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...

747-8I Trip Report

Back in late February I had to fly to Barcelona, so I seized the opportunity to fly on the 747-8I with Lufthansa. I've flown in a number of 747s before but this was my first trip in the 8I.

The route of the flight was Carlsbad (KCRQ) - Los Angeles (KLAX) - Frankfurt (EDDF) - Barcelona (LEBL). The equipment was:

• KCRQ-KLAX: Skywest/United Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia (N584SW there, N221SW back)
• KLAX-EDDF: Lufthansa Boeing 747-8I  (D-ABYI there, D-ABYL back)
• EDDF-LEBL: Lufthansa Airbus A321-200 (D-AISP there, D-AIDL back)

The Embraer, by the way, was a fun little twenty minute flight. The greatest part of this was the service from a quiet airport ten minutes from my house, with all the perks of connecting. Although, actually connecting at LAX from terminal 8 to the Tom Brady International terminal is extremely inconvenient. It's a looooooooong walk and there's no transportation (other than a $20 taxi around the loop). At least I didn't have to worry about my luggage.

The 747-8I is a 747 through and through. I sat in premium economy, which is nice. It's really what all standard economy seating should be; enough room to be comfortable and retain a little dignity. Lufthansa's interiors are immaculate and modern. The plane itself vibrated a bit on takeoff both times, but other than that was a smooth ride. Very 747 like. Feels like a flying tank. Nothing feels 'widebody' to me like a 747. You can feel the inertia absorb turbulence, turning it into more of a comfortable rumble rather than a disconcerting rattle. The engines are amazingly quiet. I almost missed the racket you usually hear on takeoff. Now it's more of just a calm, firm push back into your seat.

I've talked about it before, but I went into the cabin and talked to the pilot and copilot. You can read about his comments here.

Some pictures, and then full videos of takeoff and descent below:

Brasilia at Carlsbad

Flight to Germany. They must have known I was coming.

Entertainment

Frankfurt is still a 747 haven.

D-ABYH had an issue, so they wheeled her off. She flew a different route later in the day.

D-ABYL rolls in to save the day.

747-8I cockpit

Here is video I took of the departure and the landing coming back from Frankfurt: 

I also captured a bit of the return trip departure and arrival on the Brasilia coming home from Los Angeles:

Air China Order Filled

Early this morning the final 747-8I for Air China, line 1518 RC072 B-2480, flew off on her delivery flight. Thus another 747-8I order is filled.

Via Woody

Now that Air China has all seven airframes (from an initial order of five and a top up of two), it sure would be nice if they decided they want a nice even number of 747-8s, like 10, or 20. At least they're all being used for passenger flight. Early on there were rumors anywhere from two to all of them would be for VIP only.

And on a related note, one of Air China's frames, line 1510 B-2479, is in Germany undergoing a VIP conversion. This plane has been flying in a passenger only config since delivery late last year, including long haul routes to New York and San Francisco, so I postulate this is some sort of swappable conversion, and she'll be able to be used as VIP when needed and a passenger plane the rest of the time. That's the smart way to do VIP.

Line 1435 - First Flight for the Third Time

Line 1435 RC021 flew again today. This is sort of a first flight after the extended rework following the test program completed over a year ago. And that test program was after an extended rework following the original 748I test flight program.

It's still unclear what the future holds for 1435. Some say she's destined to sit in the desert. I'm starting to feel that's what's in store for her as well. If that's the case, she'll probably head down to Marana in the next few days. So get your pics of her now!

From Matt Cawby, line 1435 shedding a tear of rejection.

70's Flashback Delivery

Today, line 1513 RC039 D-ABYT delivered in all of her retro glory. Only one left for Lufthansa to take...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/woodysaeroimages/

Short Chat with a Lufthansa 747-8I Captain

I had a quick chat with a Lufthansa 747-8I pilot recently on my way home (I'm still working on a writeup of the flight). Landing in LAX, I asked to go see the cockpit (which I always feel a little stupid doing as a grown man, but screw it), and the crew gratiously invited me upstairs. In the cabin were the captain and the much younger first officer, still shutting the plane down.

The first thing I noticed is the cockpit looked rather old. I was expecting a much more drastic update from the 744, but I couldn't really tell the difference.

The captain was friendly but seemed disengaged from his job (as opposed to the KLM pilot I talked to last year who loved talking about the MD-11). He didn't know anything about a top off order, and he didn't even know how many 748s were in the fleet. I pretended like I didn't either. I asked him about efficiency, and he said the fuel burn was about the same as the 744, and the efficiency was due to the airframe stretch and the additional passengers.

I've heard two stories on this subject. One Lufthansa 748 pilot on Airliners.net has said that the 748 uses noticebly less fuel on a stage than the 744, but this pilot said it's about the same. If it is the latter, it's disappointing. I would expect the 748, with it's four state of the art GEnx-2B engines, to burn less fuel than the old 744 engines. Otherwise, what was the point of the new engines? If they have to work harder to carry the stretch, that seems like a bad return on the more efficient engines.

Yankee Sierra Delivers

Line 1512 RC038 D-ABYS delivered to Lufthansa. This is their 17th frame. Only two left to go. (?)

Woody's Aeroimages

Boeing's Buy 99 Get 1 Free Sale

Leeham News reported this morning that Boeing is offering Emirates up to 100 improved 747-8Is. This is really a crazy story, but I love this story and hope it's true. Apparently Boeing is going around the CEO and putting the offer to his boss. Being that it's a rumor, the details are sparse right now. Here's a mock up of what an Emirates 748 might look like:

Two First Flights for January

Both line 1504 RC512 LX-VCL, 748F #12 for Cargolux, and line 1512 RC038 D-ABYS, 748I #17 for Lufthansa, made first flights this month. Both are scheduled to deliver in February. Here they are, learning to fly:

Line 1512 RC038 D-ABYS, by Matt Cawby

Line 1504 RC512 LX-VCL

Line 1504 returning to KPAE after B1