Seems like a big waste of fuel. and it looks like it might have been done on my “etch a sketch”
At 19 hours and 9000+ Nautical Miles, it was apparently the longest ever “domestic flight”.
Not really a waste of fuel. They have to do test flights anyway, and this particular flight was to test ETOPS capability. So they might as well make a nice publicity stunt out of it.
It wasn’t a waste of fuel. As friedo said, they needed to test the ETOPS capability which is an extended operating duration test and requires you to burn a lot of fuel anyway. While they were at it, they also tested the 787’s flight plan system and the FAA’s flight tracking system, so in that respect they tested a bunch of stuff together all on one flight which saves fuel rather than testing them separately.
It may seem like a waste of fuel to draw a pretty pattern on a map, but they needed to fly in some sort of pattern, and that one worked as well as any other.
It may look like an etch-a-sketch drawing, but the important thing isn’t the logo. What’s really important is how well the plane executed its intended flight plan and how accurately the FAA was able to track it.
I remember a few years ago, seeing a map of someone’s flight plan - can’t recall if it was an ETOPS shakedown or just an “LXC” (long cross-country) trip for qualifying for a private pilot’s license, but the overall map looked like a stick-figure airplane.
It’s nice to see people taking what could be a boring mandatory event and having some fun with it.
They stole my idea!
Except that my idea was to use Google Tracks to trace a cock & balls in the local park, but it’s still the same!
You may claim it was your idea, but it’s probably just a cock & ball story.
Ones interesting thing is that this isn’t even remotely close to the longest domestic flight ever. The longest flight ever was done in and around the Las Vegas area by two men in a Cessna 172. They flew non-stop for almost 65 days December 1958 - February 1959. The total distance traveled isn’t completely known but it was a whole lot longer than 9000 miles (at least many times over that if they averaged even 70 mph). They refueled and got supplies from a moving car and took turns sleeping on a mattress in the back.
"On Dec. 4, 1958, a Cessna 172 took off from McCarran Field on a nonstop endurance flight. On Feb. 7, 1959, 64 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes and 5 seconds later, it landed in the Guinness Book of World Records. The nonstop flight record remains unbroken.
The pilots, Bob Timm and John Cook, took turns at the controls of the Cessna, flying it in four-hour shifts. Except for the pilot’s seat, everything was removed from the interior. A 95-gallon fuel tank was added, along with a mattress and internal access to both fuel and oil lines.
With 47 gallons of fuel in the wings and 95 gallons in the belly tank, the 172 had to be refueled only once a day. The ground crew, Norbie Prada, Doyl Hickman, Roy Young and Bill Marhold, supervised that portion of the refueling."
This isn’t nearly as wasteful as that time Sherwin-Williams launched a giant can of red paint into orbit and used it to drown the entire northern hemisphere.
I could do better with an etch-a-sketch. I couldn’t do better with a jumbo jet. It’s a pretty fun gimmick overall, and shows some pretty precise flying.
Enjoy,
Steven
Hey, any publicity is good publicity. I laughed.
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and it looks like
it might have been done on my “etch a sketch”.
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What’s it supposed to look like? The roof of the Sistine Chapel painted in jet contrails?
Good god. When your plan to do in-flight refueling from a truck speeding along a freeway fails and you start hauling five-gallon jugs of gasoline up on a rope by hand, I think you ought to quit. What a way to spend two months.
You think they could have done it over a more populated area.
:eek: That’s hauling thirty fucking jugs of gasoline every day. Before I read that link, I assumed the Cessna landed once a day just long enough to refuel, which would still be impressively crazy. In-flight refueling, from either a fuel truck or a T-bird with some gas cans and a rope, every day? That’s beyond insane.
From below, it would be backwards.
It sounds like they only did the gas-cans-on-a-rope thing once when the truck broke down. As insane as it sounds, it apparently worked.
Missed edit:
Also, as a lower bound of distance traveled, they couldn’t have been flying slower than the 55 mph stall speed (if we can believe wiki). That would be 86,000 miles. The cruise speed is 140 mph, averaged speed a bit below that (130 mph) gives a total distance of 200,000 miles. I’m… gobsmacked. Frankly, it’s so crazy that I’m having a hard time believing it’s true.
How frequently are the planes supposed to be serviced, anyways? 65 straight days must be way more than most Cessna’s fly in a year.
There are two stories here:
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The nonstop aerial voyage of the Cessna 172 that began Dec. 4, 1958. Refueled by the most ridiculous manner imaginable. And eventually successful. Hooray! That was amazing to read about. Hauling up gallons of fuel by rope. Why haven’t we seen a movie about this?
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The Dreamliner’s excursion was a testament to the incredible technology that we as humans can wield. There are some times that I proud to be among the tribe of apes who call themselves Homo sapiens. This is one of them.
Just a guess, but I doubt there was a whole lot of adventure involved. The stamina and mental endurance to remain in a small space, over monotonous terrain, with one other dude, for 2 months is the foundation of their story. Their intestinal fortitude would need to be matched by the audience to watch it for 90 minutes.