Boeing test pilots John E. Cashman and Kenny Higgins with WA001 at Paine Field. (Boeing)
12 June 1994: At 11:45 a.m., Boeing test pilots John E. Cashman and Kenny Higgins took the first Boeing 777-200 airliner, line number WA001, FAA registration N7771, on its first flight. Before taking off from Paine Field, Boeing’s president, Phil Condit, told Cashman, “Good luck, John. And no rolls!”, referring to the famous incident when Alvin M. “Tex” Johnston rolled the Model 367–80 prototype of the 707 airliner over Lake Washington, 6 August 1955.
The 777’s first test flight lasted 3 hours, 48 minutes. This was the longest first flight of any of Boeing’s airliners. It reached a maximum altitude of 19,000 feet (5,791 meters) and accomplished all tests on the flight plan, including shutting down and restarting an engine in flight.
Boeing 777-200 N7771, line number WA001, on its first flight, 12 June 1994. The chase plane is a Northrop T-38A Talon. (AP)
The Boeing 777-200 is operated by two pilots and, depending on its configuration can carry 314 to 440 passengers. It is 209 feet, 1 inch (63.729 meters) long with a wingspan of 199 feet, 11 inches (60.935 meters) and overall height of 60 feet, 9 inches (18.517 meters). The fuselage has a diameter of 20 feet, 4 inches (6.198 meters). The airliner has an empty weight of 297,300 pounds (134,853 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 545,000 pounds (247,208 kilograms).
WA001 was originally powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW4074 two-spool high-bypass-ratio turbofan engines which produce 77,000 pounds of thrust, each. Production airliners were equipped with PW4077 engines with the same thrust. General Electric and Rolls-Royce turbofans could also be ordered.
Boeing 777s have a cruise speed of 0.84 Mach (560 miles per hour, 901 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 0.89 Mach (590 miles per hour, 950 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling is 43,100 feet (13,137 meters). The 777-200 has a maximum range of 6,027 miles (9,700 kilometers) with maximum payload aboard.
Boeing 777 WA001, N7771. (Boeing)
The 777 series was the most comprehensively tested airplane in history. Nine aircraft were used in the test program. WA001 was in testing until April 1997, by which time it had accumulated 1,729 flight hours and another 1,033 hours of ground testing.
Purchased by Cathay Pacific, the first “Triple Seven” was completely refurbished and equipped for passenger service, configured as a 777-267. The engines were replaced by two Rolls-Royce RB211 Trent 884B-17 high-bypass turbofan engines. These engines are rated at 85,430 pounds of thrust for takeoff (5 minutes limit). Because of their lighter weight, the empty weight of the airliner was reduced approximately 7,500 pounds (3,400 kilograms). The airliner was rolled out of the factory for the second time 31 October 2000, and was delivered to the Cathay Pacific on 6 December, registered B-HNL. WA001 was retired 1 June 2018 and placed in storage at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (XMN), Xiamen, Fujian Province, People’s Republic of China. The first Triple-Seven is currently on display at the Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona.
Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 777-267, B-HNL, landing at Bankok, Thailand, 1 January 2014. (Teerawut Wongdee)
The 777 was produced in the 777-200 configuration, followed the 777-200ER (“extended range”) and 777-200LR (“longer range”) variants, a longer 777-300ER and a 777F freighter. A tanker version has been proposed. Eighty-eight 777-200 airliners were built before production halted in favor of the -200ER and -200LR models.
As of April 2023, 1,706 Boeing 777s of all models have been delivered. At that time, there were 6 777-300ER, 77 777F freighters, and 353 777Xs on order.
Ford Tri-Motor 4-AT-1, photographed at Ford Airport, Dearborn, Michigan, 5 June 1926. Note the open cockpit. (The Henry Ford)
11 June 1926: The first production Ford 4-AT-A Tri-Motor, serial number 4-AT-1, flew for the first time at Ford Airport, Dearborn, Michigan. It was registered NC2435.
Designed and built by the Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company as a commercial passenger transport, the Ford Tri-Motor was a high-wing monoplane with fixed landing gear, similar to the Fokker F.VII/3m. One engine was mounted at the nose, and two more were suspended under the wings. It had a crew of three and could carry up to eight passengers in a completely enclosed cabin.
A distinctive feature of the Tri-Motor’s construction was the corrugated metal skin which was used to provide strength and rigidity. Corrugated skin panels had been used on the Junkers F.13 in 1919. When Ford began marketing the Tri-Motor in Europe, Junkers sued for patent infringement and won. Ford counter-sued in a different court, and Junkers won again.)
Changes to production airplanes came quickly and no two of the early Tri-Motors were exactly alike.
Ford Tri-Motor 4-AT-1, photographed at Ford Airport, Dearborn, Michigan, 5 June 1926. (The Henry Ford)
The Ford 4-AT-A was 49 feet, 10 inches (15.189 meters) long with a wingspan of 74 feet, 00 inches (22.555 meters) and height of 11 feet, 9 inches (3.581 meters). It had an empty weight of 5,937 pounds (2,693 kilograms) and gross weight of 9,300 pounds (4,218 kilograms).
The 4-AT-A was powered by three air-cooled, normally-aspirated 787.26-cubic-inch-displacement (12.90 liter), Wright Aeronautical Corporation Model J-4 Whirlwind 9-cylinder radial engines. The J-4 Whirlwind had a compressionn ration of 5.3″1 producing 215 h.p. at 1,800 r.p.m., each, and turning two-bladed propellers. The J-4 Whirlwind was 34.0 inches (0.864 meters) long, 44.0 inches (1.118 meters) in diameter, and weighed 475 pounds (215 kilograms).
The Tri-Motor 4-AT-A could cruise at 95 miles per hour (153 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed of 114 miles per hour (184 kilometers per hour). Its service ceiling was 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) and it had a range of 500 miles (805 kilometers).
This photograph shows four of the first six Ford Tri-Motors at Ford Airport, Dearborn, Michigan, 27 June 1927. Left to right, 4-AT-3, NC3041, the third built; 4-AT-6, NC2492, the sixth Tri-Motor; U.S. Navy A-7526, the fourth 4-AT; and 4-AT-1, NC2435, the very first Ford Tri-Motor built. (Vintage Air)
This airplane was very popular at the time and was the foundation for many commercial airlines. Several were also in military service. Between 1926 and 1933, Ford built 199 Tri-Motors. Though advances in aeronautics quickly made the Tri-Motor obsolete, its ruggedness and simplicity kept it in service around the world for decades.
The very first production Ford Tri-Motor was operated by Ford’s airline, Ford Air Transport Service. It was re-registered NC1492. At 8:45 a.m., 12 May 1928, 4-AT-1 stalled on takeoff at Dearborn. The airliner crashed and caught fire. Pilots William Alexander Munn, 32, and Earl Kenneth Parker, 31, were killed.
Ford 4-AT-B, serial number 4-AT-19, civil registration NC5092, owned by the Standard Oil Company of California. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive)
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ Douglas DC-3-194, PH-ALI, Ibis.
1 June 1943: British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) Flight 777-A was a scheduled passenger flight from Lisboa-Portela de Sacavém Airport, in neutral Portugal, to Whitechurch Airport, Bristol, England. The airplane was a Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines) Douglas DC-3-194 twin-engine, 21-passenger commercial airliner, serial number 1590, with British registration G-AGBB.
Lisboa-Portela de Sacavém Airport, circa 1943. (Unattributed)
The DC-3 had been delivered to KLM by ship, the Holland-America passenger liner, SS Statendam, which arrived 11 September 1936. The airliner was assigned Netherlands registration PH-ALI and named Ibis. It was the first of ten DC-3s ordered by KLM, and it regularly flew a London–Amsterdam–Berlin schedule.
KLM’s DC-3s were configured with a three-seat flight deck. A third seat was placed behind the first pilot, for use by a radio operator/navigator. A chart table was behind the second pilot’s seat.
A KLM Douglas DC-3 PH-ASR, Roek, at Luchthaven Schiplol, 1940. The airliner is conspicuously painted and marked in neutrality colors.
When Germany invaded Holland in May 1940, Ibis was flown to England and was then leased to BOAC. Once in England, it was re-registered G-AGBB. Although it remained a civil aircraft, Ibis was painted in the standard Royal Air Force dark green, dark brown and gray camouflage. The original KLM flight crew continued to fly the airliner for BOAC.
Junkers Ju 88 C heavy fighter, 1943 (Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-484-2984-31A)
At about 12:45 p.m., a flight of eight Junkers Ju 88C fighters, which were patrolling the Bay of Biscay to protect transiting U-boats, encountered the camouflaged DC-3 and shot it down.
All those aboard, 13 passengers and 4 crew members, were killed. Actor, director and producer Leslie Howard, who portrayed “Ashley Wilkes” in the 1939 motion picture, “Gone With The Wind,” and R. J Mitchell, designer of the Supermarine Spitfire, in 1942’s “First of the Few,” was one of the passengers who died.
Leslie Howard (Los Angeles Times)
Ibis had been attacked by German fighters on two previous occasions. On 15 November 1942 a Messerschmitt Bf-110 twin-engine fighter damaged it. On 19 April 1943, six Bf-110s attacked. Both times the DC-3 had been damaged but was able to land safely.
Passenger manifest for B.O.A.C. Flight 777. (British Overseas Airways Corporation)
Douglas DC-8-11 N8008D takes of from Long Beach Airport, 10:10 a.m., 30 May 1958. The heavy exhaust smoke is a result of water injection. (Los Angeles Public Library)
30 May 1958: Douglas Aircraft Company Flight Operations Manager and engineering test pilot Arnold G. Heimerdinger, with co-pilot William M. Magruder and systems engineer Paul H. Patten, were scheduled to take off from Long Beach Airport (LGB) on the coast of southern California, at 10:00 a.m., to make the first flight of the new Douglas DC-8 jet airliner, c/n 45252, FAA registration N8008D.
Crowds of spectators, estimated as many as 50,000 people, were surrounding the airport. For this first test flight, the Federal Aviation Administration required a minimum of five miles visibility. Typical Southern California coastal low clouds and fog caused a ten minute delay.
Taking off at 10:10 a.m., N8008D climbed out to the south over the Pacific Ocean. Escorted by a company-owned Douglas DC-7 engineering and photo plane and a Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star chase, the DC-8 climbed to 11,000 feet (3,353 meters) and went through a series of pre-planned flight maneuvers and systems checks. Heimerdinger took the airliner north to Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert of southern California, where the full flight test program would be carried out. The total duration of the first flight was 2 hours, 10 minutes.
In an article written the following year, Heimerdinger said that the DC-8 was easy to fly and never presented any difficulties during the test program.
Douglas DC-8 N8008D accompanied by a U.S. Air Force Cessna T-37 chase plane during a test flight near Edwards Air Force Base, California. (Douglas Aircraft Company)
The Douglas DC-8 Jetliner is a commercial airliner, a contemporary of the Boeing 707 and Convair 880. It was operated by a flight crew of three and could carry up to 177 passengers. It was powered by four turbojet engines mounted on pylons suspended below the wings. The wings’ leading edges were swept to 30° as were the vertical fin and horizontal tailplane. The airplane is 150 feet, 6 inches (45.872 meters) long with a wingspan of 142 feet, 5 inches (43.409 meters) and overall height of 42 feet, 4 inches (12.903 meters). N8008D was a Series 10 version. It had an empty weight of 119,767 pounds (54,325 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 273,000 pounds (123,831 kilograms).
N8008D was originally powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT3C-6 turbojet engines, the same engines which powered its Boeing rival. It is a two-spool, axial-flow turbojet engine with a 16-stage compressor and 2-stage turbine. The JT3C-6 was rated at 11,200 pounds of thrust (49.82 kilonewtons), and 13,500 pounds (60.05 kilonewtons) with water/methanol injection). The JT3C is 11 feet, 6.6 inches (3.520 meters) long, 3 feet, 2.9 inches (0.988 meters) in diameter, and weighs 4,235 pounds (1,921 kilograms). The engines were later upgraded to JT3D-1 turbofan engines which produced 17,000 pounds of thrust.
The DC-8-10 series had a cruising speed of 0.82 Mach (542 miles per hour/872 kilometers per hour) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters). Its maximum range was 5,092 miles (8,195 kilometers).
Douglas DC-8 N9604Z. (Long Beach Public Library)
On 21 August 1961, a Douglas DC-8-43, N9604Z, c/n 45623, Line Number 130, flown by Chief Test Pilot William Magruder, Paul Patten, Joseph Tomich and Richard Edwards, climbed to 50,090 feet (15,267 meters) near Edwards Air Force Base. Magruder put the DC-8 into a dive, and the airplane reached Mach 1.012 (668 miles per hour/1,075 kilometers per hour) while descending through 41,088 feet (12,524 meters). The airliner maintained this supersonic speed for 16 seconds.
This was the first time that a civil airliner had “broken the Sound Barrier.” An Air Force F-100 Super Sabre and F-104 Starfighter were chase planes for this flight. Reportedly, the F-104 was flown by the legendary test pilot, Colonel Chuck Yeager.
Douglas DC-8-43 N9604Z, in Canadian Pacific livery, is accompanied by a U.S. Air Force Lockheed F-104A-10-LO Starfighter, 56-0749, near Edwards Air Force Base, California. The dark sky suggests that the airplanes are at a very high altitude. (Unattributed)
N9604Z was powered by four Rolls-Royce Conway RCo.12 Mk 509 two-shaft axial-flow turbofan engines, rated at 17,500 pounds of thrust (77.844 kilonewtons) at 9,990 r.p.m. The 509 is 11 feet, 3.9 inches (3.452 meters) long, 3 feet, 6.2 inches (1.072 meters) in diameter, and weighs 4,542 pounds (2,060 kilograms).
N9604Z was delivered to Canadian Pacific Airlines, 15 November 1961, registered CF-CPG, and named Empress of Montreal. It later flew under CP Air as Empress of Buenos Aires. It was scrapped at Opa Locka Municipal Airport, north of Miami, Florida, in May 1981.
In 1960, N8008D was converted to the DC-8-51 configuration. With a change to the more powerful JT3D-1 turbofan engines, the airliners maximum takeoff weight was increased to 276,000 pounds (125,191 kilograms).
After the flight test and commercial certification program was completed, on 21 June 1961, Douglas leased N8008D to National Airlines, based at Miami, Florida. One year later, 20 June 1961, it was sold to Trans International Airlines. TIA leased the DC-8 to Lufthansa, 11 May 1965, and to Canadian Pacific, 1 October 1966. It was re-registered CF-CPN and named Empress of Santiago.
Douglas DC-8-51 N8008D, owned by Trans International Airways, was photographed at London Gatwick Airport, 23 July 1966. (RuthAS)
TIA sold the DC-8 to Delta Airlines, Atlanta, Georgia, 1 October 1967. It reverted to its FAA-assigned registration, N8008D. Delta gave it fleet number 800.
In March 1979, Delta sold N8008D to F.B. Myers and Associates. On 1 April, F.B. Myers leased the it to Aerovias de México, S.A. de C.V. (Aeroméxico). The DC-8 was assigned Mexican registration XA-DOE and named Quintana Roo.
The first Douglas DC-8 was placed in storage at Marana-Pinal Airpark, north of Tucson, Arizona, 7 January 1982. In May 1989, it was sold to Agro Air, a Caribbean regional cargo airline. It remained at Marana and was used as a source of parts. In 2001, c/n 45252 it was scrapped.
Between 1959 and 1972, Douglas produced 556 DC-8s in passenger and freighter configurations.
Arnold George Heimerdinger, Flight Operations Manager, Douglas Aircraft Company. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)
Arnold George Heimerdinger was born in Manchester Township, Michigan, 7 December 1910. His parents were Charles and Minnie L. Uphaus Heimerdinger. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Michigan. Heimerdinger married Miss Mary Aileen Eggert 19 August 1935.
A.G. Heimerdinger was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy, 27 November 1942 and served as a Naval Aviator until he was released from active duty, 14 October 1945.
Heimerdinger worked as an engineering test pilot for the Federal Aviation Administration, and he flew certification tests of the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, Convair 240 and 340 Metroliner, and the Lockheed L-640 and L-1049 Constellation.
He joined the Douglas Aircraft Company at Santa Monica, California, in 1952 and remained with the company until he retired in 1974. He was the project test pilot for the Douglas DC-6B and the DC-7. Transferring to Douglas’ Long Beach Division, a few miles southeast, he was project test pilot for the DC-8 and DC-9 jet airliners.
Arnold G. “Heimie” Heimerdinger died at Santa Monica, California, 17 July 1975.
N401PW, the first Boeing 747-400 airliner. (The Boeing Company)
29 April 1988: Boeing test pilots James C. Loesch and Kenneth Higgins take the new Boeing 747-400, serial number 23719, registration N401PW, for its first flight from Paine Field, landing at Boeing Field 2 hours 29 minutes later.
The 747-400 was a major development of the 747 series. It had many structural and electronics improvements over the earlier models, which had debuted 18 years earlier. New systems, such as a “glass cockpit”, flight management computers, and new engines allowed it to be flown with a crew of just two pilots, and the position of Flight Engineer became unnecessary.
Roll-out, Boeing 747-400 c/n 23719. (The Boeing Company)
The most visible features of the –400 are its longer upper deck and the six-foot tall “winglets” at the end of each wing, which improve aerodynamic efficiency be limiting the formation of wing-tip vortices.
On 27 June 1988, this 747-400 set a Maximum Takeoff Weight record for airliners by lifting off at Moses Lake, Washington at 892,450 pounds (405,659 kilograms).¹ At the time of its first flight, Boeing had already received orders for 100 747-400s. It would become the most popular version, with 694 aircraft built by the time production came to an end 15 March 2007.
Cockpit of a Boeing 747-400 airliner.
The Boeing 747-400 airliner can carry between 416 and 660 passengers, depending on configuration. It is 231 feet, 10 inches (70.6 meters) long with a wingspan of 211 feet, 5 inches (64.4 meters) and overall height of 63 feet, 8 inches (19.4 meters). Empty weight is 394,100 pounds (178,800 kilograms). Maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) is 875,000 pounds (396,890 kilograms).
Northwest Boeing 747-451 N661US on approach to Osaka. (Wikipedia Commons)
While the prototype was powered by four Pratt & Whitney PW4056 turbofan engines, production airplanes could be ordered with PW4062, General Electric CF6 or Rolls-Royce RB211 engines, providing thrust ranging from 59,500 to 63,300 pounds.
The –400 has a cruise speed of 0.85 Mach (567 miles per hour, 912 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 0.92 Mach (614 miles per hour, 988 kilometers hour). Maximum range at maximum payload weight is 7,260 nautical miles (13,450 kilometers).
Northwest Airlines’ Boeing 747-451, N661US, on approach to Osaka Kansai International Airport, 11 June 2007. (Photograph courtesy of Dennis Lau)
After the test program was completed, the prototype 747-400 was outfitted for airline service. It was operated by Northwestern Airlines and is currently in service with Delta Air Lines. It has been re-registered as N661US, and carries the Delta fleet number 6301.
N661US was the aircraft operated as Northwest Airlines Flight 85 on 9 October 2002 when it suffered a rudder hardover while over the North Pacific Ocean. The aircraft went into a sudden 40° left bank when a hydraulic power unit for the lower rudder failed due to a fatigue fracture. This incident is considered to be an excellent example of Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) as the flight crew successfully landed the airplane at Anchorage, Alaska.
Boeing 747-451 N661US, Delta Air Lines, landing at Tokyo-Narita International Airport, 25 July 2009. (Photograph courtesy of Kazuchika Naya)
After flying its final revenue flight, 9 September 2015, as Flight 836, Honolulu to Atlanta, N661US was stored at Delta Technical Operations. It is now displayed at the Delta Flight Museum, Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.
Delta’s Ship 6301, N661US, completes its final flight, landing at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, 9 September 2015. (Delta Flight Museum)
