Boeing has completed initial airworthiness testing on the 747-8 Freighter, a milestone that enables test engineers to be on board during future flights and allows the remaining two 747-8 Freighter test aircraft to begin flight tests.
“The airplane is performing as expected in the initial stages of flight test,” says Mo Yahyavi, vice president and general manager of the 747 program for Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA). “That’s a tribute to the men and women who helped design and build this airplane.”
Since the 747-8F’s first flight in early February, the program has conducted 13 flights, achieving several key accomplishments, according to Boeing. Pilots have taken the aircraft to an altitude of 30,000ft (9,144m) and a speed of Mach 0.65.
The program has completed approximately 33 hours of flying. Initial stall tests and other dynamic maneuvers have been performed, as well as an extensive checkout of the aircraft’s systems. Five different pilots have flown the newest Boeing freighter, says Boeing.
“This is a critical milestone in our test and certification plan,” says Andy Hammer, BCA’s test program manager for the 747-8. “With the addition of the other two airplanes in the near future, the test program will ramp up significantly. We will expand the flight envelope and demonstrate the airplane’s capabilities.”
On February 8, 2010, the 747-8F freighter made its first flight and became the first version of the Boeing 747-8 to fly. The 747-8 represents the first stretch of the 747's main-deck fuselage since Boeing first flew the 747 on February 9, 1969 ― 41 years less a day before the first flight of the 747-8. The 747-8F has the same-size upper deck as the original 747-100, but the passenger-carrying 747-8I is due to have the longest upper deck of any 747 ever built
In the weeks ahead, the 747-8 Freighter will reach an altitude of more than 43,000 feet (13,106 m) and a speed of Mach 0.97. Subsequent testing will push the airplane beyond expected operational conditions, according to BCA.
Flight testing will continue in the months ahead. All told, the 747-8 Freighter test program calls for approximately 3,700 hours of testing using three test airplanes. First delivery ― to 747-8F launch customer Cargolux ― is planned for the fourth quarter of this year.
Boeing has secured 108 orders for the 747-8, 76 of which are orders for the 747-8F and the remaining 32 of which are for airline or VIP versions of the 747-8 Intercontinental, the passenger-carrying version of the 747-8.
The 747-8I will differ substantially from the 747-8F in having a super-stretched upper deck ― longer even than that of the 747-300 and 747-400 ― whereas the 747-8F, because it is a freighter whose entire payload-bearing capability rests on its stregnthened main deck, has no need for a long upper deck and so its upper deck is the same length as that of the original 747-100 and 747-200 versions of Boeing’s iconic jumbo jet.
Cargolux, Nippon Cargo Airlines, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates SkyCargo, Guggenheim and Korean Air all have placed orders for 747-8 Freighters. Meanwhile, Lufthansa has ordered 20 747-8Is and Korean Air has ordered five, with VIP customers (most of them thought to be based in the Middle East) placing orders for seven 747-8Is to date.
Related to this story:
- Boeing Completes Flight-Testing for 787 Type Certification
- Boeing Breaks with Tradition to Unveil 747-8I in Red and Orange Colors
- Fifth Aircraft Joins Boeing 747-8F Flight-Test Program
- Boeing Delays First 747-8F Customer Delivery until Mid-2011
- Boeing Rolls Out First 747-8 Freighter from Paint Hangar
