Stakes couldn’t be higher for Boeing 787’s first flight

Published 11:24 pm Saturday, June 20, 2009

EVERETT — During the test program for the Boeing Co.’s new 787 Dreamliner, workers have bent the wings at extreme angles until they snapped, jacked up the fuselage and slammed it to the ground, and run the engines night and day for a week.

At some point, they’ll try other extremes, like how the jet reacts to temperatures of minus 55 degrees celsius.

Within the next few days, the company will try a less extreme test to answer a much more important question: Can the 787 fly?

It’s a simple question with a lot riding on the answer.

The 787 is revolutionary, both in terms of the light and strong composite materials that have replaced much of the aluminum used by its predecessors and in terms of the way its pieces have been made around the world and flown to Everett in a giant cargo plane for assembly.

Boeing says its materials and methods for the new jet are the future of aviation.

More than Boeing’s future is in the air when the 787 tests its wings during a first flight scheduled to happen from Snohomish County’s Paine Field before the end of the month.

To some degree, all our futures are riding on that flight.

People who fly in the new plane will enjoy a smoother ride with new technology designed to even out turbulence. The cabin pressure will be lower, the air will be better filtered and it will have more humidity. The seats will have more legroom.

Even people here who never fly in a 787 will be affected by its future.

Direct jobs at Boeing represent 14 percent of the jobs in the county and 22 percent of the wages, according to the Economic Development Council of Snohomish County. Those paychecks and tax contributions produce schools and roads and more jobs.

In a special section today, we look at the 787, its checkered history and all the things riding on its upcoming first flight.