Yup, in the ever expanding global competitiveness of new aircraft, Boeing has had a few things to shout about regarding the new 787 Dreamliner.
In fact : Jonathan Gaffney, president and CEO of the National Aeronautic Association, presented Boeing with two
certificates confirming the official status of the two world records earned by the 787 in 2011.
The airplane earned records for completing the longest flight for an airplane in its weight class with a 10,336 nmi (19,142 km) flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh. This record had previously been held by the Airbus A330 with a 9,126 nmi (16,901 km) flight in 2002.
I’d say the extra 1210 nautical miles pretty much smashes it 
Also in the last few days, Boeing delivered its first VIP format 747-8 to an undisclosed customer.. The VIP product line is of course in the “Private Jet” class and all I can add is “Wow!!”
However, it’s reasonably well documented that a well known Russian billionaire has actually ordered an Airbus A380 for a staggering sum of money – but I gotta ask; “what the hell do you do with all that space?”
Of course, regular readers will have noted that just before New Year I spent a little time
in Roswell, New Mexico. Now, with all the usual fun tourist stuff going on, I forgot to go the former Walker Air Force Base just to the south of Roswell. Of course this base was significant in the Roswell legend and while buying up t-shirts as proof of my visit, I simply forgot. You see while the former Walker AFB is now a parking site for many airliners, it’s also a place Boeing carries out many of its tests on new aircraft, especially regarding the 777 and 787. Obviously Christmas week wasn’t the ideal time to catch anything cool going on, but nevertheless, I think i’d have liked to stop by.
I’ll finish this aviation post with news that if you wish to get a look at the 787, it’s actually on tour and details can be found HERE
