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RC001 all ready to roll. #7478FF, originally uploaded by flightblogger.

EVERETT — RC001’s debut in the sky is all ready for today at Paine Field. The aircraft has been towed out of it’s flight line stall ready for engine start. The first 747-8I will be operating as Boeing 008 Heavy Experimental today, as ZA001 is flying as BOE001 today doing touch and goes into Paine Field. Follow FlightBlogger on twitter for all the latest updates.

What a week it was.

• Bombardier expects at least 300 CSeries orders by EIS: Scott
• Udvar-Hazy sets high bar for 787 profitability, performance
• Boeing should develop new family to succeed 737: Udvar-Hazy
• Boeing to miss 787 performance spec: Albaugh
• A350-1000 needs more thrust to meet performance: Udvar-Hazy
• Trent XWB engine “certainly sufficient” to power A350-1000: Airbus
• IAE eyes military applications for V2500 plus further upgrade
• Boeing looks at increasing 737 output to 42 per month
• FAA scrutinises in-flight Wi-Fi interference with avionics
• P&W relocates PW1524G FETT for natural icing tests
• Boeing confirms 20 March target for 747-8I first flight
• Airbus sees overlap on A320 and A320neo production

And if you haven’t already seen it, here’s the widebody and narrowbody assessments of Steven Udvar-Hazy. Each post here and on Runway Girl covers the industry icon’s complete answers on a myriad of topics.

SCOTTSDALE — Steven Udvar-Hazy, the most high-profile and influential man in aircraft leasing, gave journalists a lengthy interview immediately following the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT) conference today.

Because Udvar-Hazy shared his thoughts on so many topics, Runway Girl Mary Kirby and I have decided to break the lion’s share of the interview on our blogs. Mary’s blog covers Udvar-Hazy’s comments about narrowbody aircraft, while I’m taking the widebodies.

For the sake of historical context, here’s Udvar-Hazy’s last interview with this page from February 2008’s Singapore Air Show, prior to the launch of the CSeries, 787-3 cancellation and global economic crisis.

The complete interview is continued below the fold.

While Boeing won’t confirm the late July guidance, that target remains in line with an “early summer” completion of flight test activities.

Industry officials said previously the carrier had been provided a September guidance by Boeing for its first delivery following the November 2010 fire that prompted an additional six-month delay in first delivery, though the latest schedule reflects a more optimistic target for first delivery.

Boeing’s official guidance reflects a third quarter target, allowing the company to deliver the first 787 anywhere from July 1 to September 30.

Several sources familiar with Z23, the latest 787 delivery plan, say Airplane Eight – also known as ZA101 – the second production 787, will be the first 787 to be delivered and will feature a two-class medium to short-haul configuration for the Japanese carrier.

ANA will receive its first long-range configured 787, Airplane 24, in August, which will sport an increased maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 502,500lbs (227,930kg) for recovered payload range performance. All aircraft after line number 20 have the MTOW.

SCOTTSDALE — During his ISTAT presentation, I had a chance to ask Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh about the performance of the 787, which is readying to enter service with Japan’s All Nippon Airways in the third quarter.

FlightBlogger: A question about the payload range performance of the 787. At what point are you going to be able to deliver a 787 that flies fully 8,000nm, fully fueled and with full payload?

Jim Albaugh: Well right now if you look at the airplanes that we’re going to deliver we meet the missions that our customers have put in place for us to meet. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that we’re not going to meet the spec, but I think we’ll be able to meet what our guarantees are. And you got to remember, the first airplanes are going to be a little heavy, there are a lot of things that we’re going to do to clean the airplane up, a lot of things to do with the engine manufacturers, and I feel pretty comfortable that over time we’ll be able to get to the numbers that you just quoted. When that date’s going to be, I can’t tell you.

UPDATE 7:02 PM MST: Here’s my complete story on Albaugh’s comments, including what Boeing, GE and Rolls-Royce have planned to regain the aircraft’s payload range performance.

BBJ Boeing 747-8I N6067E RC001, originally uploaded by flightblogger.

SCOTTSDALE — Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh confirms the first flight of the 747-8I is targeted for Sunday, March 20, following a flight readiness review set to happen later this week.

Almost as soon as its formal ceremonies with local dignitaries and the media concluded, ground power units and access stairs were brought in as crews wasted no time beginning the work left to complete Airplane 23, which is likely the first aircraft to be delivered to General GEnx-1B engine launch customer Japan Airlines.

The activation of the new site is the latest sign that Boeing is nearing the finish line toward its early 787 deliveries, a milestone pushed seven time and more than three years beyond its original target to the third quarter of this year.

“We’re not far away,” says David Pickering, director of field operations at the Everett site. “This signifies a point in the program where this airplane is getting darn close. A few months worth of work down here and managing the end of flight test, and then we’re looking at interiors.”

The activation of the facility marks also the first time Boeing has brought a commercial aircraft to a defense facility for a commercial purpose, using a workforce already accustomed to working with large military aircraft.

While the aircraft met a fully flyable experimental configuration to make the March 7 3h and 21min flight down to San Antonio from Everett, the aircraft is about to undergo significant changes from nose to tail to bring it in line with the latest design modifications that match FAA and customer requirements.

Right now, Boeing says six aircraft will come to San Antonio to start. Test aircraft ZA004, the only Rolls-Royce powered 787 currently slated to come to Texas, will be joined by the GEnx-powered ZA005 and ZA006. The remaining two aircraft, also GEnx-powered aircraft, were not identified by Boeing.

“The six is the current plan, its based upon phasing of where airplanes are in their build status, when they need to be delivered and the flow to get the airplanes down here and reworked and that plan could change, just as its changed in the last year. It’s a dynamic situation,” says Scott Fancher, 787 vice president and general manager.

BBJ Boeing 747-8I N6067E RC001, originally uploaded by flightblogger.

With eight days to go before it internal first flight target, Boeing is spending Saturday conducting the flight line gauntlet on the first 747-8I, RC001. The flight line gauntlet will see the aircraft running through a closed-loop simulation of its first flight. This latest set of gauntlet tests differs from the previous factory gauntlet as the aircraft will be running fully under its own power generated by its four General Electric GEnx-2B engines. While Boeing has not confirmed a first flight date for the new jumbo, the aircraft continues to track to a March 20 maiden sortie.

UPDATE 12:42 PST: The flight light gauntlet is continuing today in Everett as pilots and flight test crews evaluate the aircraft’s response to the external closed-loop simulation. As a point of comparison, ZA001’s intermediate gauntlet lasted eight days, though the extended checkout consolidated the intermediate and parts of the final gauntlet tests on the new aircraft. 

Boeing has not provided an official confirmation that RC001’s flight line gauntlet is underway.