We’ve mentioned that testing and production is continuing on the flight test Dreamliners and other airplanes in assembly.

Wednesday, on the flight line in Everett we saw (and heard) evidence of that as we completed engine runs for ZA002, the second flight test 787.

Engine runs underway on ZA002.

For the sights - and sounds - of ZA002’s first engine runs, click above to view a short video.

Yesterday’s tests began at around 9 a.m. with two dry runs - the first one without fuel and the second with fuel. After an inspection, early in the afternoon the engines were powered up for real.

A couple of photos that really capture the 787 engines in action.

As was the case when we ran the engines for ZA001, we started them up and operated the engines at various power settings to verify that all of the systems are performing as we expect.

The program tells me that tests on ZA002 are going well.

It’s been a challenging couple of weeks, as you can imagine. But I wanted to make sure - before we get too far removed from Le Bourget - to share some final sights, sounds and thoughts from the Paris Air Show.

A French colleague of mine observed that assessing the results from Paris is a little like trying to interpret le sourire de la Joconde, the smile of “La Joconde” (the Mona Lisa). That sounds just about right.

Crowds gaze upon La Joconde - the Mona Lisa - in all her glory at the Louvre in Paris during air show week. She is beguiling and yet mysterious as ever. Much like this year’s air show and the state of the industry in general.

The Economist had an interesting take recently on some of the issues around Boeing and Airbus coming out of Le Bourget and beyond if you’re looking for an overall view.

I came into the Paris Air Show expecting that the hot issues would be: today’s economic and market challenges, the future of aviation (CMO), the 787, and the environment. From that perspective, there were really no surprises. And obviously those issues remain.

I did get more questions than I expected around product strategy and what will be Boeing’s next new airplane - and when. We heard a lot of questions in particular about the 777. That sounds like a good topic for a future blog.

But for now, and speaking of the 777, I wanted to show you a little more of the Air France 777 Freighter which was on display at Le Bourget.

The Air France 777 Freighter was clearly a “hit” at the show. We got a look inside the cargo area, as well as the flight deck, and the pretty cool cargo door video display console.

Also at Paris we had the usual “orders race” focus again. Although somewhat muted, orders were touted, and tallies added up. As always, some of the supposedly large orders attributed to the competition were not firm orders at all.

As we’ve pointed out many times before in many venues, Boeing doesn’t attend air shows in order to enter into some sort of competition. Our customers announce orders with us when they are booked. This activity takes place all throughout the year, and is disclosed weekly on Boeing’s Web site.

Anyway, before we push on into what is guaranteed to be a dynamic summer ahead, I want to leave you with a photo gallery of sorts from Paris.

Paris is lovely, by day or by night.

Striking imagery confronts you at every turn at Le Bourget.

The competition on display: A350 cutaway model (top), and Sukhoi Superjet in flight.

Traffic jam: I couldn’t resist this photo of the daily “rush hour” along chalet row at the end of the show each afternoon.

Finally, something a little different for Randy’s Journal. A couple of video “tours” we put together on the ground at the air show. The first is an overall look at the variety of activities Boeing engaged in during the week. The second, taped as things wound down, includes a walk through the exhibit halls at the Paris Air Show.

Click above to view a video tour of Boeing activities at the show.

Click above to view my video visit to the Le Bourget exhibit halls.

Taping those videos at the show was interesting, for sure. But I think I’ll hold on to my day job.

We’ve joined the wing to the fuselage for the first 747-8 Freighter.

In the final assembly bay in Everett, our team has attached the 40-foot (12 meter) center fuselage section to the wing.

This first 747-8 is now more than 60% complete, and the entire fuselage is in final assembly.

Next step is to prepare the wing and center section for final body join, connecting these assemblies to the forward and aft fuselage sections.

As the photos show, momentum is continuing on the 747-8 Freighter as we move forward toward first flight later this year. It’s a new, high-capacity 747 offering the lowest operating costs and best economics of any freighter airplane, with enhanced environmental performance.

The 747-8 Freighter has 78 orders from cargo operators Cargolux, Nippon Cargo Airlines, AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates SkyCargo, Guggenheim and Korean Air.

By now, you’ve seen the news about the postponement of the 787 first flight due to the need to reinforce a limited area of the airplane’s structure.

I can tell you that here in Renton where I work, as well as in Everett and across Boeing, there’s a sense of disappointment. That’s understandable. As 787 Program chief Scott Fancher told employees today, it’s especially difficult given we were so close to getting the airplane in the air.

But is this a devastating piece of news? Not from my perspective.

Our test program is designed to do just what it has done - find issues. Commercial jetliners are complex machines. We’ve noted this time and again. Our testing is what ensures that we get everything right when we design and build our airplanes.

In this case, it turns out that results from one of our static tests identified stress in an area of “side-of-body” structure that was in excess of expectations. We thought initially that we could proceed with first flight by the end of the month. But late last week, after further analysis, we decided to postpone first flight until we’re satisfied we can conduct productive flight testing.

Boeing conducts a robust static testing program on a full-scale airplane to validate our analysis.

We’ve said all along that we won’t fly until the airplane is ready. And we mean that. Once we determine the required modification and testing plan, we’ll work out a new schedule. This will include a timetable for first flight and delivery. In the meantime, it’s back to work.

Remember, the flight test program includes almost equal parts of in-the-air and on-the-ground testing. The intermediate gauntlet tests we’ve run were considered part of the flight test process. So, in the days ahead we’ll proceed with the final gauntlet test, and then taxi testing as we also continue to work through meaningful testing of the airplane systems. Work will also continue on Airplane #2, the other flight test aircraft, and the rest of the airplanes in production.

We’ve had great progress so far. It’s new technology and we’re learning as we go. The Dreamliner incorporates breakthrough designs and systems that will make it a revolutionary airplane for airlines and their passengers. None of that has changed.

Right now we have an incredible team of technical experts working to understand the issue completely and to develop the right solution. We know we’ll be able to modify the existing airplanes to get them into flying condition.

I know that it might be temping right now to try and jump ahead of the technical team in guessing at how to solve this issue. But, that’s not how the process works. The team will work with urgency but we’ll give them the time they need to do the job right. They’ll refine our analytical models and they’ll run additional tests. We’ll develop a solution, conduct the appropriate testing, install the modifications, and then get on with first flight.

Finally, I just want to reiterate something. This was a difficult decision for the company in some ways, but in some ways it was not. A lot of people were eager to see us fly in the next week. We considered a temporary fix that would allow us to fly as scheduled, but we decided that a permanent modification to ensure a productive flight test program is the way to go.

So, this postponement, while a painful choice, is also the right choice and the only choice.

LE BOURGET, FRANCE - As is the case when any new concept or innovation is introduced, getting the world on board the notion of sustainable biofuels for aviation could require some further “green” persuasion.

I totally get that.

But we now have some good, solid research to back up the commitment of Boeing and the industry to finding new renewable energy sources for use in airplanes and airline operations.

My colleague, Bill Glover, managing director of Environmental Strategy for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, led a media briefing here at the Paris Air Show this week.

Bill Glover makes a point about biofuels during Wednesday’s press briefing.

At the event, we released some positive results from a series of ground, lab and biofuel test flights involving blends of up to 50% sustainable biofuels.

What I took away from Bill’s briefing are a couple of key things. First, as proven in these tests, sustainable biofuels can perform as well as, or exceed the performance and requirements of today’s jet fuel.

And second, although commercial flights using biofuels may still be a few air shows away, there are tools available right now that we can put to work to improve environmental performance.

If you lean toward the technical side, you might like looking over the summary of the results here in PDF. Or click the image above.

You can take a look at Bill’s presentation on our Boeing Paris Air Show 2009 Web site.

The results of the study indicate that one type of plant we’re evaluating - camelina - has a lifecycle carbon footprint that is 80% less than today’s jet fuel.

By the way, when we talk about “lifecycle” in this instance, we refer to the entire journey from growing and converting the plant source to fuel, to actually using it in a jetliner.

Biofuels have been shown to have greater energy content by mass than petroleum-based fuel, and of course unlike petroleum, they are renewable sources of energy. Plant-based sources also have the added benefit of absorbing CO2 while being grown - so with biofuel you’re starting out on the plus side of the carbon equation.

This is the camelina plant, a member of the mustard family. The oil from its seeds is a potential source of renewable aviation biofuel.

Now, for the “what-we-can-do-right-now” aspect of the story, let’s remember we’re already making advances in air traffic management - as we’ve talked about here before.

We also have a suite of technologies available currently that can be applied to environment and energy solutions. Solar cells for power generation, for example. We’re building airplanes with materials such as composites. And we’re utilizing new aerodynamic breakthroughs and electrical systems optimization. Today, as well, we have more realistic flight simulation technology - so there’s less need for actual flying during pilot training.

These are all steps we can take right now, as we work to make sustainable biofuels a real solution for commercial aviation.

As we begin to wrap up the Paris Air Show, I hope these are some of the messages that will remain on the minds of our industry stakeholders here in Europe and elsewhere around the world.

As the song goes, “a new day is coming.”