X-SciTech

Boeing's 747-8 Intercontinental Unveiled

By Daniel Terdiman

February 13, 2011 / 7:45 PM EST / CBS News

EVERETT, Washington--Boeing formally unveiled its 747-8 Intercontinental at a ceremony at its giant assembly plant here Sunday. The new plane features a new color scheme for Boeing: red, orange, and white.

The plane is said to fly longer and faster, and to offer carriers better cost per seat mile and fuel efficiency than any other plane.

Under the nose

A look up at the plane's nose.

747-8

This says it all for Boeing: "747-8," emblazoned on the left side of the new plane.

Intercontinental

The 747-8 freighter made its first flight a year ago. Now the Intercontinental takes the spotlight for the 747-8 program.

Famous silhouette

Other than a Coke bottle, there may be no more famous silhouette in the history of business than that of the 747. While the Intercontinental features all-new systems, it retains that iconic look.

Engines

A look at two of the plane's four General Electric GEnx-2B engines.

Under the left wing

A look at the plane from underneath its left wing.

Body from right side

A look at the plane from the right side.

Tail

A look at the plane's 63-foot-high tail, emblazoned with its all-new color scheme.

Touching the engine

Many of the thousands of people on hand at the event on Sunday were employees and family, and many of them wanted to touch the new airplane.

Left wing tip

A look at the wing tip of the new airplane.

Behind the tail

A look up at the rear of the plane from behind its 63-foot-high tail.

Front of the plane

A look at the front of the Intercontinental from the left side.

N6067E

The tag may go down in aviation history: N6067E, the tail number of the first 747-8 Intercontinental.

Full body

Thousands of people turned out to see the all-new airplane.

Under the tail

A look straight up at the tail from underneath the plane.

Right side tail

A look at the plane's tail from the right side.

Landing gear

A look at the plane's landing gear. All told, the plane has 18 wheels.

747s on screen

In the video booth for the event, a screen shows several different camera views of the plane.

Front nose

A view of the plane from just in front and to the left.

Behind the engine

A look at one of the GEnx-2B engines from behind.

Reflection

Some of the thousands of people on hand for the event Sunday are reflected in the shiny paint of the plane's underside.

Father of the 747

Joe Sutter, the "father of the 747," was an honored guest at the Sunday event. Here, Sutter (on the right) looks at the new airplane.

Shadow

The shadow of the new plane is seen on the hangar-bay door of the Everett assembly plant.

Right back

A look at the right back side of the plane.

Body low angle

A low angle shot of the plane's front left side.

Posing with landing gear

The son of a Boeing employee poses for a picture in front of one of the plane's landing gears.

Landing gear

A straight on look at one of the plane's landing gears.

Thousands of people

Thousands of people are seen admiring the new airplane at the Sunday event at Boeing's Everett assembly plant.

left rear

The left rear side of the plane.

Underneath from left

A look up at the plane from underneath its left front side.

Lufthansa model

This is a scale model of the Intercontinental featuring the livery of Lufthansa, the launch customer for the plane.

Korean Air

This is a scale model of the Intercontinental featuring the livery of Korean Air, one of two carriers to pre-order the plane.

BBJ

This is a scale model of the Intercontinental featuring the livery of Boeing Business Jets, which ordered several of the planes for private buyers.

Daniel Terdiman

Daniel Terdiman is a senior writer at CNET News covering Twitter, Net culture, and everything in between.

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