ChrisReid
Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
In addition to Wing Commander's birthday, today is an exciting date in the world of aviation!
The very first 787 Dreamliner was finally delivered to launch customer All Nippon Airways today. Amazingly, it's been more than four long years since the first ceremonial factory rollout on 7/8/07. At the time, Boeing was measuring the time until delivery in months, not years, and the target was to begin getting planes to the airlines in 2008. https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/threads/first-787-rollout-7-8-07.20624/
The 787 looks like a sleek update to every other modern jet, but it's very different throughout. Rather than aluminum, it's made out of plastic carbon composite. Many of the mechanical/hydraulic/pneumatic systems are now electrical. The windows are so big that there's no room for a pull-down shade, so the windows electronically polarize to dim (and even the bathroom can have windows). All of the changes allow the passenger cabin pressure and humidity to be maintained at something much closer to sea level, so it physically feels less draining to fly (and your ears don't or just barely pop!).
But all of this new technology had to be invented and then industrialized, and delivery was pushed back. The wait is over now though, and the Dreamliner is here! Employees escorted the delivery airplane out on foot this morning to a stage where the president of Boeing handed over ownership to the president of ANA. http://boeingblogs.com/randy/archives/2011/09/dream_delivered.html
A little while back, I was lucky enough to fly on the first flight with a full complement of passengers, and it was just amazing. Here's a neat video about the entertainment systems testing that we did (you can see me at about 0:24 and 2:04): http://www.boeing.com/Features/2011/09/bca_787_IFE_09_12_11.html
The very first 787 Dreamliner was finally delivered to launch customer All Nippon Airways today. Amazingly, it's been more than four long years since the first ceremonial factory rollout on 7/8/07. At the time, Boeing was measuring the time until delivery in months, not years, and the target was to begin getting planes to the airlines in 2008. https://www.wcnews.com/chatzone/threads/first-787-rollout-7-8-07.20624/
The 787 looks like a sleek update to every other modern jet, but it's very different throughout. Rather than aluminum, it's made out of plastic carbon composite. Many of the mechanical/hydraulic/pneumatic systems are now electrical. The windows are so big that there's no room for a pull-down shade, so the windows electronically polarize to dim (and even the bathroom can have windows). All of the changes allow the passenger cabin pressure and humidity to be maintained at something much closer to sea level, so it physically feels less draining to fly (and your ears don't or just barely pop!).
But all of this new technology had to be invented and then industrialized, and delivery was pushed back. The wait is over now though, and the Dreamliner is here! Employees escorted the delivery airplane out on foot this morning to a stage where the president of Boeing handed over ownership to the president of ANA. http://boeingblogs.com/randy/archives/2011/09/dream_delivered.html
A little while back, I was lucky enough to fly on the first flight with a full complement of passengers, and it was just amazing. Here's a neat video about the entertainment systems testing that we did (you can see me at about 0:24 and 2:04): http://www.boeing.com/Features/2011/09/bca_787_IFE_09_12_11.html
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