who enjoys watching something more than the usual straight and level flying, it’s a great video that includes stall testing (which in a 747 equals a lot of nose drop), flutter testing with some dramatic wing flex and the always interesting Vmu testing where the pilots drag the tail along the runway.

Featured in the video is Boeing’s chief 747 pilot, Mark Feuerstein, whom we joined in a 747-8 simulator in January. Feuerstein and the 747-8 flight test team are nearing the program’s halfway mark, having flown nearly 1,500 hours in the new jumbo jet since its inaugural flight in February.

We’re the first to say there’s plenty of corporate cheerleading in Boeing’s video, but it’s still impressive to see a 747-8 can fly.

While the flight testing continues, the 747-8 assembly line is also moving along well. The first airplane will be a cargo version delivered to launch customer Cargolux. Recently the first passenger version, known as the 747-8 Intercontinental, was joined together on the assembly line and the internal power was turned on for the first time.

While not quite as big as the Airbus A380, the 747-8 Intercontinental is the biggest passenger airplane Boeing has ever produced and is expected to be delivered in late 2011. Like the 787, the cargo version has suffered several delays, but it should be the first of the new airplanes delivered to a customer, most likely, early in the new year.

Photo/Video: Boeing

Authors: Jason Paur

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