Look at this beautiful !@#$ing plane

Woody is the man

I mean look at it! God damn the 748I is a sexy beast. And click this link and bookmark it because this guy is always taking amazing airplane pictures up around KPAE.

This was Korean Airlines' HL7637, line 1529, delivering yesterday, their seventh of ten ordered frames.

Korean Airlines Delivery of Line 1531

Today Korean Airlines took delivery of line 1531 RC057 HL7638. This is their sixth of ten ordered 747-8Is. Another should deliver in the next month or so.

Taxi test and takeoff sequence below. And you thought I didn't care anymore!

Korean Air Takes Their First 747-8I

Today, Boeing and Korean Air celebrated the delivery of their first 747-8I, line 1506 RC051 HL7630. This marks the first of ten Intercontinentals for Korean Air. Unfortunately for us, these ten will probably be the last ten 747-8Is to deliver in passenger configuration.

Korean Air in the Air

Line 1506 RC051 HL7630, Korean Air's first 747-8I, had her first flight today. She's been sitting around in storage for eleven months, so it's about time. Korean Air should take their first 748I next month, with nine more to follow.

Great shot by Royal S King

Pakistan International Airlines Rumored to be Buying Five 747-8Is

There's a credible rumor going around that PIA is looking at five 747-8Is, but this could actually be a sign of bad news for the 747-8I. One version of the rumor is that Korean Airlines has delayed or cancelled five of their ten ordered 747-8Is, which turns a potential PIA order into more of a scramble to place unwanted 747-8Is. Korean Air already has seven of their ten frames in various stages of construction (one is painted and looks complete, one is getting seats installed and should be painted soon, two are in final assembly, and three are in early stages of assembly).

Developing...

Korean Airlines First 747-8I Rollout

Today, the first 747-8I for Korean Airlines rolled out.

Cawby pic

Line 1506 (RC051) is scheduled to deliver next year, so prepare to see this frame sit for a long while. Nothing new. This frame begins a string of 747-8I rollouts. 13 of the next 14 frames to come out of the factory will be 747-8Is.

Silk Way seems to be inching their way closer and closer to a delivery. Both of their frames have flown the past two days, and they apparently have financing sorted.

Korean Confirms, Delta Distances

Korean Air firmed up their top up order of five additional 747-8Is, as part of an order that included six 773ERs and one 787. This means Korean now has ten 747-8Is on order, which should start delivering next year.

Delta CEO Richard Anderson was recently quoted as saying "We had four engines when jet engine technology wasn't advanced. Now jet engines are amazing, amazing machines and you only need two of them". I've had hopes that Delta would be a 747-8I customer. They like proven architectures. They have ten 100,000+ hour 747-400s coming up on retirement around 2017. They like good deals and I'm sure Boeing would be willing to make them happy on price. Anderson, however, seems to throw a wet towel on the prospect. As an aside, his quote sounds a bit Titanic-ish to me in light of the recent issues with GE's most modern "amazing, amazing machines" (re core icing). I'm not saying they aren't amazing; I'm saying they aren't amazing enough for me to not want four of them when I'm 40,000 feet up.

No deliveries to speak of. A rollout, line 1490 (RC510) LX-VCJ for Cargolux (fully painted but no engines), and a test flight for old line 1437 (RC573) today, if the endless fog lifts at Everett. Still trying to figure out what's going on with the latter frame.

Korean Wants Five More 747-8Is

Today in Paris, Korean Air and Boeing announced that they've signed a purchase commitment for another five 747-8Is. This is a top up order, as they'd already ordered five, so now they'll have a total of ten. This is great news, as Korean Air has always been a big 747 customer, and it looks like that will continue for a few decades.

Here's the press release.