After nearly a decade of development, Boeing delivered its newest aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner, to launch customer All Nippon Airlines Monday at the company's headquarters in Everett, Washington.
In a ceremony held on Monday, 500 workers and a mechanical tug hauled the plane 100 yards to waiting All Nippon executives, Reuters reported.
Years of delays have marred the development of the new jet, which Boeing says is 20 percent more fuel efficient, quieter and more passenger-friendly than competing aircraft. Originally scheduled to be delivered in 2008, development problems with the 787 -- not to mention a global recession -- repeatedly interrupted production.
One welcome upside to the repeated delays, however, was a constant stream of photos from newswire photographers crawling around Boeing and in particular its Everett, Wash. facility, the world's largest building by volume. A window into the incredible complexity of building a new aircraft -- more than 40,000 fasteners hold together one composite-material 787 -- photography from the past five years offers a stunning look at the near-miracle of modern aviation and the aircraft on its bleeding edge.
Check out the chronology of the world's newest plane below.
