Boeing's huge 777-9X airplane takes its first flight

cnn ^ | 01/26/2020 | Chris Sloan

[BenLurkin]

The world's longest and largest twin-engine airliner, the Boeing 777-9X, has finally taken to the skies for its maiden flight, offering a ray of hope for the troubled US aviation company following months of grim headlines.

After days of abysmal weather, airplane WH-001 took from Paine Field, home of Boeing's wide-body factory, north of Seattle, on Saturday morning.

The flight had been postponed twice earlier in the week because of poor conditions, but as the aircraft taxied past the press viewing area ahead of takeoff, a rainbow appeared -- perhaps offering a positive portent.

When the moment did finally arrive, WH-001 was greeted by a light eight knot tailwind, six miles visibility, and broken clouds at 3,000 feet as it rocketed down runway 34Left at 9:08 a.m. local time.

As Boeing's newest flagship quickly gathered speed, it left a torrent of spray in its wake. After a takeoff roll of just 30 seconds, the behemoth rotated gracefully into the skies.

The relieved and excited crowd erupted into thunderous applause, though it was masked somewhat by the symphony of the roaring engines.

[Yo-Yo]

IF E/S are part of the “purchased package” — you can tell the systems by the airframe. Perhaps the Airbus people outsource the package but I guarantee it is sold to the airline as a configuration.

Yes, that's what I said. It's the airline that chooses the packages, and if you routinely fly in crappy A320s, it's because the airline chose crappy materials.

https://skift.com/2017/05/04/for-the-first-time-allegiant-air-learns-what-its-like-to-configure-a-new-airplane/