Originally Posted by
tdracer
First flight has to be out of Paine Field (Everett), since that's where the aircraft is. Normal procedure is for the first flight to land at Boeing Field (just south of Seattle), with the flight test program based out of Boeing Field.
No first hand knowledge of the 777X program, but SOP is to do some very basic safety of flight testing (with minimum crew on-board) for the first few flights, after which the FAA will grant the basic Experimental Ticket - after which the overly restrictive 'first flight' requirements are relaxed and the 'normal' flight test program can proceed.
Isn't most of the flight testing done out of Moses Lake?