On Thursday I managed to get myself into my first photography gig here in the USA. Even though I wasn’t being paid it was good to be able to still get some work for a purpose, something a bit out of the ordinary for me.  I was taking some photos for David at Airline Reporter who was covering the launch of the United Airlines 787. It was held up at Everett mid morning so I had to take the morning off work, but I was not going to complain all that much really.

The morning was great, I was getting my first foray into being a semi legit photographer (Although my skills are far from excellent, they need a bit of work) but I was also getting my first chance at stepping onboard a 787, and it would be a new 787, not even delivered yet… how cool is that!

It was an enourmous privilege to be able to access a brand new aircraft at a press event, and to be even thought of as press/media… wow totally new concept for me. So I made sure I was on my best behaviour as well. All in all I definately probably was a bit more conservative than I should of been, but I didn’t want to end up on the “Naughty List” as it was termed during some conversations.

I wasn’t there to blog about everything, so I won’t give a run down on the aircraft or the services or anything, for that you should read David’s site but I will give you my thoughts on the 787 as a whole since it was my first time seeing it.

From UA 787 Launch

The aircraft is pretty similar in my opinion to the size of a 767. Not as big as a 777 not as small as a 757 or 737. So good mix in between and it is apparent its replacing this aircraft. Interior feels damn spacious with the Sky interior bins etc, so that makes a whole other difference. The cockpit is pretty cool (got to sit in the Left seat 😀 😀 ) and the Heads Up Display is really cool.

From UA 787 Launch

The Exterior of the plane is just brilliant, this one was fitted with GE GenX engines, although unfortunately there was no badging on it to tell this so it was a bit hard to distinguish between these and the Rolls Royce Trents but damn they are big (not as big as a GE90 though). The nose is a bit wierd though, it so doesn’t seem similar to any other aircraft i’ve ever seen. It looks more bird like, rather than like a normal aircraft, kind of droopy if you will. The smooth lines of the composite and the raked wing tip are pretty good though.

From UA 787 Launch

I do like the livery over all. There has been a lot of bashing in the media (and i’m not towing the party line here), but I do like the tail. The Old Continental Globe does stand out on the tail and I do like the colours and the styling still. There was a number of unique logos just for the 787 but nothing like the livery ANA uses.

From UA 787 Launch

I have to admit I was a little nervous to begin with yesterday, trying to make sure I didn’t let David down, or stuff up or make a fool of myself, but he was happy with my work and hopefully it means more opportunities in the future.