OK, I got your attention...🙂...but that's true...we all know this plane well...(BTW, I'm always glad to see and enjoy the beautiful 787 screenshots, here, from MSFS...although, that 787 variant is a -10, I believe, which, as we speak, is being continuously modded and improved by the community, as I understand...).

The 787 program was launched on April 26, 2004, with initial orders from ANA (All Nippon Airways)...subject airline of this post. 787 maiden flight was in 2009, first delivery (to ANA) was in 2011, and, we also recall the well-chronicled 2013 (January-through-April) grounding incidence related to the plane's battery and electrical system...As of July, 2021, the number of 787s built, stands at 1,006 (numbering: 8/9/10 -> 377/568/61, if you wish to know). Nonetheless, the 787 was a (pioneering) plane that had pushed the envelopes beyond the comfort zones of existing aviation technology...towards a different kind of mindset...

Now, sometime along this timeline...yours truly, in a moment of aviation passion, like many of us here,...🙂...came up with his "username"...using the very first 787 variant (-8)...not sure why...because, P_7879 would have done equally well...I think....(though, sometimes, I wish I were more partial to a specific airline too...as in Alaska738...🙂...)...Anyway...I had also the occasion to witness an ANA 787-8 rolling out of that huge Boeing assembly facility (ANA had ordered the first 50 787s), during one of my two visits to the Everett factory which is composed of (on record) the largest hangar building by volume, on the planet Earth, along with those large murals on the building doors...(recall those murals quite well)...

The 787 was a trend-setter of modern times in many respects...just as, were, other remarkable planes, in earlier times, e.g. during the infancy of jet-age. One of the most significantly different (visual) things, that had caught my (personal) attention, were the raked wingtips, where the wing sweeps upwards at the end...(you can see it e.g. in my shot #11 below, albeit, only as a make-believe imitation, from my virtual world, of the RW thing). And, of course, the plane had also introduced other ergonomic and technological advances...(some of the advancements, in fact, been considered risks...)

ANA had flown the first commercial 787 (-8) flight, on October 26, 2011 (just about 10 years from today)...from Tokyo Narita to Hong Kong. It was also ANA that would make the first commercial 787-9 flight, on August 7, 2014. So, please find, below, a collection of images of 747-8, the smallest 787 variant (exactly 20 ft shorter than the -9), in the color of this esteemed Japanese airline. In fact, I read, just today, "All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan's largest and 5-Star airline for eight consecutive years was (recently) presented with FlightGlobal's prestigious Decade of Airline Excellence Award for the Asia-Pacific region..."

Regarding the SIM, here, I've not flown this 787 SIM in a while, so, this is a test flight, but a full-flight...across my favorite Orbx (NZ) region...from Auckland (NZAA) to Christchurch (NZCH)...a short distance of ~400nms...from north-to-south...across the Cook Strait. I've enabled LNAV/VNAV early, for automated flight. Both the T/C and T/D markings, on the MFD Route Map, appeared correctly as expected (please see close-up shot of PFD/MFD Screens). The plane (faithfully and accurately) auto-initiated descent at T/D from FL310, and, also automatically tuned the DEST ILS (Radio) frequency for Rwy 20, once the arrival approach was set on the FMS/CDU. The glideslope descent was impressively (I mean, virtually) stable (at full/max flap 30)...So, overall, this all feels like an excellent SIM/plane, with sufficient complexity, to keep, at least, this virtual aviator (or other like-minded ones with similar expectations), engaged and educated for quite some time....(I wish I could fly it more, though)...

Hope you enjoy these pictures of this pioneering plane...!!

Thanks for your interest, and good flying...!!

[QW (787-8), Orbx (NZ)]

***Stunning Shots***

I remember following The Dreamliner program with great interest back in her development phase,It was a Amazing time in Aviation.

I also was very fortunate  to see her fly at EAA 2011

 

Gorgeous shots! 😉 

Wonderful set of shots !

cheers 😉

Thanks a lot...!!

Glad, you liked my alter ego...🙂...