Aircraft

Boeing 737 MAX takes off

View 7 Images
The 737 MAX takes off from Renton on its maiden test fight
Paul Gordon/Boeing
The 737 MAX flying over Lake Washington
Matthew Thompson/Boeing
The 737 MAX takes off from Renton on its maiden test fight
Paul Gordon/Boeing
The 737 MAX landing at Boeing Field
Jim Anderson/Boeing
One of the first air-to-air photos of the 737 MAX
Paul Weatherman/Boeing
The 737 MAX over Washington State
Paul Weatherman/Boeing
Boeing Chief Test Pilot and Vice President of Flight Operations Craig Bomben and 737 MAX Chief Pilot Ed Wilson disembark the Boeing 737 Max
Paul Gordon/Boeing
Boeing Chief Test Pilot and Vice President of Flight Operations Craig Bomben, 737 MAX Chief Pilot Ed Wilson and Keith Leverkuhn, vice president and general manager, 737 MAX program
Marian Lockhart/Boeing
View gallery - 7 images

The first of the new generation of Boeing 737 MAX airliners to roll off the assembly line has made its maiden flight. Today's flight of the 737 MAX 8 began at 9:46 am PST from Renton Field in Washington State and ended at Boeing Field in Seattle at 12:33 pm. The flight marks the start of Boeing's test flight program for certification and delivery.

The first flight of the 737 MAX 8 was under the command of 737 MAX Chief Pilot Ed Wilson and Boeing Chief Test Pilot and Vice President of Flight Operations Craig Bomben, who carried out a series of maneuvers to test the airframe and systems while telemetry automatically monitored the results. During the 2 hour 47 minute flight, the aircraft flew attained a maximum altitude of 25,000 ft (7,620 m) and an airspeed of 250 knots (288 mph 463 pm/h).

Today's flight was carried out by the first of the 737 MAX 8 aircraft and three more are currently under construction. Incorporating LEAP-1B engines and Boeing-designed Advanced Technology winglets, the single-aisle airliner is the first of the new 737 family, which includes the 737 MAX 7, MAX 8, MAX 200, and MAX 9.

The 737 MAX flying over Lake Washington
Matthew Thompson/Boeing

According to Boeing, the 737 MAX will deliver 20 percent greater fuel efficiency over the previous generation of 737s (which just to confuse us is called the Next-Generation 737). It has a range of 3,500 nm (6,510 km), which is 340 to 570 nm (629 to 1,055 km) greater than the Next-Generation 737.

Boeing say it has so far secured 3,072 orders from 62 customers for the 737 MAX, with the first delivery to Southwest Airlines slated for late 2017.

Source: Boeing

View gallery - 7 images
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
4 comments
CAVUMark
If it ain't Boeing, I,m not going. Great aircraft.
Bob
The first flight of a new plane is always exciting and fortunately not as dangerous as it used to be. My father was a jet test pilot in the early 1950s. Flying new designs and making the first flights of many new planes right off the assembly lines before they were delivered to the USAF. It was a civilian job testing and flying military jets. Simulated missions and bombing runs over the desert were daily flight assignments. It was a very dangerous job and after several close calls he gave it up after five years. By ten years later he was the only survivor of the original nine test pilots that he had flown with. The swept wing airliners of today are descendants of those military planes that many brave men gave their lives to develop.
Stickmaker
Awwww... They got rid of the "chipmunk cheek" nacelles...
noteugene
20% fuel savings. And I wonder how much of that savings is going to trickle down to the consumer? My guess is zero because that is the exact amount current customers are saving even though oil has gone from near $100 a barrel to about a third of that. Newspaper article other day said the airlines are pocketing not millions but BILLIONS. So, I really don't see this as much of an advantage for me. hurrah anyway.