'The pickle' lands in Moses Lake

Airport proximity 'handy' for Boeing

MOSES LAKE — Throughout the next few weeks, residents might want to keep their eyes on the skies.

One of Boeing's three specially modified 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) passenger jets, which are used to transport large composite sections and wings of the company's 787 Dreamliner, landed at Grant County International Airport for an hour Tuesday.

Air America President and CEO Larry Godden said the aircraft will be in and out of Moses Lake throughout the next two weeks for the modified freighter's additional flight testing before it enters into service.

The airport's proximity is handy for Boeing, Godden said, pointing to its proximity to the company and its long runway.

Hosting the aircraft is important to the airport from a utilization standpoint, he added, and offers an opportunity to demonstrate the site's capabilities handling a large aircraft.

"It's another example of the versatility of the services we provide," Godden said, noting Air America has been providing service to Boeing since 1966, and is the only fixed based operation servicing the company.

According to a press release from Boeing, the LCF is a key element of the global production system critical to the success of the 787. Flying the large components reduces shipping time to as little as one day from as many as 30 days.

The most significant change to the airplane, the release states, is the new extended upper fuselage, which boosts the cargo capacity by volume to 65,000 cubic feet, more than three times the cargo capacity of a standard 747-400 freighter.

The fleet of three airplanes is being modified by Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp. in Taipei, Taiwan. The LCF's flight test program is expected to last through the end of the year.