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Reuters - Boeing unveils 787 Dreamliner amid order flurry

Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) unveiled its lightweight, carbon-composite 787 Dreamliner on Sunday in front of 15,000 cheering employees, customers and suppliers, capping a weekend of hype and a flurry of orders for the new fuel-efficient plane.

The elaborate unveiling ceremony, at the company’s Everett, Washington plant, gave the crowds their first full look at the mid-sized, long-range jetliner, which is Boeing’s first all-new plane in 12 years and has already attracted more than $100 billion in orders.

Thousands more watched the event — hosted by former TV news anchor Tom Brokaw — live at Qwest Field stadium in nearby Seattle, and Boeing broadcast the ceremony worldwide on satellite television.

Crazy.

The gleaming, freshly painted jet was pulled into the main doors of Boeing’s plant to resounding cheers, after an hour-long introduction involving live picture feeds on a massive screen from teams working on parts of the plane from Japan, Italy, South Carolina and elsewhere.

Apart from its swept back, upward tilting wings, the plane did not look radically new on the outside. But beneath the just-dried paint the structure is made up of 50 percent carbon composite materials and another 15 percent titanium, making it much lighter and fuel efficient than existing jetliners of the same size. …

The use of fatigue-resistant and rust-free composite materials means air in the cabin can be more humid, leaving passengers less dried out and jetlagged after a long flight.

The twin-engine plane, which seats nine-abreast in coach, can carry 210 to 330 people in its three models of various sizes. Prices range from $146 million to $200 million.

Peter saw that line 210 - 330 and said “Yeah, I wonder what end of the spectrum that’ll fall” and then we had a laugh about the Airbus’ schematics “Tired of cramped flights? Here’s a whole ‘nuther floor so you can have lounges and bars and flirt with women!” Until they put in the seats that alternate facing backwards (it’s more space-efficient!) so there’s some guy staring at you from six inches away on the entire eleven hour flight to Europe. “Hey, how are you?”

The plane is trouncing rival Airbus, whose competing A350 XWB (extra wide body) has been bedeviled by design changes. The European plane maker conceded that the day — 7/8/07 in U.S. date shorthand — belonged to Boeing.

“Even if tomorrow Airbus will get back to the business of competing vigorously, today is Boeing’s day — a day to celebrate the 787,” Airbus Chief Executive Louis Gallois wrote to Boeing CEO Jim McNerney in a letter made public by Airbus on Sunday.

Awww!

Peter said “Y’know, why can’t Microsoft be more like that?” “What, polite? Gracious? French?”