Boeing's chief test pilot Mike Carriker was able to take a brief break from the busy flight test duties earlier this month to fly formation with the oldest flying Boeing airplane. After photos were leaked on the internet last week, many were thinking it was a creative digital editing job, but the photo shoot has been in the works for a long time.
"It really took a lot of work and planning," Carriker said. "When I came alongside the Model 40 against those big puffy clouds it was unbelievable: Here is this 1928 biplane flying with a 2010 airplane side by side."
With owner Addison Pemberton flying the Model 40 as fast as possible, Carriker was able to slow down the 787 enough so a Pemberton's son, riding in a third plane, could take the image as the 787 flew by its (great-great-great-great?) grandparent. The two airliners were flying near Mt. Rainier southeast of Seattle.
The Boeing Model 40 was the first aircraft built by the company that was designed to carry paying passengers. With the new airplane, Boeing won the contract to carry mail from San Francisco to Chicago in 1927.
In addition to carrying mail in a compartment in front of the cockpit, the Model 40 could carry two fare paying passengers! Within a few years the company expanded service nationwide operating as the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation. Soon Boeing and other airplane makers were building aircraft to carry many more passengers to accommodate the growing demand.
The Boeing Model 40C pictured above was restored by Pemberton and Sons Aviation. The airplane had crashed in 1928 and flew again after thousands of hours of work in 2008.
Photo: Ryan Pemberton/Boeing
