First Flight For Boeing Max 7

Boeing has flown its latest version of the 737, the Max 7, for the first time, the company announced last week. The airplane flew for just over three hours, taking off from Renton, Washington, and landing at Boeing Field in Seattle. The flight crew tested the flight controls, systems and handling qualities. The airplane is the third one in the 737 Max family. Its equipped with CFM International Leap-1B engines and Advanced Technology winglets.

Boeing has flown its latest version of the 737, the Max 7, for the first time, the company announced last week. The airplane flew for just over three hours, taking off from Renton, Washington, and landing at Boeing Field in Seattle. The flight crew tested the flight controls, systems and handling qualities. "Everything we saw during today's flight shows that the Max 7 is performing exactly as designed," saidKeith Leverkuhn, general manager of the 737 Max program for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The airplane is the third one in the 737 Max family. It's equipped with CFM International Leap-1B engines and Advanced Technology winglets.

The fan blades for the Leap-1B are manufactured from 3D woven carbon-fiber composite, an industry first, according to CFM. This technology creates fan blades that are lightweight but also so durable that each individual blade is strong enough to support the weight of a widebody airplane, such as the Airbus A350 or the Boeing 787, the company says. The engine's fuel nozzles are 25 percent lighter than previous models and five times more durable than parts manufactured conventionally. CFM is a 50/50 joint company created by GE and Safran Aircraft Engines.