It’s the future, and it took off from Seattle at 10:27 a.m. this morning.

It’s not often you get to see the future — so take a look.

The 787 Dreamliner is perhaps the most innovative airline in the world, and it’s inaugural flight — though years behind schedule — proves that plastic planes really work.

For the next year a half dozen, these 787s will be globe trotting sans passengers as Boeing continues to test them in every fashion known.

But today’s flight only lasted three hours before pilots brought it home to a roaring crowd of workers.

“Today is truly a proud and historic day for the global team who has worked tirelessly to design and build the 787 Dreamliner – the first all-new jet airplane of the 21st century,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program. “We look forward to the upcoming flight test program and soon bringing groundbreaking levels of efficiency, technology and passenger comfort to airlines and the flying public.”

So does it work? Absolutely.

What does this mean for you? Just check out that storage space in the overheads (as well as that little tiny man seat behind the guy with the bag.)

By the end of next year, there’s going to be a host of bitching new airplanes to haul you all around the world. These babies (850 have already been ordered in more than 50 countries) will have a range of 9,000 miles, offer the newest and coolest looking interiors around, and still get 20 percent better fuel economy than current jets.

These babies provide up to 45 percent more cargo space, can seat up to 250 people and many come with a wet bar. When it takes off, it can have a total weight of almost half a million pounds. Now that’s flying.

We don’t know if Virgin has ordered a few of these  bad boys, though now that it’s already been flown around the block, it may not be as interested.

Of course all that efficiency may not translate into cheaper tickets, each plane costs about $1 billion.