Your Friends Name: Your Friends Email: Like a big kid dancing in
mud puddles, the new Boeing 747-8 Freighter romps repeatedly
through a shallow pond in the middle of the runway. Once at 30
knots, again at 40 knots and faster yet at 50 knots the jumbo
jet powers through, splashing higher sheets of water onto its
unusual pink underbelly. What to an outside observer might seem
gleeful play is really a simple yet serious trial called a water
safety test. It is one of the many requirements the new Boeing
747-8 Freighter must plow through on the road to certification.
"We do the water spray test so we can tell whether or not -- if
an airplane is going through standing water -- the water
actually gets ingested into the engines because that would be
bad," says 747-8 Flight Test manager Andy Hammer. "It's a very
simple, elegant way to do this test," Hammer says of the method.
"When you have an airplane coming right past you and spraying
that much water is awesome." Nick Baker, Boeing engineer. The
Boeing team builds a