CHS Evacuation Gives Us an Early Look at the First United 787-10

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Boeing is currently working to evacuate some of its Dreamliners from Charleston, South Carolina (CHS) ahead of Hurricane Florence, which is expected to make landfall later this week.

One consequence, however, is that several of these aircraft are flying when they were intended to spend some time on the ground. United's first 787-10 is one obvious example — the airline didn't even have an opportunity to unveil its flagship Dreamliner before Boeing flew the fully painted plane to Paine Field (PAE), just outside Seattle earlier today.

United's 787-10 is expected to enter the fleet later this year. It'll be the first Dreamliner to offer a modified version of the airline's new Polaris business-class seat, which may eventually make its way to United's smaller 787-8s and -9s.

The 787-10 is a huge upgrade from the smallest Dreamliner, the 787-8, measuring 38 feet longer. It's the shortest-range 787, though, flying up to 7,400 miles without a refueling stop. That's enough to handle most United flights — even some long hops to Asia, like Newark (EWR) to Tokyo (NRT) — but it's a far cry from the 8,785 miles you can achieve with the mid-size 787-9.

For more on Boeing's Dreamliner variants, see By the Numbers: Boeing 787-8 vs. 787-9 vs. 787-10.