On Dec. 15, 2009 the Boeing 787 Dreamliner took to the sky for the first time, ushering a new era in air travel as it departed before an estimated crowd of more than 12,000 employees and guests at Paine Field in Everett, Wash. The flight marked the beginning of a flight-test program that eventually will see six airplanes flying nearly around the clock and around the globe, leading to the airplane’s first delivery in fourth-quarter 2010.The 3-hour, 6-minute flight followed a route over the east end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and back to Boeing Field in Seattle, its home for the rest of its flight-test period.