boeing

Inside the Boeing 747-8 factory

EVERETT, Wash.--Boeing tomorrow will formally unveil the 747-8 Intercontinental, the next generation of the aviation giant's iconic jumbo jet. The plane is said to be perhaps the most fuel-efficient in the world, and replaces the 747-400 as the company's most famous jet.

According to Boeing:

The 747-8 Intercontinental is the only jetliner in the 400- to 500-seat market, stretched [18.3 ft] from the 747-400 to provide 467 seats in a three-class configuration and a [8,000 nautical mile] range. Using 787-technology engines, the airplane will be quieter, produce lower emissions, and achieve better fuel economy than … Read more

Under wraps, first 747-8 Intercontinental rolls out

EVERETT, Wash.--An international press corps is descending on this town today, about 45 minutes north of Seattle, for the beginning of a two-day Boeing extravaganza to mark the formal unveiling of its next-generation 747-8 Intercontinental passenger plane.

The unveiling doesn't happen until tomorrow--today will be a factory tour and a look at some interior mockups of the new plane--but this morning, Boeing let this picture out: The first 747-8 Intercontinental rolling out, under wraps of course, from the paint shop.

Stay tuned for full coverage of the festivities.

Boeing's 747-8 Intercontinental to debut this weekend

OAKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT--As a big fan of airplanes, and plane travel, I'm excited to be sitting in the terminal here, waiting for my flight to Seattle. That's because starting tomorrow, I'll be covering three days of Boeing events, highlighted by the unveiling of the aviation giant's long-awaited 747-8 Intercontinental.

The next-generation of Boeing's iconic jumbo jet--probably the most famous airplane in history--is said to be highly efficient.

As Boeing puts it on its Web site:

The 747-8 Intercontinental is the only jetliner in the 400- to 500-seat market, stretched [18.3 ft] from the 747-400 … Read more

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner: A legacy of delays

There were probably smiles and handshakes in the executive suites at Boeing yesterday, as the aviation giant announced that it has scheduled delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner to an airline customer for the third quarter of 2011.

But that announcement--which comes in the wake of a November halt to the 11-month-old Dreamliner test flight program after an on-board electrical fire in a control panel--belies the fact that the much-anticipated, next-generation Boeing plane, which costs between $185 million and $218 million depending on the configuration, is now guaranteed to be at least three years behind the schedule the company … Read more

Boeing resets Dreamliner delivery to third quarter

Rebounding from its latest scheduling setback, Boeing now says that it expects to deliver its first 787 Dreamliner in the third quarter.

In December, the company resumed flight testing of its marquee commercial aircraft, which had been halted in early November because of an onboard fire sparked by a faulty electrical power panel.

Boeing said today that the rescheduled delivery date factors in the time that it needs to produce, install, and test updated software and new power distribution panels in both flight test and production versions of the Dreamliner.

Of the six 787 aircraft being used for flight tests, … Read more

Boeing resumes Dreamliner testing

Boeing announced today that it is resuming flight testing for its 787 Dreamliner program six weeks after an onboard fire halted the evaluation program and forced a test aircraft to land in Laredo, Texas.

Boeing said in a statement it returned test aircraft ZA004 to flight after it had installed an interim version of updated power distribution system software and completed a "rigorous set of reviews to confirm flight readiness." In the past few weeks, Boeing and supplier Hamilton Sundstrand completed initial verification of the changes with simulator and ground-based testing.

Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter told CNET that … Read more

Phantom Ray hitches ride on 747

The Phantom Ray UAV got some air time today, with a little help from a jumbo jet.

Boeing's futuristic unmanned aerial vehicle took a 50-minute flight today riding piggyback on a NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified 747 designed to ferry space shuttles from one terrestrial site to another. The aerospace giant had said earlier in the year that the Phantom Ray was on track to make its first flight, but this may not be exactly what it had in mind.

The first flight of the Phantom Ray, which is designed to fly autonomously, is now scheduled for "… Read more

Book takes aviation fans inside Dreamliner project

commentary It's been eight years in the making so far, and has gone through any number of delays and problems, but Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is still one of the most-anticipated commercial airplanes in history. And with the plane's testing program under way for almost exactly a year, it is edging closer and closer to carrying its first passengers.

Now, fans of the innovative plane--it is made from 50 percent composite material and is expected to offer carriers up to 20 percent savings on fuel--can get a fix unlike any offered before. With Edgar Turner's new book, &… Read more

Boeing blames 787 incident on power panel fire

Boeing said today that the fire Monday aboard a 787 Dreamliner test aircraft started when an electronics bay power panel failed, igniting a nearby insulation blanket.

The fire forced the 787 to make an emergency landing in Laredo, Texas, and the immediate indefinite suspension of the test program. Boeing also said yesterday that because of the incident, it did not know if its plan to make the first Dreamliner deliveries to customers in the first quarter of 2011 was still viable.

According to a statement it issued late today, Boeing said that the P100 panel--one of several power panels in … Read more