Good news for “If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going” fans.

Boeing announced on 12/10 that the window for the first flight of the 787 could open as early as 12/15/09. On 12/12/09 Boeing completed the Dreamliner’s high speed taxi test with success. The airplane reached top speed of 150 mph, and the pilot’s lifted the nose gear off the runway.

The 787 widebody is the first to use composite material construction in an aircraft. It is expected to replace the aging 767 fleet since it has similar capacity, is a widebody, but also has higher fuel efficiency and longer range.