Thread: B-787: My First-Ride Impressions
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Old 12-23-2012, 12:25 PM
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UAL T38 Phlyer
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Default B-787: My First-Ride Impressions
I rode the 787 this week, first as a passenger in coach, and second as a jumpseater. Since Boeing and United are touting the airplane as a “game-changer,” I thought I would post my impressions.

Boarding the airplane, it would be difficult to tell if you were on a 767-400, 777, or 787. Seats and baggage bins look like any other modern-interior twin-aisle. The “dial-a-color” LED lighting isn’t really noticeable, although it is more consistent and even. They use a light-blue in the unoccupied lavs; I thought it was too dark.

One thing I noticed: the sturdiness of the floor. Usually you can feel it “spring” a little when you walk on it, or when someone walks by your seat. Not so---the composite floor beams must be very stiff. It reminded me of the deck-plates on a C-130 or C-5.

The seats seem a little wider, maybe 1 to 1.5 inch, compared to the 767 or 777. United had a pretty nice entertainment system with movies, TV, audio, map display, and games.

Pushback, start, taxi, takeoff: no different than others. You can still smell jet exhaust during taxi, so the new pressurization scheme doesn’t change that.

Climbout to level off was about as noisy as any other twin when sitting near the last row. We went to 40,000 for IAH-SFO. We were late off the gate, and the Capt pushed it up to 0.86. I was surprised at both the altitude and speed.

In cruise: It is QUIET. I would say this was the biggest change. Even in the aft galley, I could converse with the FAs in a normal tone of voice.

The humidified cabin seems to work. I didn’t feel dried-out after landing, although I had to clear my ears a lot more than usual….that didn’t make much sense.

In turbulence, the fuselage exhibits that same stiffness as the floor. It doesn’t seem to flex much, so you don’t hear creaking overhead bins as the tube flexes.

Descent: slightly quieter than others. Landings could be any airliner.

Return leg, on the jumpseat: the cockpit isn’t radically different, just progressively. Lots of dispay screens; almost wall-to-wall on the main panel. The FMS keypad is different….tall and narrow. No display on the keypad; it’s on the glass now.

There was a (color) moving map of the airfield diagram for taxiing, which I thought was nice. Also, a profile view (“Vertical Situation Display”) which showed obstacles and current flight-path. Nice.

The side windows don’t open, so the cockpit has an escape hatch, like the 747.
Start is electric, not electric bleed-air. Both engines can be started at once. Taxi/takeoff seems pretty average.

Climbout is quiet. We went to FL410….I’d never been that high in an airliner before. Fully-packed, it was burning about 10,000 lb an hour (total) in cruise.

In cruise, the loudest thing is the air vents. Two jumpseats; both very comfortable.

Overall: I don’t think I would call it a game-changer, but a game-improver. For passengers, frequent flyers might notice the differences. Cruise is quiet everywhere; climbout is quiet forward of the wing. For the front-office guys, the cockpit is not radically different. It is quiet, and you will fly high, and sip daintily at fuel.

Not sure if the gamma-radiation guys will worry about the altitude, since they no longer have a shield of aluminum over their heads.
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