boeing

Boeing's two-year study of jatropha-curcas agriculture in Brazil has found that location choice and strong seeds are the key to maximizing the crop's benefits, the company said today.

The jatropha-curcas plant has been under close scrutiny in recent years by scientists and companies because its olives yield an oil that can be made into an alternative jet fuel. The weedy plant can grow in adverse soil conditions. And in addition to yielding oil, it provides, like most plants, the secondary benefit of removing carbon from the atmosphere. Many have been trying to compare the carbon footprint of producing … Read more

AT&T gets bigger, a whole lot bigger with its purchase of T-Mobile. Trust us, mobile plans won't be getting any cheaper. Sprint gets a few consolation prizes, Twitter is 5 years old and we feature the "Morning-After" App.

SEATTLE--With the beautiful snow-covered mountains of Washington state behind it, Boeing's 747-8 Intercontinental made its first-ever landing today, four-and-a-half hours after taking off on its maiden flight.

The flight went about as well as could be expected, 747 chief pilot Mark Feuerstein said in a brief press conference at Boeing Field here, minutes after the plane touched down at 2:25 p.m. PT.

The plane, with its unique red, orange, and white livery, took off at 9:58 a.m. PT from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., and headed immediately toward the Olympic Peninsula, Feuerstein told the crowd … Read more

EVERETT, Wash.--For an airplane plane geek like me, today was a very good day.

Ostensibly, I was up here in this town about 30 minutes north of Seattle for the maiden flight of Boeing's all-new 747-8 Intercontinental, which took air for the first time at 9:58 a.m. PDT.

But while dozens of other reporters and I were waiting for the new 747 to take off, we got the chance to see something else that got the shutters working overtime: a 787 Dreamliner doing touch-and-go tests.

By now, the Dreamliner is, if not old news, then at … Read more

EVERETT, Wash.--If you don't think that the latest model of an airplane that first took to the air 42 years ago could be fresh, majestic, and iconic upon its own initial foray into sky, then you didn't see Boeing's 747-8 Intercontinental take off on its first flight today.

Resplendent in its all-new orange, red, and white livery, and sparkling in the mid-morning sun, the biggest and most fuel-efficient passenger airplane in Boeing's history took off from Paine Field here at 9:58 a.m. PT before a cheering crowd of hundreds, if not thousands, of … Read more

EVERETT, Wash.--"Ready, ready, go."

With those words, blasted from a public address system at Paine Field here, Boeing's first 747-8 Intercontinental revved its engines and began its high-speed roll down the runway for takeoff.

And at 9:58 a.m. PDT today, the all-new model of Boeing's most iconic passenger plane took to the air for the first time, trailed by two T-33 chaser planes and cheered on by hundreds of Boeing employees.

Piloted by Mark Feuerstein and Paul Stemer, the plane took off into a clear sky and quickly banked left, headed for … Read more

EVERETT, Wash.--The skies are clear, the sun is out, and the plane is ready. Boeing's 747-8 Intercontinental is all set for its first flight.

With a two-hour window for the inaugural flight starting at 10 a.m. PT today, it appears that all is go for inaugural flight of the all-new version of Boeing's most iconic passenger jet. The flight comes about 13 months after the February 8, 2010, first flight of the 747-8 Freighter.

Thousands of Boeing employees and families, as well as fans of the 747, and a cadre of press will be on hand … Read more

Boeing announced today that its all-new 747-8 Intercontinental, the longest passenger plane in its history, is expected to take its first flight on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the aviation giant said that the plane--which it unveiled in a huge ceremony just last month--had passed what is called final gauntlet testing, which "simulates flight conditions to test systems and ensure flight readiness," Boeing said in a release, adding that as part of the testing process, its test pilots "put the airplane through its paces."

Over the next few days, then, the plane will be subjected to &… Read more

There's nothing the world likes more than a good radiation scare. Mobile phone health panics are quiet at the moment--which could be permanent, like the microwave oven cancer flap that went into spontaneous remission and stayed there. Instead, the burgeoning world of in-flight entertainment beckons as the next fear factory.

Take this story from the generally sensible Flight Global publication: "Wi-Fi interference with Honeywell avionics prompts Boeing action." Sounds quite scary, especially since it's a report on a problem uncovered during certification for Aircell's Gogo, an in-flight passenger Internet system. In-flight Internet is the next … Read more