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Boeing 787 noses up in last minute pre-flight tests

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has completed high speed taxi tests. "Everything looks good" for Tuesday maiden flight, subject to weather conditions, according to Boeing.
Written by John Dodge, Contributor
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Credit: Boeing Commercial Airplanes

Check out this photo. Doesn't it look like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner taking off? Apparently, it's part of high speed taxi tests where the plane noses up but does not take off (the Seattle Times reported the picture shows the plane performing a simulated rejected takeoff).

Late Saturday, Boeing said high speed taxi tests were completed successfully in advance of the new airplane's maiden voyage planned for Tuesday at 10 PT from Paine Field in Everett, Wash. Boeing reported the plane hit speeds of 150 MPH.

"Our pilots told me the airplane performed beautifully," said vice president and chief project engineer for the 787 Mike Delaney in a press release. "We're going through and analyzing the data to ensure we're ready for first flight. From evaluations we've done so far, everything looks good."

But don't let what appears to be good weather in the photo fool you. Tuesday's forecast for Seattle is 90 per cent chance of rain. Boeing has cautioned that the Tuesday planned flight is subject to weather conditions. The highly-anticipated flight could be pushed to the next day for which Weather.com says there's only only a 40 per cent of rain.

Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx said the following about the weather needed to pull off the historic flight.

"In general, Boeing policy for first flight weather conditions calls for good visibility, no standing water on the runway and gentle or no winds."

Remember the movie Sleepless in Seattle? The remake for me could be Stuck in Seattle.

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This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com

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