Paris 2011: Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental Makes International Debut at Le Bourget
The first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental flew into a blustery Le Bourget Airport Sunday morning.

The first Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental flew into a blustery Le Bourget Airport Sunday morning, fittingly marking its international airshow debut in its distinctive reddish-orange Sunrise livery.

In fact, the sun never set on 747 program chief test pilot Mark Feuerstein and his co-pilot, BBJ president Steve Taylor, during their nine-hour, 52-minute flight from Seattle’s Boeing Field to Le Bourget. Completing a 4,400-nm Great Circle route over Greenland and Scotland’s Isle of Isla, RC001 landed on Le Bourget’s Runway 25 at 9:30 a.m. The pilots reported a virtually flawless first international flight for the first 747-8I prototype.