Aviation entusiasts; This is cool, 787-8 traces outline of itself on 18 hour test flight over USA

[A HERETIC I AM]

While Boeing’s recent decision to draw the shape of a giant 787 across the continental U.S. during a long-range engine test flight may strike some as gimmicky, to the company it displays growing confidence in completing two linked milestones that are key to the long-term success of the twinjet program.

The enormous airliner shape was drawn by the final 787-8 development aircraft, ZA004, during a marathon 18-hr. test flight on Aug. 2-3 for certification of the upgraded Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN. The new engine will not only be Rolls’s standard powerplant for the 787 family, but it will also be the first to enter service on the stretched 787-10, which remains on track to debut in the first half of 2018.

For the extended test flight, ZA004 departed Boeing Field at 3:38 p.m. PST on Aug. 2 and returned 18 hr. 1 min. later at 9:39 a.m. on Aug. 3. The duration of the flight was stretched to ensure adequate time for ETOPS and functional and reliability (F&R) certification by designing a flightpath that drew the outline of a 787 over 22 states. Angled northwest toward Washington state, the outline of the aircraft’s nose was flown over Wyoming, while the wings stretched from northern Michigan, near the Canadian border, to southern Texas. The tail extended from Alabama to Kentucky.

More (May require subscription) http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/boeing-787-10-flight-testing-reaches-landmark?NL=AW-19&Issue=AW-19_20170810_AW-19_218&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_2&utm_rid=CPEN1000003025496&utm_campaign=11243&utm_medium=email&elq2=b26f7be7d0af48ad8b9f3289b617919e

[MineralMan]

1. Too cool!

[Blue_Tires]

2. holy damn that's a lot of precision...

[cwydro]

3. Wow!

K and r.

[KT2000]

4. that's amazing!

Kudos to the pilot and co-pilot

[A HERETIC I AM]

5. With a lot of help from the software folks!

These days it's a relatively simple matter of downloading such a flight path to the aircraft's navigation computer.

They have done similar in the past, albeit smaller. A 737 test aircraft drew itself over Washington state last year.