Boeing has moved its number 4 test 787 Dreamliner to Colorado Springs for high altitude testing.
The plane had been operating from Mesa, Ariz. for high temperature tests.
The ZA004 plane will explore how the Dreamliner operates at Colorado Springs’ nearly 6,200-foot airport altitude.
The Colorado Springs airport longest runway is 13,500 feet long because the thin air at higher altitudes require aircraft to accelerate to higher speeds before they can take off.
The test plane is expected to operate in Colorado Springs for several days.
The four-plane Dreamliner test fleet has accumulated more than 850 hours of test flying.
The News Tribune now uses Facebook commenting on selected blogs. See editor's column for more details. Commenters are expected to abide by terms of service for Facebook as well as commenting rules for thenewstribune.com. Report violators to webmaster@thenewstribune.com.