Boeing starts 777X test flights in Moses Lake
CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 7 months AGO
MOSES LAKE — The 777X has finally arrived in Moses Lake.
The giant plane, which is the latest version of the wide body jet that first flew in 1994, will be using Grant County International Airport for a series of test flights as Boeing seeks to get the plane certified.
“We began the flight testing phase in late January 2020, and are pleased with the progress we are seeing,” said Boeing spokesperson Jessica Kowal.
Boeing is currently flying two test versions of the 777X, while another two are being “prepared for flight,” Kowal said.
“Generally speaking, we have been to Moses Lake recently with the second airplane, for some testing and handling characteristics,” she said.
While Boeing has long owned a facility in Moses Lake, and currently parks over 250 737-MAX aircraft at GCIA following their grounding, Kowal said the company’s test operations are based in Seattle and the company does not plan to “overnight at Grant County International.”
According to officials with the Port of Moses Lake, Boeing was waiting for the completion of repairs on the GCIA main runway to start test flights here.
Billed by Boeing as “the largest and most efficient twin-engine jet in the world,” the 777X has been outfitted with carbon-fiber composite wings and new engines that the company says will reduce fuel use by 10 percent on long-haul flights.
According to Kowal, the company has 340 orders and commitments to buy the roughly $425 million plane, which is expected to enter service in 2021.
ARTICLES BY CHARLES H. FEATHERSTONE
Potato prices up, sales down for first quarter 2023
DENVER — The value of grocery store potato sales rose 16% during the first three months of 2023 as the total volume of sales fell by 4.4%, according to a press release from PotatoesUSA, the national marketing board representing U.S. potato growers. The dollar value of all categories of U.S. potato products for the first quarter of 2023 was $4.2 billion, up from $3.6 billion for the first three months of 2022. However, the total volume of potato sales fell to 1.77 billion pounds in the first quarter of 2023 compared with 1.85 billion pounds during the same period of 2022, the press release noted. However, total grocery store potato sales for the first quarter of 2023 are still above the 1.74 billion pounds sold during the first three months of 2019 – a year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the press release said.
WSU Lind Dryland Research Station welcomes new director
LIND — Washington State University soil scientist and wheat breeder Mike Pumphrey was a bit dejected as he stood in front of some thin test squares of stunted, somewhat scraggly spring wheat at the university’s Lind Dryland Research Station. “As you can see, the spring wheat is having a pretty tough go of it this year,” he said. “It’s a little discouraging to stand in front of plots that are going to yield maybe about seven bushels per acre. Or something like that.” Barely two inches of rain have fallen at the station since the beginning of March, according to station records. Pumphrey, speaking to a crowd of wheat farmers, researchers, seed company representatives and students during the Lind Dryland Research Station’s annual field day on Thursday, June 15, said years like 2023 are a reminder that dryland farming is a gamble.
Wilson Creek hosts bluegrass gathering
WILSON CREEK — Bluegrass in the Park is set to start today at Wilson Creek City Park. The inaugural event is set to bring music and visitors to one of Grant County’s smallest towns. “I've been listening to bluegrass my whole life,” said the event’s organizer Shirley Billings, whose family band plays on their porch every year for the crowd at the Little Big Show. “My whole family plays bluegrass. And I just wanted to kind of get something for the community going. So I just invited all the people that I know and they’ll come and camp and jam.” ...