In Pictures: Boeing 737 MAX First Flight

Throwing up spray from the rain-soaked runway, Boeing 737 MAX number one, 1A001, points its nose towards the overcast to begin its maiden flight. “We got out of Renton just in time,” says 737 chief pilot Ed Wilson who says tail winds that developed a few minutes after departure would have been over the limit for a first flight attempt. Note Boeing Flight Test’s venerable T-33 chase aircraft taking up station at the top of the image.

The aircraft rotated prior to the 3,000-ft marker along the 5,382-ft long runway 34. The short runway at Renton restricted take-off weight to 129,000 lb., well short of the 737-8’s design maximum take-off weight of 181,200 lb. Planned test duration was therefore only 2.5 hours, much shorter than subsequent test flights from Boeing Field where IA001 will be based for the duration.

After landing into a gusty crosswind, test pilots Ed Wilson, Boeing’s 737 chief pilot, and Craig Bomben, vice president of flight operations, maneuver IA001 into position for its ceremonial tow-in towards the crowd at Boeing Field. 

The pronounced nose-leg extension and higher bypass ratio CFM Leap-1B engines are evident in this nose-on aspect of IA001.

Named ‘Spirit of Renton,” the first 737 MAX makes it flight test debut as the 8,888^th member of the 737 family is delivered into service. The first 737-8 will enter service in 2017.

Test pilots Craig Bomben (left) and Ed Wilson (right) emerge from IA001 to be greeted by Boeing Commercial Airplanes president Ray Conner.

Festooned with the symbolic tails of customer airlines and sporting a large, dorsal-mounted satcom antenna, IA001’s test role is distinguished by the trailing static air data cone, seen hanging from the tip of the fin.  In a busy schedule unprecedented in the modern flight test era the 737-8 was up and flying again within 24 hours as it began the initial airworthiness campaign.