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    The Sideshow

    Dreamliner jet “draws” Boeing logo across North America

    flightaware.com

    A Boeing 787 jet took corporate loyalty to new heights when it "drew" the letters "787" followed by the company's logo across several thousand miles of North American skies. The etching of the letters and logo, while not visible from the ground, can be seen in the flight path plans.

    "Boeing's 19 hour test flight of the 787 Dreamliner was a great opportunity to test the limits of the 787, FlightAware's flight tracking, and the FAA's flight plan system," FlightAware Chief Executive Officer Daniel Baker tells Yahoo News. "It was the longest domestic flight we've ever handled and it required three FAA flight plans to accomplish, not to mention dozens of people coordinating the flight overnight."

    FlightAware, which provides live flight tracking, coordinated with Boeing on delivering the unusual and spectacular images.

    In the above image, you can see the 787 Dreamliner's flight path, which was first reported by Gizmodo. The flight path was meticulously designed and coordinated with airports across the country in or to avoid violating restricted airspace.

    "This wasn't a joy ride," wrote Boeing's vice president of marketing Randy Tinseth on the company's blog. "It was an 18 hour Maximum ETOPS (Extended Operations) Duration flight test for a 787-8 with GE engines. Our team coordinated with the many air traffic control centers, choosing the routing to avoid restricted airspace. In the end, the flight covered over 9,000 nautical miles." The path stretched between Iowa and Washington State.

    Boeing conducted another sky drawing back in August, reports Wired, when the 747-8 Freighter outlined a "747" over several states. The BBC reported on the Dreamliner's maiden commercial voyage last October, traveling from Tokyo to Hong Kong.

    It's an exciting time for air travel enthusiasts. Billionaire developer Paul Allen recently unveiled designs for his company's Stratosphere plane, which is designed to take passengers on commercial voyages above Earth's orbit.

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    • Vik  •  Miami, Florida  •  3 mths ago
      I gotta get me one of those Etch-A Jets.
      • chilli 3 mths ago
        Lol
      • Don 3 mths ago
        creative and funny!
      • ERB 3 mths ago
        Very funny !!! It was my first thought when I finished reading the article...
    • jrstanifer  •  Stockton, California  •  3 mths ago
      Its always nice to see people make comments about something they clearly did not read.
      • MARC 3 mths ago
        redneckland, usa
      • AnitaP 3 mths ago
        #$%$ you caught me!
      • Rasheed 3 mths ago
        Welcome to Yahoo!
    • Mark2683  •  3 mths ago
      All you people saying, Oh what a waste of fuel, obviouslt didnt read the article. they said, "It was an 18 hour Maximum ETOPS (Extended Operations) Duration flight test for a 787-8 with GE engines." So it was a test that had to be done anyway, they just did it in a creative way.
      • Mary Y 3 mths ago
        Thanks for explaining that.
      • derr 3 mths ago
        lets all thanks Eric Pfeiffer for not including an image of the actual logo in his article for comparison.
      • TexYank 3 mths ago
        Sounds like a waste of fuel
    • A Yahoo! User  •  Kansas City, Missouri  •  3 mths ago
      All you morons whining about the waste of fuel, tell me something. Would any of you board an aircraft for a 12 hour flight if the plane had never been tested to see if it could even perform a flight of that duration?
      • nono 3 mths ago
        which whiniy #$%$ are you a waste of fuel or not waste of fuel
      • Kay 3 mths ago
        Can you say, "Titanic"?
      • lisann 3 mths ago
        The pilot boarded it before it was tested, right? lol
    • Michael  •  Framingham, Massachusetts  •  3 mths ago
      The same people complaining about this are the same people complaining about fly overs at sporting events. Jet pilots need to clock training hours anyways so why not do it in a way that gives you free advertising and makes people smile!
      • Anonymous 3 mths ago
        agreed.

        example: the flight from canada over buffalo in a propeller driven commuter plane had a male pilot and female pilot with less than 100 hours total between the two of them, and neither had instrument training in case of inclement weather.

        thus, a number of extraneous factors came into play to cause the flight to crash over buffalo killing everyone onboard and several on the ground:
        1. the inexperience of the crew.
        2. the weather.
        3. it was cold and snowy over buffalo and the plane did not have its wings de-iced prior to flight. [some suspect the crew forgot to go over to the pitstop for this procedure before takeoff.]
        4. as the plane descended involuntarily from iced over wings (they suspect), the stall warning light came on. unfortunately the pilot pulled up on the yoke sending the plane into a steeper stall rather than diving to try to correct the stall and this may have been the fatal last move.
      • Anonymous 3 mths ago
        *female CO-pilot.
      • Roscoe 3 mths ago
        Had she been Pilot and he the CO perhaps a different outcome, just wondering....
    • J C  •  Miami, Florida  •  3 mths ago
      No wonder this country is going down the tube with all the idiots that can't read.
    • scott  •  Seattle, Washington  •  3 mths ago
      I hope you all realize this wasn't done on a whim. The FAA mandates that the aircraft must fly continuously for a specified number of hours, under certain conditions to be certified for commercial operation. The plane had to fly anyways. So if you want to complain about the waste of fuel (still laughing at some of you nimrods and your "waist" of fuel) blame the FAA. Secondly, if any of you want to just jump on a plane that hasn't been tested, and blindly take the word of the airline.........("Oh yeah, uh huh, uh huh, it's REAL safe Mister")......then I have a bridge in Brooklyn and a few used cars I'd like to sell you.
    • Jason  •  3 mths ago
      Pretty cool. What else are they going to do for an 18 hour test flight?
    • CheckYourSix  •  3 mths ago
      Hey ... for an endurance test, they had to fly "somewhere" for 18 hours without landing ... flying in a straight line gets boring ...
    • wcd  •  Clovis, California  •  3 mths ago
      They must run these tests. So why not be creative and fun about it? Good job Boeing! You are truly an American pride company! Can't wait to see what you are developing next!
    • LaikaO  •  3 mths ago
      I like this article because it's not about Whitney Houston.
    • David  •  Bakersfield, California  •  3 mths ago
      "Waste of fuel"!?! Once and for all, I will try to explain to all of you folks who cry "waste of fuel" These airplanes MUST BE test-flown, no taxpayer money, Boeing bought and paid for it, and would you fly on an aircraft that has never been tested? They must push the limits, hard banking in turns that would never happen during a regular commercial flight, and a thousand other things looking for design flaws and mechanical weak points. I hate name calling; it is a juvenile reply to something when you have no better argument. But when so many, whom are probably otherwise reasonable people, say ignorant things I am beginning to think you are idiots, as opposed to thinking people.
    • Angel  •  3 mths ago
      Once again, the front page headline was misleading. Dreamliner "caught"...as if they were being sneaky about it.
    • Tom P  •  3 mths ago
      I'd rather have them do this than just jam people on the plane then find out it does not work...
    • ***  •  3 mths ago
      Creative, and cool!!!!! Go Boeing!!!!! made IN the USA !!!!
    • patrick  •  3 mths ago
      Go Boeing ! Yea, USA !!!!!!
    • Guess  •  Greensboro, North Carolina  •  3 mths ago
      I heard Airbus attempted the same thing....however, cracks developed in the letters.
    • R  •  3 mths ago
      Worlds largest Etch A Sketch
    • What Next  •  Waco, Texas  •  3 mths ago
      If you people knew what procedures the crew performs on these test flights to insure your safety and to prevent you idiots from suing them, you would get down on your knees and kiss their #$%$ If you don’t know what you’re talking about shut, your mouth it makes you look stupid.
    • Alan  •  Portland, Oregon  •  3 mths ago
      The 'waste of fuel' comments didn't read the article. This aircraft is going through it's testing phase - would you rather they not do test flights and put it into service? Pilots are a spirited lot, especially test pilots. I think their skywriting is cool.
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