MULTIMEDIA EXTRA: Listen to Chief 777 Test Pilot Suzanna Darcy-Henneman provide an audio briefing on the 777F flight test program from May 21, 2008 – 20 minutes.
With 777F first flight just days away, Chief 777 test pilot Suzanna Darcy-Henneman and right seat test pilot Van Chaney are getting ready for a busy summer.
Once the Freighter takes to the sky for the first time, “The airplane will take off out of Paine Field, go up and down the Olympics several times around Mt. Rainier for some great beauty shots and into Boeing field.”
Darcy-Henneman, who was also at the controls for the 777-200LR first flight, as well as its record breaking flight, is looking forward to the moment during first flight when she and her first officer are able to catch their breath and take stock of what they have achieved. Before that, Darcy-Henneman adds, it’s all business.
The 777F test aircraft will be based at Boeing Field in Seattle for the remainder of the flight test campaign.
“All the rest of the takeoffs and landings will be in and out of Boeing Field.” Darcy-Henneman added.
The flight test program will consist of two aircraft, both destined for launch customer Air France Cargo. Both will be flown for total 300-350 hours and about double that number for ground testing.
Initially the first 777F, which will wear Boeing colors for the flight test program will fly six days a week, with the seventh for maintenance, with ten and a half flight crews responsible for the program. The second aircraft will fly five days a week and the sixth will be used for maintenance. Ground testing will require a minimum of two crews. Boeing expects the combined 900-1,050 test hours to last around two and a half months.
Eighty percent of the flight test program will test smoke detection and smoke penetration, which is typical of a freighter flight test program.
For testing the performance of the aircraft, maneuver load alleviation (MLA) has been built into the flight control software to reduce the need for structure that would otherwise be required to accommodate higher operating weights.
The flight control system moves the center of lift inboard to reduce the bending moment at the root of the wing. The system is activated at 44 degrees of bank and works by extending the outboard spoilers and ailerons to move to center of lift inboard. The surfaces would be slightly extended at 44 degrees and 1/3 extended in a 66 degree banked turn.
The aircraft is expected to travel to Phoenix, Arizona for high and hot testing later this summer.
As for other exotic locales Darcy-Henneman said, “The airplane would love to go to Farnborough, we would too, but we will be busy at home testing.”
Special thanks to Addison Schonland for hosting the 777F briefing.
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.