Dreamliner Wraps Up Test Flight

Boeing's Dreamliner passed its first test today by completing a three-hour flight over Puget Sound. The round trip—rain and wind shortened it by two hours—means Boeing can begin a 9-month certification process with the FAA, reports the Post-Intelligencer. After that, the company can presumably begin shipping the 840 jets on order from 55 airlines. The jets are lighter than those in service today, which should mean big fuel savings.

"This is a day to be proud of, a day that has changed the history of aviation," said the Boeing official in charge of the program. "This is the first truly all-new airplane of the 21st century." (More Boeing 787 Dreamliner stories.)