Aero-TV: Boeings 747-8 First Flight - New Freighter Takes to the Skies

Chief Pilot Feuerstein and Captain Imrich Successfully Complete Flight Plan

On February 8th, 2010, almost two months after the Dreamliner's historic first flight, Boeing made history once again as the new 747-8 Freighter took to the skies for the first time. Over 5,000 Boeing employees, customers, suppliers, and community leaders gathered in Everett, Washington, as the 421,200lb aircraft (empty weight) lifted from the Paine Field runway.

747 Chief Pilot Mark Feuerstien and Captain Tom Imrich commanded the flight deck as the Freighter took off at 12:39 p.m. local time on its first of more than 1,600 flight hours in the test program. Reaching a cruising altitude of 17,000 feet and a speed of up to 230 knots, the 747-8 underwent tests for basic handling qualities and engine performance. At the post-flight news conference, held after the aircraft landed at 4:18 p.m., Chief Pilot Feuerstein reported that the pilots were able to accomplish everything on the flight plan and every test condition went well.

Boeing's 747-8 Freighter represents a significant evolution from the 747-400. Despite the similar handling, the aircraft has several fundamental changes from its predecessor including entirely new wing design. The aircraft is 18.3 feet longer than the 747-400 Freighter, providing customers with 16 percent more cargo volume. In addition, the aircrafts four new General Electric GEnx-2B engines produce lower emissions and better fuel economy, achieving 16 percent lower ton-mile costs than the 747-400. Currently, Boeing has 76 orders for the 747-8 Freighter and 32 orders for the 747-8 Intercontinental passenger version.

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FMI: http://www.newairplane.com/747/, http://www.boeing.com/, http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1068, http://www.aero-tv.net, http://www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Boeing First Flight
• 747-8
• Boeing 747
• First
• flight
• Aero-TV
• Aero-News
• Aero News
• Chief Pilot Feuerstein
• Captain Imrich
• Boeing Freighter
• airplane
• pilot
• aviation

[aerotvnetwork]

The chase planes were T-33s... they are the standard for 'low-speed' chase ops. They use T-38s for high-speed work.

[ja60370]

@philippeschouten so they dont wreck the brand new aircraft, if they hit tail strike

[1kris007]

@philippeschouten it records the speed of the aircraft. Since its still in testing it serves as a back up, in case the aircraft systems fail, they can still know their speed. Also used to verify that the aircraft instruments are indeed correct.

[philippeschouten]

where is the bag on the tail of the plane for?

[inspirebowl]

what are chase planes for?

[TomHnz]

I realise the improvements on the design has made the aircraft a lot more efficient. I was trying to say that it doesn't need a load of aesthetic changes to achieve these figures.

I think damian2dc was expecting a dramatically different aircraft, which simply isn't needed in this case.

[bradmc10]

@CaptEm1 yeah im aware of what the raked wingtips do but i would have rather it be more rakes like the a350xwb and the 737-8 would have made the 747 look so good and the 5.5 you said would be if they 747 had no wing tips at all from changing from say the old wingtip to the new raked wingtips save around 1 to 2 they have just done this with the a320 they are putting raked wing tips on that plane as well thanks for the feed back

[eskercurve]

Fuel efficiency and cost / lb. The 747-400 is fantastic, no doubt about it, but Boeing has dramatically improved fuel efficiency, I've heard from some sources something like 15-30% improvement!

[CaptEm1]

@bradmc10 Those raked wingtips improve fuel efficiency, climb performance and shorten the takeoff field length. In testing by Boeing and NASA, raked wingtips have been shown to reduce drag by as much as 5.5%, as opposed to improvements of 3.5% to 4.5% from conventional winglets.