747-8F Testing Complete

Yesterday Boeing announced that Certification testing for the 747-8F has completed flight testing. The final test flight was a 17-hour voyage around the United States in a very, ahem, unique flight path. The flight represented the culmination of a program that included over 1,200 test flights and 3,400 hours of flying time spread between the five test aircraft.

Boeing VP and 747 program manager Elizabeth Lund, who was featured in a CargoFacts.net photo back in March, had this to say: “We’ve put this airplane through its paces. We have tested it well beyond the design limits and well beyond anything the airplane will ever see in service … We are in the home stretch in delivering this airplane to our customers.”

If past programs are any judge, deliveries could begin early- to mid-September.

Photographer: Alex Kwanten