Boeing 787 Dreamliner Debut
07.09.07 - 07:00am
I love big airplanes, the bigger the better. Airbus has lately garnered lots of interest with it’s A380 superjumbo however I believe the 787 represents the actual future of air travel. Boeing has reportedly received 677 orders for this $162 million plane (CHEAP! $120 million for an F22 Raptor), booking production dates all the way into 2015. The first 787 won’t reach customers for another ~8 months but from the sounds of things Boeing is taking every step possible to minimize delays. The first 8 planes will be used for performance and fatigue tests so I’m sure we’ll have some fantastic videos of engineers bending the wings till they snap, I eagerly look forward to seeing them snapping airplanes in half. Considering how All Nippon Airways will receive the first 50 planes it’ll be a while till I have a chance to fly on one unless I decide to take a trip to Tokyo in the near future but I do look forward to seeing one of these birds in person.
Source: CNN
I try not to get overly excited about these things because, as you mentioned, I’m not going to get to ride on one anytime soon. But, it’s certainly cool and I can’t wait until the day when I can!
Actually, ANA is banking that people will fly to Japan specifically to ride one of these. The size of the airline today cannot justify a purchase of 50 new airplanes, even for a launch order. No other airliner purchased even half that amount.
Yeah, ANA! Maybe I’ll catch one to Tokyo next summer.
I was rather shocked at the quantity of airplanes that ANA purchased in comparison to the other airlines, I figured they were making an investment into an expansion and cycling out older aircraft. If the ticket to Japan didn’t cost an arm, leg, and first born I’d love to take a ride on one of these.