The Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner has set world records for speed and flight distance for the aircraft’s weight class, the company said Thursday.
“Speed and distance capabilities are fundamental to the value the 787 brings to the market,” Scott Fancher, general manager of the 787 program, said in a statement. “These records are a great way to demonstrate that this airplane is the game-changer we have promised.”
The sixth 787, ZA006, powered by General Electric GEnx engines, set a record for distance on a flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh. The aircraft left Boeing Field in Seattle on Dec. 6 and traveled 10,337 nautical miles, setting a record for its class, the 440,000 to 550,000 pound range. This record had previously been held by the Airbus A330 based on a 9,127 nautical mile flight in 2002.
Following an approximately two-hour stop for refueling in Dhaka, the airplane returned to Seattle on a 9,734 nautical mile flight. The airplane landed at 5:29 a.m. on Dec. 8, setting a new record for speed around the world (traveling eastbound) with a total trip time of 42 hours and 27 minutes. However, there was no previous around-the-world speed record for this weight class.
The 787 carried six pilots, an observer for the National Aeronautic Association and other Boeing employees – 13 people in total.
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