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The Boeing 787 Dreamliner Makes Its Maiden Flight · Chronopin

AerospacePosted 09/21/202609/21/2026 at 4:56 am·@BuildDesk To timeline

Boeing Commercial Airplanes

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner Makes Its Maiden Flight

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner Makes Its Maiden Flight

Starts 12/15/2009 6:27PM

Paine Field, Everett, Washington, USA

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All Nippon Airways
Boeing 787
Composite Airframe
Dreamliner
Paine Field

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2.5 years late

Happened as dated, per en.wikipedia.org^[1]: "On December 15, 2009, Boeing conducted the 787-8 maiden flight from Paine Field in Everett, Washington, at 10:27 am PST."

First promised for 08/31/2007; now 2.5 years later. Stated: Boeing planned the first flight by the end of August 2007 and rolled the aircraft out on 8 July 2007, but five announced delays – a fourth in April 2008 moving it to Q4 2008, a fifth in November 2008 over incorrect fastener installation and the machinists’ strike, then Q2 2009 and a June 2009 postponement for structural reasons – pushed the maiden flight to 15 December 2009.

Start: Dec 15, 200990% CONFIDENCEfrom the source

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner Makes Its Maiden Flight

N787BA lifted off from Paine Field at 10:27 am PST and landed three hours later at Boeing Field, reaching 180 knots and 13,200 feet. The first airliner with a primarily composite airframe flew more than two years later than Boeing first promised.

Boeing conducted the 787-8 maiden flight from Paine Field in Everett on 15 December 2009 at 10:27 am PST, landing three hours later at Boeing Field.^[1]
The flight reached a top speed of 180 knots and a maximum altitude of 13,200 feet.^[1]
Boeing had planned the first flight by the end of August 2007 and premiered the aircraft, registered N787BA, at a rollout on 8 July 2007 with its major systems not yet installed.^[1]
Five announced delays followed, including incorrect fastener installation and a machinists’ strike; on 23 June 2009 the flight was postponed again for structural reasons.^[1]
Type certification came in August 2011 and the first 787-8 entered service with All Nippon Airways in October 2011.^[1]

Notable features

The 787 was the first production airliner built with a fuselage of one-piece composite barrel sections instead of fastened aluminium sheet.^[1]
Its structure is 80% composite by volume; by weight Boeing lists 50% composite, 20% aluminium, 15% titanium, 10% steel and 5% other materials.^[1]
It is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 or General Electric GEnx engines, and Boeing stated it would be about 20% more fuel-efficient than the 767.^[1]
A bleedless electrical architecture replaces bleed air with electrically powered compressors and four of six hydraulic power sources with electric pumps; Boeing says it extracts 35% less power from the engines.^[1]
The cabin windows measure 10.7 by 18.4 in (27 by 47 cm) and use electrochromic smart glass with five levels of dimming instead of plastic shades; the aircraft cruises at Mach 0.85.^[1]

0

References 282% CONFIDENCE

The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.

[1]90%
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner
en.wikipedia.org· Posted Sep 21, 2026· Starts Dec 15, 2009 ✓· 50% of score
Happened as dated, per en.wikipedia.org: "On December 15, 2009, Boeing conducted the 787-8 maiden flight from Paine Field in Everett, Washington, at 10:27 am PST."
[2]75%
12 Years Ago the Boeing 787 Dreamliner made its debut
aerotime.aero· Added Sep 21, 2026· 50% of score
Confirms the 15 December 2009 three-hour first flight and names the crew, 787 chief pilot Mike Carriker and Captain Randy Neville, whom the source^[1] article does not.

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