Earlier today the second new airliner in as many days took off on its maiden flight. After yesterday’s successful first flight of the Bombardier CSeries, the new Boeing 787-9 flew away from the factory north of Seattle for the first time. Both airplanes are examples of the next generation of airliners with extensive use of composites, as well as fuel-efficient engines that make them attractive to airlines. And both companies also like to mention the increased amount of space in the overhead bins to highlight the improvements that really matter.The new CS100 is the largest airplane ever made by the Canadian company. Bombardier is best know for its smaller regional jets and turbo-prop airliners that carry less than 100 passengers. The new CS100 will carry around 110 passengers and is aimed squarely at the duopoly of Boeing and Airbus that currently own that part of the airliner business.
Yesterday’s first flight was successful, with the test pilots saying just one small warning light appeared during the flight, but was not an issue. One of the most common comments from those at the first flight — which took place at the factory airport north of Montreal — was how quiet the airplane was during takeoff. The Canadian Broadcasting Company reports some people on the ground missed the take-off because it was a few minutes early, and the airplane made very little noise.
The lack of noise is thanks to the new engines from Pratt & Whitney. In addition to being fuel efficient, the quiet engines will also make the airplane more attractive for airlines that operate in and out of airports with strict noise limits. Bombardier believes the quiet nature of the CSeries will become increasingly popular as noise concerns grow, especially at smaller airports likely to be served by the smaller airliner.
Two thousand miles to the west, Boeing’s new stretched version of the 787 Dreamliner departed on its first flight at 11:02 a.m. PDT. The new 787-9 is 20 feet longer than the current version of the 787 and can carry up to 290 passengers, 40 more than the 787-8. The longer Dreamliner can also fly 300 miles further, giving it the ability to connect a few more city pairs around the world.
With a less than dreamy start for the original including delays during manufacturing, flight test and the grounding of the fleet earlier this year, the new Dreamliner model remains on schedule to be delivered to Air New Zealand by the middle of 2014.
The test pilots on board today are the same pilots we flew with last year. They are expected to fly for about five hours, and the first flight the new airplane can be followed in real time with Boeing’s new flight tracker website.
With the CSeries and the 787-9 leaving the ground for the first time this week, and the Airbus A350 XWB that completed its first flight back in June, there are now three new composite airliners currently in flight test programs.
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