Boeing’s third 777X, WH033, took to the skies for the first time today, a welcome milestone in the rollout of the aircraft, after its initial delivery schedule was recently pushed back.
Sporting Boeing’s new testing livery, WH003 took off Paine Field in Everett, Washington, at approximately 1:55pm local time on Monday.
Today we began flying our third #777X jet, WH003. Sporting our new test livery, WH003 will test propulsion performance as part of our rigorous test program. pic.twitter.com/u19aBa23Xq
— Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) August 4, 2020
The aircraft headed to Moses Lake, where she performed a few touch-and-goes, before heading back to Boeing Field.
WH003 touched down again at 4:42pm local time.
The new milestone for the Chicago-based manufacturer follows in the footsteps of two previous test flights, with WH001 performing its maiden flight on 25 January 2020, and WH002 performing its inaugural flight on 30 April.
Today @BoeingAirplanes reached its next milestone of the #777X program as the third aircraft joined the test fleet completing its two hour and 45 minute first flight. Congrats to the 777X team. This aircraft will eventually got to @lufthansa. @Lufthansa_USA @GEAviation #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/5yseZ5gBjw
— B (@brandonsblog) August 4, 2020
According to Boeing, the latest test flight, with WH003, was intended to test its propulsion performance.
WH003 and WH004 – the next in line to perform its first flight – are both expected to be delivered to Lufthansa in 2022, after the delivery schedule of the first 777Xs was pushed back, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MERVYN CROWE
says:The rego of the 3rd B777X is N779XY…for all the enthusiasts out there….which includes me.