Boeing hopeful as the 747-8 takes its first flight

EVERETT — The Boeing Co.’s newest freighter and biggest jet, the 747-8, took its first flight Monday.

Weather kept Boeing employees and media from around the world waiting. But by 12:39 p.m., the clouds had cleared, the sun was high and Boeing’s latest jumbo jet was in the sky.

Yaris Ranos stood at the front of the line of Boeing employees — many of whom waited an extra two and a half hours — to watch the plane that she’s worked on for much of the last four years finally take flight.

“After all this time and hard work, it’s really great to see it fly,” she said.

Cindy Quintanilla, who works as a structures mechanic on the 747-8 program, also felt a sense of pride as she stood waiting Monday morning for the freighter to fly.

“I built it,” she said. “I helped put it together.”

Learn more about the new features of the 747-8 in our animated graphic.

Boeing is running about a year behind schedule on its latest freighter after diverting engineers to its delayed 787 Dreamliner program. But the company plans to deliver the first plane this year to launch customer, Cargolux. Boeing also is introducing a passenger version of the 747-8, called the Intercontinental, which is scheduled for its first delivery in 2011.

“I didn’t think anything could be more beautiful than the 787,” said Pat Shanahan, vice president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “But this is such a beautiful airplane, a big airplane.”

The 747-8 is the largest jet that Boeing has ever built, about 18 feet longer than a 747-400.

As Tracy Anderson, who works in engine performance for Boeing, stood waiting for the 747-8 to take off Monday morning, he explained some of the 747-8’s new features, including General Electric GEnx-2B engines. The fuel-saving engines and the 747-8’s new wings are major draws for the jumbo jet’s customers, he noted.

“The freighter companies love this airplane,” Anderson said.

That’s a sentiment Jim Albaugh, president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, hopes is catching. On Monday, Albaugh said he expects sales to pick up for the 747-8 Freighter when the cargo market rebounds from one of its worst declines in history. Albaugh is optimistic about the 747-8 making money after getting off to a rough start with program delays and cost overruns.

“We’ve got a history of making a good profit,” he said.

Boeing has orders for 76 freighters and 32 passenger versions of the plane.

It wants its customers to know the 747-8 performs better than previous 747 models, but a selling point is that it handles much the same as the classic jumbo jet. That means no new training for pilots. Mark Feuerstein, 747-8 chief pilot, can attest to that after a 3-hour-and-39-minute flight Monday.

“It still looks like a 747; it still flies like a 747,” Feuerstein said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

During the first flight, the pilots raised and lowered the 747-8’s landing gear numerous times, performed engine shutdowns and tested the jumbo jet’s electrical systems. Feuerstein couldn’t find much to complain about the 747-8’s performance.

“It’s a big day for a big airplane,” he said.

It was also a big day for Joe Sutter, who as the chief engineer of the original 747 has seen a lot of first flights for new versions of his classic jumbo jet. Sutter was pleased to see the new 747-8 perform so well Monday and was pleased that his jumbo jet lives on.

“It must have been the right solution for the market to last 41 years,” Sutter said.

Boeing won’t put the first 747-8 in the air again for a few weeks as it equips the airplane with new testing gear take to the skies again for another few weeks, Feuerstein said.

“This truly is a great day for The Boeing Co. and the 747 program,” said Mo Yahyavi, 747 program vice president. “While there is still much to do, I am excited to begin the flight-test program, which will demonstrate the capabilities of this airplane.”

747-8 Freighter First Flight

Takeoff and landing: Everett’s Paine Field

Takeoff time: 12:39 p.m.

Landing time: 4:18 p.m.

Duration: 3 hours, 39 minutes

Raised and lowered landing gear multiple times

Systems checks; shutdown, relit engines

Maximum altitude: 17,000 feet

Maximum speed: 264 miles per hour