# Boeing 777-9X Test Flight



## jis (Apr 10, 2019)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D3ZSPa8UwAAMJbO?format=jpg

It's a beautiful bird and those CF wings are of epic size. It will look amazing at takeoff with the wingtips locked down and the whole wing curving up as it takes on the weight of the plane.

Looks like the first flight is now scheduled for sometime around the 24-26th of April.

If you wish you can follow its progress at https://twitter.com/b777xLovers


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## The Journalist (Apr 10, 2019)

Man, the 777 is such a nice-looking plane.


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## Dakota 400 (Apr 10, 2019)

Agree that the exterior looks nice, but what about the interior? Maybe I am mistaken, but, I think the restroom on the 777's are smaller (if that's possible) than on the 767, 757, or the 737.


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## jis (Apr 10, 2019)

Dakota 400 said:


> Agree that the exterior looks nice, but what about the interior? Maybe I am mistaken, but, I think the restroom on the 777's are smaller (if that's possible) than on the 767, 757, or the 737.



Interior depends on the airline and has little to do with 777 per se. The 9x has a slightly wider fuselage so slightly wider economy seats. 

What airlines are your experiences on?


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## GBNorman (Apr 11, 2019)

Most beautifully proportioned aircraft Mr. Boeing's successors ever designed. Sam can be said of the other 77's as well.

Anyone care to nominate the A-380 - and even the 747 - for that title.

Who knows if I'll ever get to fly an X in this life; maybe the next one.


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## jis (Apr 11, 2019)

I think of the 747s, the 747-8 is the most beautifully proportioned. If they had ever built the proposed 747-600, that would have been even better.

The 380 would become better proportioned if its double stretch was ever built. In its current incarnation it seems like a transition phase thing between a Blimp and a Plane.

The 777-10X which will inevitably get built for Emirates, will probably a tad bit better than the -9X too.

BA just ordered a half dozen or more -9s while announcing that they will park a few of their 380s!

'Tis the wing of the 777X that blows me over. Maybe this is because I have seen with my own eyes, how it is fabricated as a single integrated CF piece with no rivets or bolts. All CF bonded. It is also the thing that makes it possible for a heavier plane to require less thrust than the 777W to fly more efficiently than the 777W.


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## Dakota 400 (Apr 11, 2019)

jis said:


> Interior depends on the airline and has little to do with 777 per se. The 9x has a slightly wider fuselage so slightly wider economy seats.
> 
> What airlines are your experiences on?



For the 777, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines.


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## jis (Apr 11, 2019)

On United 77Ws the smaller restrooms are like the ones on the older United 777s, but they have two restrooms, one in Polaris and the other in Coach which is double width for the use by disabled people. That is the most recent 777 ride that I have had.


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## Devil's Advocate (Apr 12, 2019)

Dakota 400 said:


> Agree that the exterior looks nice, but what about the interior? Maybe I am mistaken, but, I think the restroom on the 777's are smaller (if that's possible) than on the 767, 757, or the 737...Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines



Interior details are primarily decided by aircraft characteristics (thrust, floor space, emergency exits), available third party vendor options, and individual airline selections. Even within the same airline and aircraft family these details can change over time as vendors modify available options and airlines make new interior selections. What you're probably witnessing is less about the specific aircraft model and more about the era in which it was ordered or refurbished. Lavatories, galleys, row pitch, and seat widths are all being reduced to make room for more and more passengers. In general terms a 777 is almost always going to employ a larger lavatory than a 737, but if you connected from an early model 757 or 767 to a recently ordered or remodeled 777 you may indeed notice a smaller lavatory even though you're traveling on a larger aircraft.




GBNorman said:


> Most beautifully proportioned aircraft Mr. Boeing's successors ever designed. Sam can be said of the other 77's as well. Anyone care to nominate the A-380 - and even the 747 - for that title. Who knows if I'll ever get to fly an X in this life; maybe the next one.



You can say the B747 and A380 are memorable and iconic, but I would not describe either of them as even mildly attractive, although there are far uglier aircraft out there. For me the A346 is the most beautiful production aircraft ever flown.


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## dlagrua (Apr 12, 2019)

We've taken some first class airline trips in our time, most recently a few weeks ago when we went to Seattle on a business issue. We will return again in a few months mostly due to the travel time issue. 
While first class air travel is nice and on cross country trips you'll get a wide seat tablecloth, meal, real silverware, china great service and unlimited drinks we still prefer the train by a large margin. With train travel you encounter smaller crowds, have a larger restroom, better food (sometimes) and in our case a room for privacy and relaxation. While air travel continues to improve and it certainly has its place in business travel (or for people on a schedule), its confining. No matter how nice they make it, I don't believe that it can ever be as relaxing or fun as train travel can be.


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## jis (Apr 12, 2019)

dlagrua said:


> We've taken some first class airline trips in our time, most recently a few weeks ago when we went to Seattle on a business issue. We will return again in a few months mostly due to the travel time issue.
> While first class air travel is nice and on cross country trips you'll get a wide seat tablecloth, meal, real silverware, china great service and unlimited drinks we still prefer the train by a large margin. With train travel you encounter smaller crowds, have a larger restroom, better food (sometimes) and in our case a room for privacy and relaxation. While air travel continues to improve and it certainly has its place in business travel (or for people on a schedule), its confining. No matter how nice they make it, I don't believe that it can ever be as relaxing or fun as train travel can be.



The 777-9 and its siblings are unlikely to be used at least in the coming decade and possibly beyond, for a domestic flight in the US except in rare exceptional circumstances as positioning flight from a maintenance base of an American airline that own one of them and a major hub of the same. So I don't think a 777-9 will often compete with Amtrak trains. The places where it will be used are places where Amtrak does not go, oh like to Tokyo, or Shanghai or Mumbai or such.

Currently there is no American carrier that has ordered any variant of the 777X yet. Basically one will have to fly a Pacific Rim Asian, Middle Eastern or European airline to get on a 777X as things stand, with the lions share going to the so called M3 Emirates, Etihad and Qatar.


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## Bob Dylan (Apr 12, 2019)

jis said:


> The 777-9 and its siblings are unlikely to be used at least in the coming decade and possibly beyond, for a domestic flight in the US except in rare exceptional circumstances as positioning flight from a maintenance base of an American airline that own one of them and a major hub of the same. So I don't think a 777-9 will often compete with Amtrak trains. The places where it will be used are places where Amtrak does not go, oh like to Tokyo, or Shanghai or Mumbai or such.
> 
> Currently there is no American carrier that has ordered any variant of the 777X yet. Basically one will have to fly a Pacific Rim Asian, Middle Eastern or European airline to get on a 777X as things stand, with the lions share going to the so called M3 Emirates, Etihad and Qatar.


In other words you'll be one of the Lucky ones that gets to ride in them!


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## jis (Apr 12, 2019)

Bob Dylan said:


> In other words you'll be one of the Lucky ones that gets to ride in them!


Maybe. On Lufthansa or Emirates. Emirates is still gunning to get Boeing to spring for the even larger -10. But for now they have ordered some 150 of -8s and -9s. Mostly -9s! British Airways just ordered some last week.


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## SP&S (Apr 12, 2019)

GBNorman said:


> Most beautifully proportioned aircraft Mr. Boeing's successors ever designed. Sam can be said of the other 77's as well.
> 
> Anyone care to nominate the A-380 - and even the 747 - for that title.
> 
> Who knows if I'll ever get to fly an X in this life; maybe the next one.


Yes indeed it is good looking. But for my money the three most beautiful airliners of all time are the old Lockheed Constellation, deHaviland Comet, and the 747 - particularly in Air Force One livery.


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## The Journalist (Apr 12, 2019)

Devil's Advocate said:


> You can say the B747 and A380 are memorable and iconic, but I would not describe either of them as even mildly attractive, although there are far uglier aircraft out there. For me the A346 is the most beautiful production aircraft ever flown.



Agreed on all points. The 380 in particular is more "it's impressive that that thing can fly" than good looking.

Other attractive planes: DC-8, Concorde, A321, Bombardier CSeries (now A220). 
Other less-than-attractive planes: MD-11, B757 (yeah, I know I'm hugely in the minority on this one), CRJ's, the larger 737s. 
So strange looking that it becomes charmingly weird: Dash-8/Q400.

Of course, it's more important what they're like to be on than what they look like; the 380-or, perhaps more accurately, the airlines that fly it-has pretty exemplary reputation from that standpoint.


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## railiner (Apr 14, 2019)

Devil's Advocate said:


> . For me the A346 is the most beautiful production aircraft ever flown.


I like the A340-600, too...it reminds me of my all time favorites, the DC-8-61 and -63. The Airbus looks like a larger version of those...


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