The fourth and final modified Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) 'Dreamlifter' designed to haul structural sections of the 787 has entered service.
The aircraft was delivered to the company's Everett, Washington facility on 9 February after a flight from Taipei, Taiwan where the former passenger-hauling 747-400 was modified by Evergreen Aviation Technologies.
The aircraft, which is registered N718BA, took off from Paine Field in Everett on 16 February as Evergreen Flight 5141 bound for McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas to retrieve a composite Section 41 forward fuselage from Spirit Aerosystems.
The LCF fleet has been operating since January 2007 when the first structural sections for ZA001's centre fuselage were delivered from Italy and Japan to then-Global Aeronautica, now known as Boeing Charleston.
Boeing plans to have 30 787s in various stages of completion at the time the first aircraft is delivered to Japan's All Nippon Airways in the fourth quarter.
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Source: Air Transport Intelligence news