Boeing 787-9 departs on first flight

The Boeing 787-9 left this morning on its first flight at 11:02 AM PDT. We discussed the implications of this first flight on Sept. 13. We were at the first flight departure at Paine Field, Everett (WA), for… Read More

787-9 first flight today

The first flight of the Boeing 787-9 is scheduled for 10am PDT today. The Weather forecast is cloudy but no rain until this afternoon. Landing is about 3pm. The first flight will be webcast here. We’ll be on-site… Read More

CSeries first flight follow up

Several news items following the first flight of Bombardier’s CSeries: Aviation Week recalculates the CSeries order performance compared with other new airplane programs (not derivatives) and it stacks up pretty nicely. The Montreal Gazette has an interactive graphic… Read More

CSeries takes to air for the first time; PW also conducting own tests with new GTF engine

Update: First flight touchdown at 12:24 EDT, 2 1/2 hours. Original Post: Bombardier’s multi-billion dollar gamble to leap from regional airliner manufacturer into the mainline arena took off this morning at about 9:54 AM EDT. The CSeries CS100… Read More

USAF considers scrapping KC-10 in sequester

KC-10 scrapping: The US Air Force is considering scrapping the KC-10 aerial tanker fleet as a result of budget cutbacks in the sequester, The Army Times reports. This is stunning news, considering the seven year battle to recapitalize… Read More

CSeries first flight this morning 0930 EDT

It’s 0-dark-30 here on the West Coast, waiting for the Bombardier CSeries first flight in 45 minutes. You can watch on the Bombardier webcast here, where it will go live just before, according to Tweets. You can follow… Read More

Busy Week ahead: First flights; and Odds and Ends:Lufthansa to split order; Embraer tells of upgrades

Update, 2:30PM PDT: Boeing confirms that Tuesday is the target day for 787-9 first flight, time TBD and subject to weather and other factors. Update, 3:30pm PDT: Bombardier says 9:30 EDT Monday is the scheduled first flight for… Read More

Implications for the 787-9’s first flight

The first flight of the next member of the Boeing 787 family, the -9, is coming soon and this has greater implications than usual for what would be called a minor model variant. . Boeing has been making… Read More

Replacing Air Force One: will 747-8 production remain open, or can 777-300ER become AF One?

Bloomberg has this story about the prospect of replacing Air Force One “early in the next decade.” Aviation Week has this story as well. The Aviation Week story links to the Dayton Business Journal, and reports that the… Read More

New life for old airliners

New life has been created for an airliner that wasn’t considered a particularly successful airliner. The British Aerospace 146/Avro family is being converted to an aerial firefighting tanker and also an aerial refueling tanker. The 146 and follow-on… Read More