Flightdeck Friday (III): E-2D Completes First Flight

A Flightdeck Friday "three-fer"  (From a Northrop Grumman press release)

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Aug. 3, 2007 — The first E-2D Advanced Hawkeye development aircraft, known as Delta One, built for the U.S. Navy by prime contractor Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC),completed its first flight this afternoon. Northrop Grumman Flight Test Pilot Tom Boutin and U.S. Navy Flight Test Pilot Lt. Drew Ballinger along with Northrop Grumman Flight Test Lead Weapon Systems Operator Zyad Hajo lifted off shortly before 11 a.m. and flew for approximately1.3 hours.

"The flight today marks the transition from design, development and ground test to a tangible — an aircraft’s demonstration of its capability for the future fleet mission," said Capt. Randy Mahr, NAVAIR Hawkeye program manager. "From the drawing board to today’s flight, this has been a complete team effort with the Navy and industry. The team was ready for this mission today. Flying today was an important milestone — we are one step further along the road to get this needed capability to the warriors who launch in to harm’s way and play for keeps."