Maintenance and Modifications
Boeing Flies 747-8 Mods, Targets Year-End Service Entry
A 747-8 Intercontinental fitted with FMC and engine improvements meant to effect a 1.8-percent fuel efficiency gain takes off from Paine Field in Everett, Washington.
A 747-8 Intercontinental fitted with FMC and engine improvements meant to effect a 1.8-percent fuel efficiency gain takes off from Paine Field in Everett, Washington.

More than two years after Boeing acknowledged problems with the 747-8’s flight management computer (FMC), the airplane carrying a package of improvements largely centered on the Honeywell FMC took to the air last week. Taking off from Paine Field in Everett, Washington, at 1:30 p.m. local time on May 20, the 747-8 Intercontinental flew for about four hours with the newly upgraded FMC and a performance improvement package (PIP) for its General Electric GEnx-2B turbofans.