The new Boeing 747-8 took off from Victorville, California with a weight more than one million pounds.

After a four-hour flight, Capt. Stemer and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s Capt. Bob Stoney landed RC521 safely back in California, completing the flight that began with the heaviest takeoff in Boeing’s history.

Boeing engineers stretched the fuselage of the iconic 747 to create the new 747-8 Freighter. The bigger airplane boasts a designed maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 975,000 pounds (442,253 kg), compared to the 875,000 pound (396,900 kg) MTOW of its predecessor, the 747-400 Freighter.

To prove the airplane is capable of taking off with such a heavy burden, the Boeing Test & Evaluation team loaded RC521 (second 747-8)with plenty of fuel and stacked dozens of steel plates, each weighing 3,000 pounds, into the cargo hold.

When it was all packed and loaded, the airplane weighed about 1,005,000 pounds (455,860 kg).

Source and photo: Boeing