World News for Students of English

16-06-2015 07:00

This amazing and rather dizzying footage captures the moment a Boeing 787–9 takes off at what appears to be an almost vertical ninety degrees. The impressive manoeuvre which took place over Moses Lake in Washington State was part of a rehearsal for this month’s Paris Air Show.

The 787–9, better known as the Dreamliner, is the biggest plane Boeing makes.

Most airliners normally take off at around 10 to 15 degree angle, making the footage of this stunt even more astonishing.

Boeing says it spotlights technical manoeuvres that showcase some of the airplane’s many capabilities.

The –9 is the second incarnation of the Dreamliner and features a stretched fuselage, allowing the plane to carry more passengers and cargo even further. Boeing officials declined to divulge the actual banking and ascent angles but they’re clearly steeper and sharper than any manoeuvres the state-of-the-art aircraft makes in its everyday chores, ferrying commercial flyers around the world.

The Dreamliner series first debuted in 2011 with the latest version, the one shown in the video, coming off the assembly line in 2013. The next Dreamliner, the 787–10, is expected to begin commercial service in 2018.

Difficult words: dizzying (making you dizzy – not well), rehearsal (practice), stunt (something dangerous and cool), astonishing (amazing), spotlight (show), incarnation (version), fuselage (the main body of an aeroplane), divulge (tell), debut (first public appearance), assembly line (the line in a factory).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com