EVERETT — For three hours and six minutes, the Boeing Co.’s 787 wiped away two years of frustration surrounding the Dreamliner program as the jet flew over Western Washington on Tuesday.
Thousands of people — Boeing workers, Snohomish County residents and aviation spectators — braved the chilly temperatures Tuesday morning to watch the 787 take off on its maiden flight from Everett’s Paine Field.
Hundreds more stood in a downpour in Seattle to see the first airplane made from mostly composite material land smoothly. As a tug pulled the Dreamliner to a stop in front of a cheering crowd, 787 chief pilot Mike Carriker waved and hoisted both arms in the air in triumph.
“I guess it felt like we flew into the future of the Boeing Co.,” Carriker told the crowds, moments later.
Boeing’s fuel-efficient 787 Dreamliner has become the symbol of how the company envisions air travel as well as the key to how future aircraft are made. The midsized, lightweight jet made with a sophisticated form of plastic promises more direct and more comfortable trips for passengers.
But Boeing’s dream has been delayed as the company struggled to get a grasp on a new production model — one that uses carbon-fiber composite parts and a global supply chain. The setbacks have been particularly hard here in Snohomish County, where many aerospace suppliers and thousands of Boeing workers depend on a thriving Boeing Co.
“Finally, finally, finally,” state Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, said of the maiden voyage. “I am excited about this accomplishment. It has been long overdue but better late than never. This is the best airplane maker in the world.”
On Tuesday, Boeing executives and union officials, company workers and Washington politicians collectively marveled over the Dreamliner. For a few hours they set aside their frustration over 787 delays and dismay over the company’s recent selection of Charleston, S.C., over Everett as the site for a second assembly line.
“Our team has taken years to make this day a reality,” said Scott Fancher, vice-president of the 787 program. “The 787 Dreamliner represents innovation at its best.”
Although much remains for the Dreamliner team to accomplish before they deliver the first 787 to All Nippon Airways late next year, the jet’s first flight removes a little pressure from Boeing leaders.
“We’re feeling really, really good,” said Pat Shanahan, vice-president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, after the flight.
Fancher thinks sales of the 787, which have suffered during the recession and the delays, could see a boost as the Dreamliner speeds toward first delivery in late 2010.
“Everybody is going to want to have one,” he said.
Boeing’s Shanahan found some silver lining in the production and supplier troubles that Boeing had with its 787: The company has a solid team of very competent engineers and Machinists who will be of use when Boeing swings into production of its all-new aircraft.
He wasn’t the only one to applaud the capability of Boeing workers in the Puget Sound region.
“Today’s flight is a testament to the skill, hard work and diligence Boeing employees put in to get this airplane ready to fly,” said Cynthia Cole, president of the company’s engineering union, SPEEA. “Boeing returned to engineering, and that’s what made today possible and successful.”
U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee, Rick Larsen, Norm Dicks and Jim McDermott gathered with other lawmakers and Boeing officials to watch the launch on television.
“The best aerospace workers in the world have risen to the challenge once again,” Larsen said. “The success of the 787 program is important to the Northwest because of the thousands of jobs it brings to our region — and today was a good day for the 787.”
Tuesday wasn’t just another workday for Boeing employees, who gathered on the sidelines at Paine Field as the wind whipped through their jackets and the sky drizzled. But those who worked on the Dreamliner wouldn’t have missed it.
“We’ve been through so much in the last few months,” said Ryan Knoblauch, a structural engineer on the plane. “It’s been crazy.”
Cheers erupted from the crowd and camera phones were hoisted high as the plane taxied down the runway, turned full-circle and rushed forward for takeoff. Barry Willoughby, also a structural engineer on the 787, admitted his eyes watered a bit as the wheels left the ground.
“I think it’s such a weight off our shoulders,” he said. “As a group of people, it’s a great accomplishment.”
Even the dreary weather didn’t dampen spirits on Boeing’s big day. The company, however, did have to cut short the 787’s first flight. And 787 chief pilot Carriker and Capt. Randy Neville could only perform about half the tests the company had planned during the flight, which lasted from 10:27 a.m. to 1:33 p.m.
The two, who along with dozens of Boeing pilots, will spend the next nine months putting the Dreamliner through a barrage of harrowing tests to prove to federal aviation authorities the 787 is fit to fly commercially. For Carriker, the 787’s first flight marked the end of years of flight simulation run in Boeing labs and the beginning of the real thing in the air.
“Is it a relief (to have first flight out of the way)? Yes,” Carriker said. “Would I like to get another 20,000 pounds of gas and go again? Yes.”
Herald reporters Amy Rolph and Jerry Cornfield contributed to this report.
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