Boeing 777X flight test crew upbeat on its performance

FlightGlobal is reporting that Boeing’s 777X flight test team is very upbeat on the giant twin's handling and performance. The Boeing 777X is appearing at the Singapore Air Show. It said, “Brian Hermesmeyer, senior director of product marketing, says the test program’s four aircraft have completed 650 flights and accumulated some 1,900hrs.” This includes a 20hr sortie from Seattle to Singapore. SEE Qatar Airways Australia reopening sale Van Chaney, chief test pilot for the 777/777X shares told FlightGlobal that “it’s been a really, really good program so far. The engines have been wonderful and the systems have been good – usually we spend a lot of time on systems.” Mr. Chaney said that he had been expecting a few issues with the 777X’s folding wingtips but that the 777X’s signature design feature has been “really good.” Boeing told the media and the Singapore Air Show that it is still on track for its first delivery in late 2023. At the Dubai Air Show in November Boeing SVP Mike Fleming told media that the US regulator in the wake of the two 737 MAX crashes, in 2018 and 2019, “told us to look at the (flight control system) architecture” and for it to have “more dissimilarities in some of the components, to make them less susceptible to a common error”. Fleming told media that the 777X-9’s flight test program had moved to the right to ensure “high reliability and maturity” upon EIS. When it enters service it will be the most rigorously tested aircraft Boeing has ever built. There were 19 months of program analysis and 10 months of ground testing before the first flight in late January 2020. By the time it enters service Boeing says it will have 3500 flight hours on the four 777X test aircraft. Fleming told media that “the (737 MAX) accidents caused us to reflect on development programs and what we do, and we’re taking those lessons learned on the Max and extending those onto the next development programs.” Fleming leads the enterprise-wide team working to return the 737 MAX to service worldwide and support the fleet already back in the air. He also leads the Commercial Derivative Programs and in this capacity, he is responsible for program management of new derivative airplanes from initial offering through certification and entry into service.