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The company
tweeted pictures of the aerial tanker it is designing and
building for the U.S. Air Force as it took off from Paine Field
in Everett, Washington.
Boeing test pilots performed operational checks on engines,
flight controls and environmental systems and took the tanker to
a maximum altitude of 35,000 feet (10,668 m) before landing at
Boeing Field, the company said in a statement.
“This first tanker flight is a key milestone for the program,"
said Air Force Colonel Christopher Coombs, who runs the program
for the Air Force. He said the program would now run air
stability tests, flight controls of the boom, and test the
plane's aerial refueling pods.
Boeing said it would start aerial refueling flights with a
number of U.S. Air Force aircraft before the end of the year,
which would help pave the way for a decision in 2016 to move
into low-rate production.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal;
Editing by Christian Plumb)
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