Tuesday, October 4, 2011

  First carbon-composite passenger jet: Boeing 787 Dreamliner sets world record (HD Video)

 TOKYO, Japan -- Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways' first Boeing 787 Dreamliner touched down in Tokyo, with hundreds of aviation fans welcoming the light-weight aircraft with an airframe made of carbon composites which will go into service this month , setting the world record for the world's first carbon-composite passenger jet to enter commercial service, according to World Record Academy (www.worldrecordacademy.com).

  Photo: The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the World's First Carbon-composite Passenger Jet delivered to ANA lands at Tokyo's Haneda Airport. Photo courtesy Boeing ( enlarge photo )

The Guinness world record for the longest cargo loader measures 35.96 m (118 ft 1 in) long and will be used in conjunction with the modified Boeing 747-400 ("Dreamlifter") freighters.

Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the greatest number of passengers ever carried by a commercial airliner is 1,088, by an El Al Boeing 747 during Operation Solomon, which involved the evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

   The Dreamliner is designed to be lighter and faster because of new fuel-efficient engines and an outside structure largely made of composite materials - carbon fibers meshed together with epoxy - instead of sheets of aluminum.

   Inside the plane, travelers in every class will experience more natural light from wider windows, a wider variety of in-flight entertainment, and higher humidity so passengers don't suffer as frequently from dry eyes and headaches.

    The Dreamliner sports bigger drop-down overhead luggage bins, and window shades have been eliminated in favor of buttons that adjust light coming into the cabin.

  The cabin features soft "blue-sky lighting" instead of white fluorescent light. That feature will be standard not only on the Dreamliner but also on Boeing's 747 jumbo jet and its 737 jet.

   "This truly is the first new airplane of the 21st century," Jim Albaugh, chief executive of Boeing's commercial airplanes division, said last week when the company formally delivered its first passenger-ready Dreamliner to All Nippon.

 "Today will always be remembered as the dawn of a new day in commercial aviation."

   All Nippon, Japan's largest airline, is designing its Dreamliner with wider seats in business class that recline into beds; touch-panel LCD screens that offer movies, videos and gaming; and bathrooms that include a bidet-style toilet.

   For now, the Dreamliner represents aviation's most advanced offering.

  At Dreamliner delivery ceremony, Boeing's Albaugh put it this way: "It's not often that we have the chance to make history, to do something big and bold that will change the world in untold ways and endure long after we are gone."

   A ticket for two seats on the inaugural ANA 787 Boeing Dreamliner flight between Narita and Hong Kong has sold on eBay for AU$32,700 (HK$245,645), according to Australian Business Traveller.

   The Dreamliner, which is slated to become one of the most efficient commercial aircraft in the sky, will make its first flight on October 26 between Japan's Narita International Airport and Hong Kong International Airport, then retrace its 3.5-hour route back to Japan the following day.

   ANA's auction package included two business class tickets on both flights plus accommodation at the Kowloon Shangri-La hotel, in Hong Kong.
   To highlight the energy efficiency of the Boeing 787, all proceeds from the auction will go to Conservation International Japan, an environmental protection agency.