One of Boeing's new 747-8F flight test airplanes made a stop here at CVG, and a lot of us GE folks were able to go out and see it up close and personal.
You may remember me sharing a similar story a few years ago when Airbus flew their A380 flight test plane out here for us to see. This time, Boeing granted the same favor to us. So last Thursday afternoon, I got to go out to CVG with a few busloads of my coworkers and we got to see the fruits of our labor.
We arrived at the airport before the plane had landed, so we got to see the airplane make an approach and landing, which was pretty exciting. Then we got to walk around the plane and tour it, an opportunity that very few people get!
The 747-8F is a freighter version, so it is basically intended to carry cargo. But there is a similar model out now (the 747-8 International) that is intended to carry passengers and compete with the A380. The new 747-8I can hold between 400-500 passengers when fully-loaded. The new 747-8 models are essentially modernized versions of the original 747 design, with new engines, avionics, and wing/body improvements designed to increase fuel efficiency and decrease maintenance load. At GE, we are proud to supply the engine for this airplane, the GEnx-2B high-bypass turbofan engine. On the 747-8 models, there are 4 engines, each capable of producing about 67,000 pounds of thrust.
The model I work on is actually the GEnx-1B, which powers the 787 Dreamliner. But the two models (GEnx-1B and GEnx-2B) are very similar in design. I hope that one of these days, the good folks at Boeing will fly a 787 out here for our enjoyment!
Enjoy some photos from the afternoon!
No comments:
Post a Comment