Boeing and its employees joined the Puget Sound community today in celebrating the donation of one of the original 787-8 Dreamliner flight test airplanes to the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
“Boeing is committed to supporting and giving back to the communities where our employees work and live,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. “By placing this airplane in the Puget Sound area, members of the Boeing team and their families will see it displayed locally, and it will hopefully inspire a new generation of aviation enthusiasts here in Washington state.”
The Dreamliner Boeing donated to the museum is known as ZA003, the third 787-8 produced. The airplane has a unique past, first as part of the 787 flight test and certification program and later circumnavigating the globe several times in 2011 and 2012 during the Dream Tour, which introduced the 787 to more than 68,000 visitors in 23 countries.
“This revolutionary airplane caps the museum’s collection of historic commercial airplanes, beginning with our 1932 Boeing 247, which was the first all-metal, modern airliner,” said Doug King, president and CEO, Museum of Flight. “It was followed by our 1969 prototype 747, the first jumbo jet, and now with the first composite airliner, the 787. It’s an incredible addition to our comprehensive display.”
The celebration at the Museum of Flight included several Boeing employees whose work over the years played a role in the design, build and test of the 787 Dreamliner. Each person disembarked the airplane and presented a special artifact tied to the history of the airplane to museum docents and students from local high schools.
The artifacts given by employees ranged from a commemorative cachet carried aboard the 787’s first flight, to early artist renderings of the 7E7. Those artifacts will now be housed at the Museum of Flight.
ZA003 is the first of three flight test 787-8s Boeing plans to share with museums around the world, the aviation community and future generations of employees and airplane enthusiasts.
