After EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, I had posted some shots of 787-001 on the Boeing Store's Facebook fan page. On September 12, I received a phone call from Boeing asking if I'd like to be their guest and attend the official handover ceremony at Everett, Washington.
Here are some highlights from those two days:
Boeing employees escort JA801A to her place of honor during the handover ceremony in a rather steady rain. The sense of pride and accomplishment was evident everywhere.
Fast forward to "oh dark thirty" on September 27...
Ground crew and well wishers surround the bird prior to her departure for Japan
Taxiing out to face the wider world
Taking the active with the DreamLifter in the background
Line Up and Wait
Gaggles of Boeing folks could be found all along the departure runway as the 787 accelerated for takeoff.
Moment Of Truth...
Given that she was lightly loaded and brand new, she was quickly up into the clouds like a homesick angel and gone.
In addition to the 787 festivities, I was also treated to a walking tour of both the Everett and Renton facilities and a tour of the Museum of Flight with Boeing's corporate historian.
My thanks to Jim Newcomb and Mike Wasch at Boeing for this awesome opportunity.
(I know some of the WBs vary but these are quick and dirty LR edits. Proper tweaking will need some use of CS5.)
Nice pics of the new bird, though!
