Toughest flight-tests for the Dreamliner
Boeing's 787's flight-test programme is nearing its most gruelling phase with a forthcoming visit to remote airfields in the south-west USA to sharpen the edges of its operating envelope.
The lead flight-test aircraft ZA001 will shortly position to Edwards AFB in California for take-off and landing validation and certification testing, which includes velocity minimum unstick trials that will see the rear fuselage deliberately scraped along the runway to establishing minimum flying speeds.
It will then go to Roswell, New Mexico for aerodynamic braking certification, to test the strength and effectiveness of its stopping ability in the event of a rejected take-off at maximum weight."Just like any certification programme, you start it up, you have to go define the performance.
We've done all the testing that we need to do. We do all the safety, all the fundamental testing, we've done all that and now it's our job to go out and take the airplane and find every ounce, every inch of performance," says 787 chief pilot Mike Carriker.
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