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| Following the successful first flight of the 737 MAX, (L-R) 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 briefed news media. Photo: Marian Lockhart/Boeing |
[Avionics Today 02-01-2016] Boeing’s 737 MAX 8 took to the skies for the first time on Jan. 29, marking the beginning of a comprehensive flight-test program leading up to eventual certification and delivery.
The first member of the 737 MAX flight testing family completed a two-hour, 47-minute flight, taking off from Renton, Wash., and landing at Seattle’s Boeing Field. The aircraft features LEAP-1B engines from CFM International, Boeing-designed winglets, electric power systems from UTC Aerospace Systems, Rockwell Collins large-format flight displays, and other new technologies that aim to deliver new fuel and operational efficiencies to the single-aisle aircraft.
“The flight was a success,” said 737 MAX Chief Pilot Ed Wilson. “The 737 MAX just felt right in flight giving us complete confidence that this airplane will meet our customers’ expectations.”
With the other three members of the 737 MAX 8 flight-test fleet currently in different stages of final assembly, the 737 MAX remains on track for first delivery to launch customer Southwest Airlines in the third quarter of 2017.