EVERETT — The Boeing Co. gave people another glimpse of its first 787 Dreamliner as it moved the aircraft out of the Everett factory briefly this evening to make way for a 787 test plane.
Boeing continues to make progress toward its revised schedule for the delayed Dreamliner. The company announced earlier today that it had successfully completed the process of turning power on the first Dreamliner. That aircraft is expected to fly in the fourth quarter of this year.
The company towed the “fatigue” test plane down to a 777 production bay.
Over the course of about three years, Boeing will put the fatigue aircraft through conditions rigorous enough to replicate an aircraft’s average lifetime. Before the jet maker can deliver the first Dreamliner, the Federal Aviation Administration requires Boeing to put the fatigue aircraft through stresses equivalent to 25 percent of its service life.
Boeing plans to deliver the first 787 in the third quarter of 2009, roughly 15 months late. It has won nearly 900 orders for the fuel-efficient jet, built mostly from composite materials.
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