First flight for Boeing’s 777X, its biggest jet yet
The plane’s maiden flight was three hours and 51 minutes in duration, with pilots reporting the 777-9 “flew beautifully” during a detailed test plan that exercised its systems and structures.
Perlan II mission reaches for new heights after first flight
The Airbus Perlan Mission II is a major step closer to the goal of sustained, piloted flight at 90,000ft following the successful first flight of the Perlan 2 experimental glider. Launching early in the morning 23 September from the Redmond Municipal Airport in Redmond, Oregon, chief pilot Jim Payne and team pilot and project manager Morgan Sandercock were towed aloft by a Piper Pawnee towplane.
46 Years of 747
The very first Boeing 747 took to the air February 9, 1969, barely four months after the airplane rolled out of its then new factory in Everett, Washington. The prototype, “Queen of the Skies,” was known by her serial number RA001. She was soon joined by additional test aircraft, all working towards the airplane’s entry-into-service in January 1970 with Pan American World Airways. Since then, over 1,500 747s have been delivered.
Airways Visits Bombardier’s CSeries Customer Experience Centre
Regular Airways readers have seen our stories about the Bombardier CSeries first flight, and our tour of the Flight Test Vehicle Final Assembly Facility. The day after the events at Mirabel Airport, Bombardier invited us to their facility in St. Laurent, Quebec, not far from Montreal’s Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport. We were being treated to a visit at the CSeries Customer Experience Centre. Our hosts were Sam Cherry, Director, Product Strategy; Martin Gignac, Product Manager & Strategy; and Marc Duchesne, Director of Public Affairs and Communications.
Bombardier CSeries Completes First Flight
Bombardier’s CSeries aircraft successfully completed its first flight on Monday, September 16, 2013, landing at Montreal’s Mirabel Airport at 12:22 PM Eastern Time. The landing capped a 2 1/2 hour flight that began at 9:55 AM ET, with the jet taking off effortlessly from Runway 06. Bombardier Chief Test Pilot, Chuck Ellis and First Officer Andy Litavniks were at the controls, assisted by flight engineer Andreas Hartono. The CS100 Flight Test Vehicle 1 (FTV1) was shadowed by Bombardier’s Global 5000 chase plane. It was a cool, fall morning at the airport 25 miles north of Montreal, Quebec, with scattered clouds and brisk winds.