Boeing performs first test flight for KC-46 tanker program

The Boeing Company and U.S. Air Force successfully completed the first flight of the KC-46 tanker test program Sunday. The plane, a Boeing 767-2C, took off from Paine Field, Wash., at 12:29 p.m. (EST) and landed three hours and 32 minutes later at Boeing Field. The aircraft will receive its military systems following certification.

As part of a contract awarded in 2011 to design and develop the Air Force’s next-generation tanker aircraft, Boeing is building four test aircraft – two 767-2Cs and two KC-46A Tankers. The 767-2Cs enter flight test as commercial freighters prior to receiving their aerial refueling systems, while the KC-46s will fly as fully equipped tankers through the Federal Aviation Administration and military certification process.

Boeing is on contract to deliver the first 18 of 179 KC-46 aircraft to the Air Force by 2017.

Grand opening of new Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta

Delta Air Lines celebrated the grand opening of the new Delta Flight Museum on Tuesday, a 68,000 square-foot facility located at the airline's world headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. The museum traces Delta's history and the development of commercial aviation. The grand opening event marked Delta's 85th anniversary of passenger service, dating back to its first passenger flight from Dallas to Jackson, Miss., on June 17, 1929.

The museum is housed in the airline's two original maintenance hangars dating from the 1940s.

The museum houses a permanent collection of five historic aircraft, including a Travel Air 6B Sedan similar to the one that operated Delta's first passenger flight in 1929, and The Spirit of Delta, a Boeing 767 purchased for the company by employees in 1982. Also on display is a DC-3, Ship 41, that flew for Delta and was restored by Delta employees and volunteers.

The museum features a 117-seat theater and a 30-seat conference room located inside the fuselage of an L-1011 TriStar aircraft. Also on display is the cockpit of a Convair 880 jet. Additionally, visitors can have the ultimate aviation experience and pilot a Boeing 737-200 full-motion simulator, the only one open to the public in the U.S., formerly used to train Delta pilots.

A tour of the museum starts with Delta's beginnings as a crop-dusting operation in the rural South.

A special exhibit honors Delta's founder and first CEO, C.E. Woolman. The display includes a portrait of Woolman along with quotes and personal items.

The hangar space also serves as a unique public and private rental venue to host meetings, conferences and other events with state-of-the-art audio and video capability and full catering services that can accommodate a seated dinner for as many as 1,200.

Major sponsors of the Delta Flight Museum include the Delta Air Lines Foundation, American Express, Airbus, the New York Yankees, ST Aerospace and Aero BridgeWorks.

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