747-8 Freighter First Flight

The airplane that I have been working on since I met Rebecca (Feb. 2007) had its first flight yesterday. Boeing set up an area along the runway at Paine field for employees to watch the take-off. I went out with my group at 9 a.m. and the cloud cover cleared enough for take-off at 12:30. 747's in general are fascinating to watch take-off because it is just amazing that so much weight can so gracefully take to the air. Watching this first flight was even more special because it was the first one where I was responsible for a system (LE High Lift).

The first shots show me waiting for the take-off along with other Boeing employees, and the airplane taking off. Later photos show the airplane coming back to Paine field (where the Boeing Everett facility where I work is located) for landing about 3 and 1/2 hours later after a very successful first flight. There were no issues with the LE or TE High Lift system, which felt great.










Here is the airplane coming in for a landing.