Sound innovation At a remote site in Montana, Boeing tests new commercial jetliner technologies that benefit the industry— and the environment By James Wallace and photos by Bob Ferguson During the Farnborough International Airshow in July, Mike Carriker, the Boeing test pilot who flew the 787 Dreamliner on its first flight in 2009, provided journalists with a running commentary as the carbon-fiber aircraft performed for huge crowds during one of its daily flying demonstrations. “Now listen. Just listen,” Carriker said as the 787 came in to land. The journalists, watching from the balcony of the Boeing media chalet, fell silent as they focused on the 787 approaching the runway from about a quarter mile away. They heard nothing until the Dreamliner was almost directly in front of them, one later wrote. Commercial jetliner technology has come a long way from the noisy 707 that pioneered jet service in the 1950s. The 787 is the world’s most technologically advanced jetliner, one that Boeing engineers made as friendly as possible for passengers and the environment. But more advancements are on the way that will make commercial jets even more quiet, while improving fuel burn and lowering carbon dioxide emissions. And reducing the environmental footprint of the world’s passenger planes, be it from noise or emissions, is one of the aerospace industry’s top priorities. Several of these new technologies are already being tested on the first aircraft of Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator program, a 737-800. After the testing is completed, test equipment will be removed and the plane returned to its factory-new condition, and the Next-Generation 737 will be delivered to American Airlines. But until then, the 2012 ecoDemonstrator is a flying laboratory that 20 BOEING FRONTIERS / OCTOBER 2012
Frontiers October 2012 Issue
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