Boeing completed the long-delayed first test flight of its new 787 Dreamliner on Tuesday, heralding a new era of plastics-based aircraft that promise to save airlines millions of dollars in fuel costs.
The three-hour flight, cut short by bad weather, brought relief to customers and investors who have watched Boeing postpone delivery of the new plane by more than two years due to production problems, but industry experts warned that the program still faces risks.
"It's the first positive milestone we've seen Boeing achieve on this program in a long time," said Macquarie analyst Robert Stallard. "But they're not out of the woods."
The 787's highly anticipated takeoff was witnessed by more than 12,000 Boeing employees, industry VIPs, airplane enthusiasts and reporters, eager to see the first flight of a commercial aircraft made primarily from carbon-based plastics and titanium.
The 186-feet-long (57m) aircraft, painted in Boeing's blue and white livery, took off at 10.27am local time from a freezing gray runway next to Boeing's plant about 30 miles north of Seattle. It landed 3 hours and six minutes later at Boeing Field, just south of Seattle.
The flight was meant to last five hours or more, but the two pilots were held back by low cloud and bad visibility, going no higher than 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) at a maximum speed of about 207 miles (333 kilometres) per hour.
News of the takeoff buzzed across the radio waves among commercial jets and air traffic controllers, according to chief pilot Mike Carriker.
"Everybody wanted to know if the Dreamliner was airborne, and it was really cool to say, 'You bet, we are airborne today'," said Carriker after the flight, to cheers from Boeing employees.
"Is it a relief? Yes. Was it great fun? Yes. Would I like to go and get another 80,000 pounds of gas and good weather and go again, you bet I would," added Carriker, although he said the next flight would not be for another week as more instruments are added to the test plane.
Airlines like the concept of the twin-aisle, mid-sized plane that can carry about 250 people very long distances. They have ordered 840 of the aircraft, worth about $140 billion (86 billion pounds), since work began on the plane in 2004.
But production has been delayed five times in the past three years, and the first flight has been postponed six times, due to a shortage of bolts, faulty design and a two-month strike at its factory.
Rival Airbus, a unit of Europe's EADS, has been attracting buyers for its competing A350 plane, which will also be made primarily from carbon-composite materials.
Exactly how much profit Boeing can expect to make from the plane is uncertain. Analysts have said the company has invested more than $10 billion in the project, and will have to give some sort of compensation to customers for late planes. How late the planes will be and how they will perform will not be known until flight tests have been completed.
Reuters