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Gov. Brown Welcomes Fuel-Efficient Boeing Dreamliner To Long Beach

LONG BEACH (CBS) — California Governor Jerry Brown was on hand Wednesday to mark the debut of what the state's largest private employer has heralded as the "plane of the future".

KNX 1070's Ron Kilgore reports the long-awaited arrival of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was on display at the company's Long Beach facility.

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Parked alongside the C-17 Globemaster also built at the facility, the cutting-edge airliner is made entirely of carbon fiber construction, making the aircraft lighter with less drag and requiring less maintenance than older jets.

Brown said the Dreamliner — which uses 20 percent less fuel than similar-sized planes and employs a range of new technologies to maximizes environmental efficiency — will benefit both the state and the nation at large.

PHOTOS: Boeing 787 Dreamliner Makes Debut In Long Beach

"This super efficient passenger airplane will cut fuel use by 20 percent and strengthen America's position as the world leader in commercial aviation," said Brown.

Over 500 Long Beach and Seal Beach-based engineers and nearly 80 suppliers assisted Boeing — a firm which employs 20,000 Californians and works directly with more than 5,700 suppliers and vendors statewide — in the design and development of the Dreamliner.

Engineer Matthew Danes, who worked on both the Dreamliner and the Globemaster, said while the two were constructed with vastly different purposes in mind, both are capable of superior performance in the air.

"You don't have to carry Abram A1 tanks inside a 787," said Danes. "It's great to have them out here, the chance to work on both these aircraft has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and just to get to see them is really great."

The Dreamliner is scheduled to make its next stop on its worldwide tour in Salt Lake City.

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