On March 14, a second Boeing 747-8 Freighter, RC 522, successfully completed its first flight in the evening. The airplane took off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., for a two-and-a-half-hour flight and landed at Boeing Field in Seattle.

Captain Kirk Vining was at the controls for the flight, with Rick Braun operating as co-pilot and Joel Conard serving as systems operator. The airplane reached an altitude of 27,000 feet (8,230 m) and an airspeed of 240 knots, or about 276 miles (444 km) per hour. It took off at 3:57 p.m. PDT and landed at 6:25 p.m.

"The airplane performed well on its first flight," said Andy Hammer, test program manager for 747-8. "It was a good start to a demanding flight-test program for this airplane."

This is the second of three 747-8 Freighters being used in the flight-test program. Each airplane will be used for a specific set of tests, with this airplane focusing on community noise, environmental control systems and extended operation performance standards.

The airplane will begin its flight-test program at Boeing Field before transitioning to Palmdale, Calif.