At 12:10 PST on Monday, Boeing launched the first flight of the newest Boeing derivative, forty one years to the date of the original 747-100 first flight. The program, although one year late, is expected to be complete this year and will continue delivering aircraft for at least the next 20 years. While passenger demand has slowed (32 pax sold and cargo sold), cargo potential is driving up sales. While the 250 foot long plane consumes 16% less fuel than earlier models, its size fits between the Airbus A380 and the Airbus A350-1000 in overall length and capability. The aircraft itself is 18 feet longer than the B747-400 and features new, raked wings, B787 avionics, and new GEnx engines. If you were lucky enough to watch the webcast you could hear the lower noise profile of the GEnx engines (30% smaller noise footprint). With 500 seats to fill with IFE, think of the possibilities! Links below for more information, FYI.

The Gizmodo website published an interesting comparison of airline Wi-Fi download speeds. Check out the links below and don’t miss adding your pix to the Rogues’ Gallery of winged Wi-Fliers.

For those readers who feel a special connection to aviation, we suggest that you check out the link of the perfect accoutrement for your garage….below. ! A German company has the graphic upgrade for about $700.

Also note for you road warriors, there is a good link below for the latest round of tacked on (and tacky) airline fees. While you are traveling, you might need a browser-based restaurant reference guide for your laptop…both below.

We found this in the ATA SmartBrief e-newsletter but can’t help but think that there was some miscommunication? “Emirates Airline celebrates 6,000th A380 – Emirates Airlines recently became the owner of Airbus’ 6,000th A380 since production began in 2007.” Actually, it was the 25th A380, but they were close!

And finally, an overseas reporter told us that Rockwell Collins Andrew Mohr has new duties with Bizjet Marketing (non-IFE) while Dave Vernon will focus on bizjet Inflight Entertainment. And speaking of RC bizjet activity, based on their love of the iPod and iPhone and an aircraft interior control and display device, who do you suppose will be a first adopter of the iPad version?

Lastly, you probably realize that there is a lot of aviation data on the Internet but we bet you have not seen the one on the link below. We will have a lot more to say this year about the “wonderful world of Google aviation data” – Stay Tuned!

Story Links:

• Boeing 747-800 (Note: Send a first flight e-postcard…it is free!)
• Inflight Connectivity Airline Download Speed Test
• Garage Door Graphic
• Airline Fees
• US Restaurant Recommendations (Editor’s Note: Be sure to read the comments as most of the ratings are similar.)
• IFE Trends