The Unveiling of the First Boeing 787

Well, it happened -- right on schedule.  Yesterday, Boeing unveiled the very first production model of the company's new 787 Dreamliner. Telstar Logistics couldn't be there (grrrrrrr), but Daniel Terdiman from CNET's News.com was on the scene, and he blogged this report:

If you've never partied underneath a jumbo jet, you should.

And that's what thousands of Boeing employees are doing right now, as the launch of the 787 Dreamliner concludes at the company's mammoth facility here--the world's largest building, by volume.

It's a pretty cool thing, I must say. After 45 minutes of obligatory celeb-speak -- Tom Brokaw MC'd the launch event -- the doors to the facility rolled open and there was the new plane, sparkling in the glorious sunlight.

And it took some time for the thousands of people here to make their way up the narrow aisles between all the folding chairs to the tarmac, but they did. And I did.

And next thing you know, it was a sea of people under, around and all sides of this spanking new plane, the very first of its kind.

The mood, of course, is jubilant. Many, many of these people worked on the creation of this plane, and it was easy to overhear a Boeing employee telling his or her partner, "I worked on that bit there..."

 

Just for the record... we have partied underneath a jumbo jet, and we can heartily recommend the experience.

LINKS:
787 Rollout Photos (Flickr photoset from timothylhendrix)

Boeing unveils assembled 787 Dreamliner (AP News story)

PREVIOUSLY:
Coming Events: Rolling Out the First Boeing 787

(Photos above by timothylhendrix)

Comments

[ian]

Hmmm oddly enuff this week I heard three sepearet new stories about how air travel is a big producer of greenhouse gases. Dunno if bigger is better? More people per flight might be a solution but how's the gas mileage

Having said all that, it's a gorgeous plane, and on time!! :-)

[Telstar Logistics]

Howdy Ian!

As it happens, fuel economy is one of the 787's biggest selling points. Boeing says the 787 will be 20 percent more fuel-efficient than current jets of comparable size.

See, for example, this:

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2121860,00.html

[Alykhan Virani]

I don't think they will make this new date based on the data I have seen.

[Alykhan Virani]

I don't think they will make this new date based on the data I have seen.

[Alykhan Virani]

Boeing needs to do more testing on the composite fuselage in my opinion. Composite materials tend to shatter on impact.