Godspeed.

Have a safe return to terra firma.

and lands!

Congrats to Boeing

Reached a top speed of 180 MPH?

I once had a car that could do that. Not that impressive for a jet.

what is the stall speed for that thing? Can't be much slower than 180.

Boeing news release article:
http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=997

Okay, my car couldn't do 180 knots.

Those wings sure did flex a lot! Imagine that plane heavy and in a storm.

quote:

Originally posted by D Humbarger:
what is the stall speed for that thing? Can't be much slower than 180.

At the weight they were flying at I'd venture to guess that VSO is about 100 to 110 KIAS and VSI will be a bit more.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnHunt:
Okay, my car couldn't do 180 knots.

Those wings sure did flex a lot! Imagine that plane heavy and in a storm.

That's why they flex. So they don't break off.

You need to do a bit of studying on heavy jets. No company takes a brand new, untested aircraft up on a first flight and approaches anything like normal cruise speed. I would be surprised if they retracted the gear.

I was on a 747 flying through some rough weather once. The wings were flapping like an eagle that just picked up a salmon.

The wing flex on the 787 seemed a bit out of the ordinary considering the stripped down condition of the aircraft. You don't see that on other boeing craft so it must have something to do with teh plastic.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnHunt:
it must have something to do with teh plastic.

In theory, a "light weight" heavy aircraft actually will exhibit MORE wing flex than a "heavy" one.

I don't have the technical background to explain it in simple terms but the concept is similar to a heavy sea vessel in rough water versus a light one. The heavy vessels structure is more stable.
Physics was never my strong suit, ugh!

Boeing has alot of momentum riding on the 787.

Besides all the above replies, has anyone ever known Boeing to design a fragile plane?