Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Boeing's Dreamlifter jet gives workers a giant show at Huntsville International Airport (al.com)

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
Home » Discuss » Places » Alabama Donate to DU
 
eppur_se_muova Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Sep-24-11 03:13 PM
Original message
Boeing's Dreamlifter jet gives workers a giant show at Huntsville International Airport (al.com)
By Lee Roop, The Huntsville Times

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - At 120 feet, the big airplane's cargo bay is as long as the Wright Brothers' first flight. Inside is room for 8 million cans of beer or 80 Mini Coopers.

They call it the Dreamlifter, a modified Boeing 747-400, and there are only four in the world. Two of those four are parked at Huntsville's International Airport this month, and they drew an excited crowd Friday.

The flying moving vans were built by Boeing to ferry parts from around the world to assemble the airline's new 787 Deamliners near Seattle, Wash. Their first delivery was in January 2007.

How big are the Dreamliners themselves? The Dreamlifters can carry only one mid-body fuselage section or pair of 787 wings at a time. That's still 115,000 pounds of wings, if you're counting.

Atlas Airlines, the company that operates the planes, moved two of its four-plane fleet to Huntsville from their home in Miami to keep them safe from hurricanes. They weren't being used this month for Dreamliner supply runs, a Boeing tour guide said, so the thinking was, "Let's get 'em somewhere else."
***
more: http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/09/boeings_dreamlifter_jet_gives.html



As you can see from the photo, a standard 747-400 fits snugly under the tail of the Dreamlifter! ;)
Refresh | 0 Recommendations Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top

Home » Discuss » Places » Alabama Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC