U.S. National Park Service:

December 17, 1903...

At 10:35, he released the restraining wire. The flyer moved down the rail as Wilbur steadied the wings. Just as Orville left the ground, John Daniels from the lifesaving station snapped the shutter on a preset camera, capturing the historic image of the airborne aircraft with Wilbur running alongside. Again, the flyer was unruly, pitching up and down as Orville overcompensated with the controls. But he kept it aloft until it hit the sand about 120 feet from the rail. Into the 27-mph wind, the groundspeed had been 6.8 mph, for a total airspeed of 34 mph. The brothers took turns flying three more times that day, getting a feel for the controls and increasing their distance with each flight. Wilbur's second flight - the fourth and last of the day - was an impressive 852 feet in 59 seconds.

Fast forward nearly 106 years to to this past Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009...

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Completes First Flight:

The newest member of the Boeing family of commercial jetliners took off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash. at 10:27 a.m. local time. After approximately three hours, it landed at 1:33 p.m. at Seattle's Boeing Field.

787 Chief Pilot Mike Carriker and Capt. Randy Neville tested some of the airplane's systems and structures, as on-board equipment recorded and transmitted real-time data to a flight-test team at Boeing Field.

After takeoff from Everett, the airplane followed a route over the east end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Capts. Carriker and Neville took the airplane to an altitude of 13,200 feet (4,023 meters) and an air speed of 180 knots, or about 207 miles (333 kilometers) per hour, customary on a first flight.

Boeing 787-9 Specifications:

• Seating: 250 to 290 passengers
• Range: 8,000 to 8,500 nautical miles
• Wing Span: 208 feet
• Length: 206 feet
• Height: 56 feet
• Cruise Speed: Mach 0.85
• Maximum Takeoff Weight: 540,000 lbs
• Total Cargo Volume: 5,400 cubic feet

Bonus Trivia: Capt. Randy Neville, Engineering Test Pilot on the Boeing 787's first flight, graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1975 with a degree in electrical engineering.