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By Root 328 0

and night conditions). Accompanied by the chase aircraft, the crew ran through several test cards, including retracting and extending the landing gear. Eventually, hemmed in by bands of ugly rain clouds around the Puget Sound, Carriker reluctantly called it quits and opted to return to Boeing Field about two hours earlier than planned.

The rain was teeming down as ZA001 loomed out of the murk over downtown Seattle and headed in toward Boeing Field from the north. The crew executed a perfect touchdown despite the conditions and taxied in triumphantly to a specially prepared area of the Boeing delivery and flight-test ramp. Through the rain-spotted flight-deck windows, Carriker could be seen punching the air with delight and giving the crowds the thumbs-up sign.

The flight had lasted three hours and five minutes and was an unqualified success despite being cut short by the poor visibility. But having trained for more than four years for this moment, Carriker could not disguise the look of pure joy on his face as he descended the steps of ZA001. His first words were simply, “Holy smokes! I guess it felt like we flew into the future of the Boeing company.” In a testament to Boeing’s flight control and simulation predictions, Neville commented, “The aircraft flies beautifully. There were no surprises, and it did exactly what we were expecting.”

At last Boeing’s Dreamliner project was about to live up to its name.

Appendix

SPECIFICATIONS AND MILESTONES

(as of June 2010)

INDEX

Acousti-Cap, 65

Advanced Composites Technology (ACT), 62, 63

Aerolineas Peruanas, 24

AgustaWestland AW101, 77, 82

Air Algerie, 110

Air Atlanta Icelandic, 100, 101

Air Canada, 28, 54, 56

Air China, 42, 44, 51

Air New Zealand, 42, 49, 50, 100, 101

Air Tran, 18

Air Transport Association (ATA), 75

Airbus, 10, 11, 14, 15, 22, 29, 32, 39, 45–47, 51, 54, 55, 59–61, 89, 91, 101, 106–108, 110, 114, 115, 122, 136, 137

A300, 12, 45, 46, 107

A300-600, 107

A300-600R, 108

A320, 15, 59, 62, 74, 94

A321, 42

A330, 12, 15, 20, 36, 37, 46, 54, 59, 91, 94, 101

A330-100, 91

A330-200, 16, 20, 37, 46, 50, 55, 63, 93

A330-300, 55

A340, 15, 36, 59

A380, 10, 11, 21, 22, 28, 32, 59, 66, 67, 85, 92, 94, 95, 108, 110, 114, 134, 136

A3XX, 11, 15, 21

Beluga, 107, 108

Guppy, 106–108

Airplane Creation Process Strategy (ACPS), 11, 15, 16

Alabama, Decatur, 64

Alaskan Way, 7

Albaugh, Jim 150, 151

Alcoa, 65, 67, 137

Aleksandrovich, Grigori, 130

Alenia, 42, 43, 56, 60, 71–73, 116, 118, 126, 133, 141, 144

All Nippon Airways (ANA), 42, 45, 47–50, 52, 56, 98–101, 127, 129, 136, 148, 150

Anderson, David, 16

Antonov An-124, 17, 108

AOL Time Warner, 40

Arizona

Phoenix, 34, 35

Yuma, 105

ASC Process Systems, 73

Asian Aerospace Show, 46

ATW Online, 147

Australia, Sydney, 27

Austrian Airlines, 42

Avco, 107

Avcoite, 59

Aviation Week, 142

Aviation Week & Space Technology, 151

Avio, 101

BAE Systems, 75

BAe 146, 17

Bair, Mike, 11, 19, 22, 24, 27, 37–39, 41, 43, 45–49, 51–54, 67, 96–98, 107, 113, 125, 131, 133, 135–138

Baseler, Randy, 46

Beech Starship, 31

Bell Harbor Conference Center, 7, 35

Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, 77, 82

Benzakein, Mike, 92

Bernstein Research, 132

Black & Decker, 16

Blue Panorama, 49

BMI, 42, 60, 65, 66

Boeing

20XX, 16, 22, 91

377, 106, 107

707, 7, 10, 14, 22, 24, 117

717, 12, 14–16, 18, 39

717-200, 12

727, 14, 60, 61

737, 7, 12, 14–16, 18, 38, 39, 60, 62, 89, 93, 99, 122, 127, 128, 137

737-200, 60, 62

737-700, 12

737-800, 12

747, 10–12, 14–16, 19, 24, 27, 29, 41, 60, 71, 74, 79, 91, 96, 101, 104, 105, 108, 110, 111, 117, 126–128, 154

747-8, 10, 91, 101, 132

747-100, 102, 103

747-200, 100, 101, 117

747-400, 11–13, 106, 109, 111, 113

747-400F, 106, 109

747-400X, 19 747-500X/600X, 11, 13

747LCF, 154

747SP, 60, 109

747X, 19, 21, 22, 91

757, 14–16, 36, 38, 41, 60, 62, 89, 99, 122, 138

757-300, 12

767, 8, 12–16, 18, 21, 27, 28, 33, 35–38, 41, 45–47, 50, 52, 54, 55, 60, 62, 67, 74, 78, 89, 91, 122

767-300, 22, 33, 51

767-300ER, 46, 93

767-300ERX, 91

767-400ER, 12, 138

777, 10–16, 18, 19,