Fifth Boeing 747-8 Freighter enters flight-test program

Boeing successfully conducted the first flight of the fifth 747-8 Freighter Thursday. The airplane, coded as RC523, took off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., for a 3-hour, 30-minute flight before returning to Paine Field. The flight included a standard 2-hour, 30-minute "B1" flight profile that Boeing conducts on all production airplanes prior to delivery, plus an hour of engineering testing woven into the profile. This is the fifth 747-8 Freighter being used in the flight-test program. Each airplane is used for a specific set of tests, with this airplane focusing on functionality and reliability testing.