Boeing 787 First Flight
Myself, a few coworkers, and about 2500 other Boeing employees and suppliers stood out on Paine Field this morning to witness the 787 “Dreamliner” take flight for the first time. I’ve been working on this program for the last 3 and a half years, but I know many people who have been at it for more than 5, so for all of us it was very nice to finally see the product of our efforts!
According to my camera, lift-off took place around 10:32am PST. Everything went off without a hitch, it was glorious :-D Their timing really couldn’t have been better because within minutes of take-off it started drizzling and visibility worsened. Fortunately, by then they had flown out towards Port Angeles and away from the rain clouds.
As far as photos and video, we did the best we could as our spot was about 5 rows back from the fence. Thanks to Dougie for snapping the stills and having the smarts to use the rapid multi-shot mode. I posted up some photos here and a YouTube video here. The video unfortunately missed the lift-off part because I was holding the camera up above my head and couldn’t watch the viewfinder but the sound does help place you there in the crowd.
The landing took place about 3 hours later at Boeing Field in Seattle. Here’s a video. Great success!
