Boeing 787 Maiden Flight a Success!

Sorry I missed most of the coverage on this here this week...got busy with work stuff and didn't have time to blog about it. As you all have no doubt already heard by now, the first Boeing 787 took to the skies on Tuesday in her maiden flight. By all accounts, it was a successful flight, although it had to land early due to worsening weather conditions at Seattle's Boeing Field. Even still, it was up in the sky for over three hours, and they did a fair amount of testing on the basic aircraft systems, including landing gear, flaps, etc.

Here is a video of the takeoff from Paine Field (adjacent to the Boeing factory) in Everett, WA. Man, I can't get over the wing flex on this bird. Stunning. Beautiful.

Here is another video of the landing at Boeing Field in Seattle. Notice the fog. The one and only time I've been to Boeing Field (to visit the Museum of Flight -- well worth it IMHO), I remember the weather being exactly like this.

It will be cool to see these birds as a commonplace sight in the skies in commercial aviation in the coming decades, though I have no doubt we will all lament the disappearance of the 757s and 767s that they are largely expected to replace.

Congrats to the fine folks at Boeing on a successful launch!