A Boeing 787 Dreamliner, doing touch-and-go tests at Paine Field in Everett, Washington on Sunday.

EVERETT, Wash.--For an airplane plane geek like me, today was a very good day.

Ostensibly, I was up here in this town about 30 minutes north of Seattle for the maiden flight of Boeing's all-new 747-8 Intercontinental, which took air for the first time at 9:58 a.m. PDT.

But while dozens of other reporters and I were waiting for the new 747 to take off, we got the chance to see something else that got the shutters working overtime: a 787 Dreamliner doing touch-and-go tests.

By now, the Dreamliner is, if not old news, then at least mature news. The plane made its first flight on December 15, 2009, and is slated for first customer delivery some time later this year. But there's still something thrilling about seeing one of the next-generation planes doing tests like this up close.

Still, today's mainly about the new 747. Please stay tuned for all of CNET's coverage of the first flight of the Intercontinental and its first landing.