Dreams can come true, especially in aerospace

Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport hosted a unique overnight guest July 29 in the form of one of the world's newest airplanes, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The Dreamliner was on its way back to Boeing's Seattle hub after a global show-and-tell trip that included a stop in Peru. Boeing says the plane, which can hold up to 250 people and complete transatlantic flights, is the future of big, yet efficient, air travel. Some local airport officials with connections at Boeing orchestrated the stop, the plane's first in Florida.

“It was a rare opportunity,” says airport President and CEO Rick Piccolo, who toured the plane along with a few dozen local residents who attended an open event July 30. “It's an incredible aircraft and really beautiful to see.”

Boeing says the Dreamliner uses 20% less fuel than any airplane its size. The company says it will deliver the first Dreamliner to a client by September, a milestone event for the project, which has been several years in the making.

The Sarasota-Bradenton stopover, meanwhile, exposed the Seattle-based Dreamliner crew to some local hospitality. The pilots stayed at the downtown Sarasota Hyatt and had dinner at Columbia on St. Armands Circle before heading back to Seattle the next day.