Photo Credit Boeing
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
Category: FlightBlogger
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Video: 787 takes to the sky!
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
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FlightBlogger Live: First Flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Well, today’s the day. At least we hope mother nature will allow it to be. I’ll be streaming live here periodically throughout the day, but look for my up-to-the-second updates on twitter. First flight is set for 10 AM PT (1 PM ET, 1800 GMT) from Paine Field. It’s going to be an exciting day here in Everett. Also make sure to watch the live feed from Boeing at newairplane.com.Come along for the ride.
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
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787 Pre-Flight Weather Briefing
Good Morning from Everett! A brief word about the weather here this morning north of Seattle.
Minimums for 787 to takeoff include 5000 foot ceilings and 5 SM visibility. Right now (8 AM) the Terminal Area Forecast shows broken clouds at 2200 feet and overcast at 3500 from 7 AM PT through to 11 AM. Beginning at 12 PM winds will be 6 kts at 150 with six miles visibility, scattered clouds at 1500 and overcast at 2500.Boeing says that Mike Carriker and Randy Neville still plan to taxi out of Stall 105 around 9:45 AM for a 10 AM departure and will hold at the end of runway 34L until the weather clears. The company has until 2 PM before scrubbing first flight because the three-hour mark would bump up against darkness here in Washington state.This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
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Better Know a Dreamliner – Part One – ZA001
ZA001 – Registration: N787BA – Serial No: 40690 – Final Assembly: 5/16/07
At 10 AM on December 15, 2009, chief pilot Mike Carriker, joined by engineering pilot Randy Neville, will push the throttle levels on the first 787 full forward and rocket down Runway 32L at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, marking the commencement of Boeing’s flight test program that sets the new composite aircraft on the path toward first delivery late next year.
That first flight is expected to last between three to five hours and land at Boeing Field just south of Seattle, home of the company’s flight test center. Throughout the flight test program, Dreamliner One or ZA001 will primarily be used for aerodynamic validation of the aircraft’s structure to ensure proper functionality of the flight controls and landing gear, brakes and hydraulic systems.
Early on in the flight test test program that is expected to last a total of 3100 flight and 3160 ground test hours, a small group of pilots will support the most rigorous initial airworthiness testing spread across Boeing Field, Moses Lake, Washington and Glasgow, Montana.Early in the flight test program, ZA001 – a fully instrumented aircraft – will work to safely expand its flight envelope to work out any unknowns in the handling of the aircraft. Flying the aircraft at different air loads, speeds, altitudes and weights will open the operating range of the aircraft to eliminate the risk of flutter by seeking out vibrations that could damage the aircraft under the wrong conditions.Early tests will also establish the basic airworthiness of the aircraft by validating the control harmony of the airplane, ensuring the control repsonses are correct, and ultimately seeing that the aircraft is behaving as expected. The aircraft will also conduct in-flight shutdowns and start ups of the Trent 1000 engines.Following flutter testing, Boeing will begin phase one of low-speed
stability and control (S&C) testing and validation of the primary
flight control system. Early in phase one, ZA001 will work to expand
the lower part of the flight envelope by conducting stall tests at
various gross weights. The goal of phase one is to establish the firm configuration of the aircraft before entering into the certification campaign.After the firm configuration is established about two months into the test program, ZA001 will undergo an FAA Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) officially commencing the flight test certification campaign. All the testing done in the first two months builds to this point when the FAA will begin flying along with Boeing test pilots to certify the aircraft. At that point, the FAA will be invited on board to begin formal certification of the aircraft.
After the TIA, the aircraft will conduct high speed S&C testing, further proving the handing of the aircraft and the primary flight control system, followed by exploration of the VMC (velocity for minimum control) speeds that test the handling of the aircraft in takeoff configuration in the event of a engine failure on the ground or in the air.ZA001 will then go into a planned layup to have its Trent 1000 engines swapped before moving into low speed aerodynamic validation and certification trials to demonstrate the low-speed handling characteristics to the FAA.The aircraft will then fly to Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California to conduct take off and landing validation and certification. Edwards Air Force Base allows ZA001 to have a lot of margin along the massive dry lake bed runways at the airport.Midway through ZA001’s flight test campaign, the aircraft will be taken out of flight test for a planned layup to be fitted with ice shapes to simulate icing accumulation on the aircraft. In the past, Boeing would have had to seek out natural icing conditions. The shapes, made of foam epoxy, are attached with glue and speed tape to simulate the worst case icing conditions.After ice shapes certification testing, ZA001 will return to Edwards Air Force Base, followed by Roswell, New Mexico for aerodynamic braking certification, followed by a return to Puget Sound and miscellaneous validation testing, additional S&C tests, as well as customer airline pilot demos.The final phases of ZA001’s certification campaign will certify the stability & control of the aircraft, hydraulic system, as well as the actuation of the main landing gear. The last phase will focus on feeding the collected data back into the simulator to replicate the primary flight control system of the aircraft as accurately as possible.It has not been disclosed which 787 will conduct cold weather testing that will take the aircraft to Norway or Iceland, but the aircraft will be initially certified to -35 F and as low as -55 F for Air Transport Canada, a requirement for 787 customer Air Canada.Boeing will flight test ZA001 about five hours each day, with the remaining hours in a day being used for data analysis, maintenance and preparations for the following day’s testing.…and no, a barrel roll over Lake Washington is not planned.This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
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Video: ZA002 landing gear swings
On the evening of December 14, ZA002 was towed from the fuel dock to the flight line where it was jacked up off of its landing gear for swing tests. Liz Matzelle captured the tests as they were happening last night. ZA002 is currently slated to take flight around December 22nd following a battery of tests including a mini-gauntlet and taxi tests.
Video Credit Liz Matzelle
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
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ZA001 stretches its legs
- Boeing officially sets December 15 at 10 AM PT (1800 GMT) for first flight.
- 787 granted experimental airworthiness certificate by the FAA
- High-Speed taxi tests are complete
Boeing’s busy day on the ground kicked off at 6:30 AM with a flight readiness review that finalized receipt of the Experimental Airworthiness Certificate from the FAA. This regulatory clearance now puts the 787, with clearance to operate Part 91 operations, the same regulatory category as aircraft like the Cessna 172. Once the Experimental Airworthiness Certificate had been obtained, the aircraft was cleared for final taxi tests.By ten minutes past eight in the morning, chief pilot Mike Carriker and engineering pilot Randy Neville had boarded ZA001 along with a handful of flight engineers closely monitoring telemetry stations inside the aircraft’s cabin. The air stairs were pulled back and the chocks removed, Carriker and Neville were ready to power on ZA001 for its first taxi tests in six months.From an observers point of view from the Stratodeck of the Future of Flight across the runway, 2,200 feet away from Stall 105, the aircraft did a simultaneous smoky start on both Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, with the temperature hovering around 26F.By quarter past eight, ZA001, operating as Boeing 001 Experimental, had taxiied out of Stall 105 for the threshold of runway 16R, about 850 feet from where we were standing. ZA001 began slowly reaching a speed of about 30 knots on its first run from north to south. The aircraft then traveled north again on taxiway A before stopping in front of an assembled crowd of fluorescent yellow and orange jacketed test staff.The twin engines were shut down and the aircraft was towed a short way along A where fans had been pre-positioned to cool the brakes of the 787. ZA001 actually has electric brakes from two different suppliers. Messier-Bugatti on one side of the main landing gear and Goodrich on the other. All the other test aircraft, as well as all the production aircraft, will feature one supplier or the other. While resting on the taxiway, the Dreamlifter departed for Japan, accelerating past ZA001 which once resided inside its massive cargo hold.After about an hour of holding on the taxiway, ZA001 rolled north again to runway 16R for a second run to the south at 9:22 AM. The aircraft immediately turned around at the south end of the field and began its third run on runway 34L at 9:33 AM. Each of the first three runs were done without thrust reversers. After virtually each run, runway sweepers were deployed to remove any possible debris from the runway that could damage the 787.Taxi test number four began around 10:35 AM after another hour break on A for brake cooling. After taxiing south again, this test on runway 32L used both brakes and thrust reversers to slow the aircraft. Another hour passed for brake cooling, and at 11:41 AM, started run five to the north was immediately followed by a turn on the active runway followed by run six, five minutes later.ZA001 cooled its brakes again and prepared for run seven, the aircraft’s first rotation. The aircraft traveling north to south spooled its Trent 1000 engines and headed south at 12:45 PM on the 9010-foot grooved asphalt runway. After little more than 2,000 feet of acceleration, Carriker activated the spoilers, dumping the lift off the quickly rising composite wings. Less than 1000 feet and three second later, the nose landing gear departed runway 16R, the first time any part of the 787 has left the ground. After a six second trip airborne, the nose landing gear returned to the pavement.The aircraft continued to slow and turned north on taxiway A for a 50-minute cooling of the brakes. Carriker held short of runway 16R, allowing a GOL 737-800 to perform a touch-and-go. After the 737 was clear, ZA001 began a slow taxi on runway 16R before making the trip south again to repeat the rotation test facing in the other direction.On the eighth and final run at 1:45 PM, about five-and-a-half hours after the taxi tests began, Carriker lifted the nose wheel again. The 787’s nose landing gear to hung off the ground for another 2,000 feet before gently returning it to runway 16, marking the completion of the ground-based milestones before first flight.Photo Credit BoeingThis post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
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138 Photos and 2 Videos of Note: 787’s busy day on the ground
Videos Courtesy of Liz Matzelle
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
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FlightBlogger Live: 787 Taxi Testing
Greetings from Everett! Taxi tests for the 787 are on the agenda for this morning and I’m gong to be trying things a bit differently. UStream recently became available for the iPhone and this seems like a perfect opportunity to test it out. The broadcast above won’t be streaming the entire time, but it will be on periodically throughout the day. Follow me on twitter for notifications when I’m broadcasting live and use the hashtag #787TT for today’s tests.
I’ve also timed this post to remain at the top of the page throughout the day, so look for incremental updates below this post and on Twitter. You can also log-in to twitter using the social stream below to follow developments.The aircraft is currently being prepared for its testing today and crews have been in pre-test briefings starting at 6:30 this morning. The runway is being swept for any FOD (foreign object debris) that could damage ZA001 during its taxi runs. Stay tuned, it’s going to be a busy day!
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.
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Photo of Note: Everett Pre-Dawn – December 12, 2009
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.