A Quick Dreamlifter Spotting at MIA
On my way out of MIA a couple weeks ago, I saw a Boeing Dreamlifter parked on the tarmac.
I’ve had the good fortune to be inside one of the Dreamlifters during a StarMegaDO trip a couple years ago. 2 great info links if you don’t know what the Dreamlifter is:
Boeing bought back some used 747-400s from some of it’s customers and, as the Boeing engineers referred to it, turned them into Frankensteins. The Dreamliner is an awesome plane, but the Dreamlifter is it’s own little (okay, not so little) technical marvel. The tail of the plane swings open so they can actually load a full set of wings in. In the past, they had to move the wings via boat, resulting in long lead times. Now, it’s less than a day’s flight to get a fully assembled set of wings to the factory.
No doubt I have a Boeing bias. But, the Dreamlifter is a pretty cool solution to a problem. And, while there have been a ton of delays in delivering the 787, Boeing is continuing to think outside the box to make this revolutionary plane faster.
Definitely brought back some good memories of our Boeing tours seeing it on the ground in MIA.
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