I thought that I would list all the first flights that I know of for Dec/Jan.

Gulfstream G650
The G650 completed the second flight last Friday. First flight ended with a precautionary landing due to a vibration in the landing gear door. It reached 9500 ft and 240 knots.

EADS A400M
First flight is tentatively scheduled for Friday Dec 11. Taxi tests have been completed and crews say it handles excellently. Take off will be 16t under max with a crew of at least 4.

Boeing 787
Engineers should give the Go/No Go any day now. First flight is scheduled for either the 15th or 18th. ZA001 is undergoing flight preparations, with ZA002 scheduled to fly by the end of December.

Boeing 747-8F
Sources say the first flight should occur sometime in the first half of January. The first flight airframe should begin 2nd or 3rd phase gauntlet testing any time now.

Update 1- 787

Final Gauntlet testing starts Tuesday and runs into Wednesday or Thursday. As part of the testing they will hook up the "Breadtruck" and trick the aircraft into thinking it`s flying. This coming weekend they will complete the last round of low and high speed taxi testing. Still waiting on the Go/No Go.

i know nothing about aircrafts, but was attracted to this by the close dates and all...

does this have some meaning? or is it just a boom in first flights?

or i guess i should ask...do you think it has a meaning if there isn't one that is being talked about.

im just curious..planes are interesting to me in general.

Update 2-G650

The 2nd flight of the G650 lasted 1hr 45min. Handling, engine operability, flap operability, and various other systems were tested during the flight. Gulfstream plans on having 5 aircraft in testing, with a certification date of 2011.

Yeah i do agree with some others that that is a big amount of first flights to be made next year.

You can add the PAK FA due to being postponed to early 2010 because the deadline of late 2009 could not be met according to Sukhoi.

Darn shame realy but it seems that is the way how it works now.

Lets hope for Airbus, Boeing and Sukhoi that everything will fly without a hitch

Update 3

A400M

Wheels off time is 10am local Friday, Dec 11th. The aircraft will climb to 15,000 feet and fly between 1 and 3 hours.

787
Rolls Royce confirmed the Trent 1000 engines are absolutely ready to fly. During the flight Rolls Royce in the UK will receive near real time engine health telemetry during the flight over Washington.

747-8F
The engines were run for the first time yesterday. One was started from the APU, with the others taking air through the cross bleed system. The engines will undergo a tech inspection before restart.

(information courtesy of Flight)

Update 4- 787
Boeing confirmed start of Final Gauntlet testing Tuesday night. It`s expected to last two or three days. The first portion tricks the aircraft into thinking it`s flying, and recreates the first flight. The second portion creates failure modes, and sees how the aircraft reacts. Engineers were surprised at how difficult it was to trick the aircraft into thinking it was airborne.

(flight)

I am probably going to lose my internet connection soon at least for a little while. I`ll try to get to the library to get online when I can to update things. They`re closed weekends though so if you are interested be patient and I`ll update when I can.

Yeah, please do that. Thumbs up for your info!

Originally posted by iamsupermanv2
...
does this have some meaning? or is it just a boom in first flights?
...

Not really since all 4(5 minus the Pak-Fa) are entirely different aircraft. One could probably argue though that getting the A400M or the 787 into the air first has a connotation of prestige, but surely neither company will let their schedules get compromised by that thought.

Though I think I read a while ago that the cold, thick winter air gives a small advantage in low level responsiveness.

Update 5- Boeing 787

Final Gauntlet is done, engineers give a Go for first flight. High speed taxi tests, final paperwork reviews, and the FAA Experimental certification will begin as early as Saturday, Dec 12. First flight is set for Tuesday, December 15th, 10am PST. This looks like it, time for her to fly.

Trailing/leading edge stress analysis will continue up until the 150% stress test in March.

Competitors or not, hope this goes well for Boeing, they need it.

That is indeed a fair point. I'm sure to keep you posted and those of us interested will definately be watching.