Boeing flies 787 Dreamliner
On December 15 at 10:27 a.m., under a gray 2,500-foot broken cloud layer, Boeing’s big bet on the company’s future–the mostly composite 787 Dreamliner–fina

On December 15 at 10:27 a.m., under a gray 2,500-foot broken cloud layer, Boeing’s big bet on the company’s future–the mostly composite 787 Dreamliner–finally made its
maiden flight, two years and four months after the originally planned date. At the controls were 787 chief test pilot Mike Carriker and engineering test pilot Randy Neville.

The Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered 787-8–dubbed ZA001– lifted off smoothly from Paine Field’s Runway 34L in Everett, Wash., the twinjet’s signature slender composite wings flexing upward as they generated the necessary lift, flanked by a pair of T-33 chase airplanes. A six-mph breeze blew about 90 degrees across the runway in the 40-degree temperatures. More than 12,000 Boeing employees, worldwide media and members of the public were on hand to witness the historic first flight.