EVERETT, Wash. (AP) - The Federal Aviation Administration has certified the gigantic cargo plane Boeing Co. built to transport large sections of its new 787 Dreamliner, the airplane maker said Monday.
The modified 747, dubbed the Dreamlifter, has completed 437 hours of flight tests and 639 hours of ground tests since its first flight in early September 2006.
Boeing has two Dreamlifters in flying condition, is modifying a third in Taipei, and a fourth is waiting its turn.
To make each Dreamlifter, Boeing lops off the top of a 747-400 passenger plane, fattens up the fuselage, then adds hinges to one side of the tail so it can swing open.
The Dreamlifter has a cargo capacity of 65,000 cubic feet, more than twice that of the 747 freighters that shipping companies like United Parcel Service Inc. fly.
Evergreen International Airlines of McMinnville, Ore., will operate the Dreamlifter fleet, flying fuselage sections, wings and other large components from factories in Japan, Italy, South Carolina and Kansas to Boeing's final assembly plant in this city north of Seattle.
The modified 747, dubbed the Dreamlifter, has completed 437 hours of flight tests and 639 hours of ground tests since its first flight in early September 2006.
Boeing has two Dreamlifters in flying condition, is modifying a third in Taipei, and a fourth is waiting its turn.
To make each Dreamlifter, Boeing lops off the top of a 747-400 passenger plane, fattens up the fuselage, then adds hinges to one side of the tail so it can swing open.
The Dreamlifter has a cargo capacity of 65,000 cubic feet, more than twice that of the 747 freighters that shipping companies like United Parcel Service Inc. fly.
Evergreen International Airlines of McMinnville, Ore., will operate the Dreamlifter fleet, flying fuselage sections, wings and other large components from factories in Japan, Italy, South Carolina and Kansas to Boeing's final assembly plant in this city north of Seattle.
