From WA001 to WH001: Three Generations Of Boeing’s 777

The first 777, WA001, was unveiled in a lavish rollout ceremony on April 9, 1994, to the accompaniment of dry ice, lasers and rock and roll music. To accommodate the 100,000 workers and their families, the stage-managed event was repeated 15 times over the course of the day.

Following its initial flight, lasting 3 hr. 48 min. on June 12, 1994, WA001 became the bulwark of the test program, which would involve nine aircraft and three engine models. During its test program the aircraft encountered conditions not normally seen by production models, including one incident during early stall tests with flaps set at 30 deg., when WA001 rolled 110 deg.

Following the end of 777-200 flight tests in the late 1990s, WA001 became surplus to requirements and was placed in storage at Everett. Boeing initially offered the prototype for conversion and sale as a business jet, but as there were no takers, it continued to market the jet to airlines while rejecting offers from scrap merchants. In 2000, Boeing eventually sold WA001 to Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong-based carrier that influenced the 777’s wide fuselage cross-section design.

Carrying its Hong Kong registry identity, B-HNL, Cathay Pacific’s 777-200 was retired to the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona on Sept. 18, after 18 years in service during which it amassed 20,519 flights and 49,687 hr. After its acquisition in 2000, the aircraft’s original Pratt & Whitney PW4084 engines were replaced by Rolls-Royce Trent 800s for compatibility with the Cathay fleet, making WA001 what is believed to be the only 777 to have flown with two different engine types. 

Stretched over the baseline 777-200 with a 210-in. forward fuselage plug and a 189-in. plug aft, the 242-ft. 4-in. 777-300 was longer than the 747-400, making it the longest commercial jetliner in the world at that time. First flight of the Trent 800-powered aircraft was on Oct. 16, 1997, marking the first time any Boeing widebody aircraft had been powered by a Rolls-Royce engine for its initial flight. 

Linked to the development of General Electric’s more powerful GE90-110/115B turbofan, Boeing launched the 777-300ER, the first of a second-generation 777 family, in 2000.  Based on the extended fuselage of the baseline 777-300, the -300ER incorporated a strengthened structure, extended and raked wingtips and a modified main landing gear. The first 777-300ER was delivered to Air France in April 2004 and became a best-seller for the company, with almost 800 delivered through early October 2018. AW&ST's test pilot, then-Editor-in-Chief David M. North, flew the 777-300ER in the spring of 2004, and his pilot report appeared in the April 5, 2004, issue. 

Derived from the 777-300ER and based on the overall fuselage dimensions of the 777-200, the -200LR (Longer-Range) variant was developed to serve ultra-long-haul routes between virtually any two points on the planet. 

Capable of carrying 300 passengers up to 9,420 nm, the 777-200LR set a world record for distance traveled nonstop by a commercial aircraft in 2005 when the first aircraft flew 11,664 nm during a 22-hr. 42-min. flight from Hong Kong to London. Read coverage by Michael A. Dornheim in the March 14 2005, issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology. 

The 777F freighter is derived largely from the strengthened structure, wings, engines and fuel systems of the -200LR. First flown in 2008, the aircraft’s maximum payload of almost 225,000 lb. has made it popular with operators as a replacement for older 747-200Fs, McDonnell Douglas DC-10s and MD-11s. The first twinjet freighter was delivered to Air France in 2009 and, as of early September, 143 777Fs are now in service.

Launched in 2013, the 777X is pivotal to the success of Boeing’s big twinjet, long-haul strategy for the 2020s and beyond. The smaller of the two 777X family members, the 350-seat 777-8 is designed to challenge the Airbus A350-1000 and defend the company’s 777-300ER market franchise. The larger variant, the 400-425-seat 777-9, is designed to open up new market space for twinjets in terms of payload and passenger capacity, serving routes that were once the sole domain of the 747-400. Compared to the 365-passenger 777-300ER, the 400-plus-seat 777-9 will be stretched by 9 ft. overall and will provide a fuel-burn improvement of up to 20% per seat. The shorter 777-8, which will seat around 10 passengers fewer than the current -300ER, will see an improvement of about 13% while flying more than 1,000 nm farther. 

Now installed on the wing destined for the first 777-9, WH001, the outer 12-ft. folding-tip section is designed for code E airports that restrict use to aircraft with wingspans of 65 m (213 ft.) or less. To minimize maintenance and service-issue concerns, the wingfold is much simpler than the folding mechanism developed (but never adopted) on the original 777-200 (see inset) and does not even incorporate lights. The orange wire visible in the image is for flight-test purposes only.