747 8 first flight

Boeing 747-8 Freighter To Make First Flight Today

Ready for its first test flight is the Boeing 747-8 Transport. It’s the transport version of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Boeing expects to make its first delivery of the 747-8 Transport by the end of the year, and the first delivery of the Dreamliner at the end of 2011
The flight window officially opens at 10 a.m., but there are clouds at 200 feet at the moment. The forecast calls for the clouds to burn off, so Boeing will probably wait a bit.

Follow our coverage here at and twitter.com/piboeing, see our photo gallery from 747-8 taxi tests on Saturday and follow Boeing's live webcast of 747-8 first flight.

Live coverage (newest at top):

11:20 a.m. Blue skies, but no official word yet.

10:55: No definite time for flight. Employees are going back in the plant.

9:55: Notes from interview a few minutes back with Brian Johnson, deputy test program manager.

The plan is to fly to three to five hours, reaching a maximum altitude of 10,000 to 20,000 feet and a top speed of 200 to 220 knots, expanding flight options based on how the plane performs.

"If things are going well they'll exercise the flaps, the gear, to some systems checks."

There's no date estimate for flying the second 747-8 yet. "Probably it depends a lot on today's flight."

There were no issues that arose during Saturday's taxi tests. "It was very clean."

"The plane's in great shape."
"This is a great day in the history of our long and enduring partnership with Korean Air," said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The technologically advanced 747-8 Intercontinental is particularly well suited for Korean Air's operations. It will provide exceptional levels of passenger comfort, greatly enhanced fuel efficiency and reduced emissions and noise. The announcement comes at an exciting time as we move closer to the first 747-8 Freighter flight in early 2010." Korean Air plans on flying the 747-8 Intercontinental on long-haul routes to the Americas and Europe.

"The 747-8 Intercontinental fills the void between the 300- and 550-seat airplanes in our future fleet," said Won Tae Cho, managing vice president of Korean Air Passenger Business Division. "The technological enhancements Boeing has made to this airplane will deliver exceptional economics and a flying experience that will thrill our customers, enabling Korean Air to provide Excellence in Flight to our customers."

The new 747-8 Intercontinental is stretched 18.3 feet (5.6 m) from the 747-400 to provide 467 seats in a three-class configuration, an additional 51 seats. It also offers a range of 8,000 nautical miles (14,815 km). The 747-8 will provide lower seat mile costs of 13 percent less than the 747-400, plus 26 percent greater cargo volume.