Obviously aircraft manufacturers have to do a lot of test flights, not just before they introduce a plane, but before they introduce any updates. At the moment Boeing is testing the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 TEN engines on their 787s, which will reduce fuel burn due to an improved pressure compressor. This also gives airlines…
Continue reading: Amazing: Boeing “Drew” A 787 In The Sky Overnight
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Better yet, someone pointed out in a Reddit thread on /r/aviation that the nose is pointing towards Boeing field, while the tail is pointing directly to the factory in South Carolina
That is really awesome. I love it when airlines or aircraft manufactures do things like this. It's what Aviation is all about.
that is pretty amazing.
i have flown on boeing 787 a few time across the pacific. mostly to japan haneda airport from lax.
i love the newly refurbished haneda international terminal.
i am trying to fly the new airbus 350 on my next trip to singapore.
from what i can tell, it should be amazing.
I know this is a travel-focused blog rather than a general aviation one, but I think "vast majority" is slightly overstating the number of GE engine-equipped 787s - I believe the sales split to date is 55-60% GE and 40-45% RR.
@Lucky - Based on my involvement in ultra-long test flights as an independent consultant for the major aviation gas-turbine manufacturers in my days, most flights beyond 6 hours have two crews - both for rest and for help with instrumentation readings. The hull is not filled with seats, but tons of wiring and row after row of data-acquisition systems and computer consoles gathering millions of data point a second and water ballasts for some specialty tests in which engine performance is tested with different center of gravity settings. Rarely does anyone sleep on these flights but the pilots monitoring (rather than flying) do have rest seats. The flight crew still has to adhere to the FAA regulations regarding in-flight operational time constraints. Engine qualifications can be interesting, although exciting is not the word I would use to describe it as we pour over data, most of which will be post-processed anyways. The more interesting engine tests are done on the ground.