Boeing's 6th and final 787 Dreamliner has successfully completed its long-delayed maiden sortie, despite being cut short by a liquid cooling leak. The aircraft, which is the 2nd of 2 General Electric GEnx-1B-powered 787's, departed Boeing's Paine Field in Everett, Washington at 11:41am yesterday and lasted just over an hour with an aircraft recovery at 12:45pm at Boeing Field in Seattle. The flight had been initially slated for several hours but was abbreviated following a "maintenance issue" and "as a pre-cautionary note decided to land at Boeing Field" instead of proceeding toward a planned intermediate stop at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, said Boeing. A liquid cooling leak encountered at 39000ft prompted the early conclusion to the flight. The 787's electronics are liquid cooled. "A flight of this length is still considered a successful 1st flight and we are proud to have the 6th and final flight test airplane enter the program," said Boeing in a statement. Boeing aims to deliver its 1st 787, a Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered example, to Japan's ANA, in the middle of the 1st quarter of 2011. Boeing has declined to say when the 1st GEnx-powered 787 will be delivered or to what operator, though it is believed that ROYAL AIR MAROC or JALis the likely 1st recipient.
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