everett, Wash.,
for final assembly. The first two LCFs will enter service in early 2007; the
third will follow later.
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