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Easter egg in flight path of last 747 delivery flight

flightradar24.com

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Re: Easter egg in flight path of last 747 delivery flight

#41

Post by jdiez17 »

Philip-J-Fry wrote: post #28

So, how does this work? Do you plot this via the Auto Pilot? Like, inserting a list of waypoints?

Some of the turns are way too tight to be done by the autopilot. But it looks very regular, so I would suspect some custom control system was used. Would also be interested to know how they did this!

Re: Easter egg in flight path of last 747 delivery flight

#43

Post by somat »

ssgodderidge wrote: post #7

Any flight buffs know the estimated cost of doing something like that? I’m all for having fun, and I love that they spent the money to do it

I don't know anything about flight deliveries. But, including a set of basic flight maneuvers makes sense to me. In which case they would be maneuvering anyway and they decided to go out in style. Big salutes to them who set it up.

Re: Easter egg in flight path of last 747 delivery flight

#44

Post by jbandela1 »

The 747 IMO is the most beautiful aircraft ever, certainly the most beautiful civilian aircraft.

A couple of years ago, I made it a point on an international trip with my kids to book seats for us on the upper deck. It was really awesome, and I am sure they will look back on it as a great memory.

If you are able to, before it is too late, I would encourage doing it.

The most iconic seats on the most iconic civilian airplane!

Re: Easter egg in flight path of last 747 delivery flight

#45

Post by jaywalk »

c7DJTLrn wrote: post #27

Are jumbo jets being retired because of fuel economy? If so, is there a chance demand for them will return if there's a spike in passenger numbers? I would've thought a larger fleet of smaller planes would be less efficient because it increases operational cost and you have more overhead weight to move around.

Fuel economy is one piece of the puzzle. Another major piece is that passengers prefer the flexibility offered by smaller, more frequent flights instead of larger, less frequent flights.

Re: Easter egg in flight path of last 747 delivery flight

#46

Post by supernova87a »

I find it just really endearing that at companies, regardless of how many other issues they have or the dysfunctions and bland corporate culture, there are people who keep the pride of purpose and "olden days / traditions" in their memory and do things like this. Or are able to call on institutional memory of something bygone, that reappears once in a while. (whether it's a big gesture like this or small cultural day-to-day manifestations).

You wonder how pockets of this survive when top management comes and goes, who sometimes only know the company as just some logo or another corporation to be managed, and when workforces go through rounds and rounds of potential layoffs where such knowledge and initiative is generally lost.

Maybe it also helps to be a company that has at least something to do with hardware that leaves a physical history :)

Re: Easter egg in flight path of last 747 delivery flight

#47

Post by Macha »

c7DJTLrn wrote: post #27

Are jumbo jets being retired because of fuel economy? If so, is there a chance demand for them will return if there's a spike in passenger numbers? I would've thought a larger fleet of smaller planes would be less efficient because it increases operational cost and you have more overhead weight to move around.

Fuel efficiency is one part, but the increased consumer preference for direct flights is another, while the business model for the A380s was basically "ferry all your passengers to the nearest hub on A320s then use A380s to bring them from hub to hub". But instead larger twinjets like the B787 and A350 which could do these direct routes more economically won.

Re: Easter egg in flight path of last 747 delivery flight

#48

Post by [deleted] »

topher515 wrote: post #20
ssgodderidge wrote: post #7

Any flight buffs know the estimated cost of doing something like that? I’m all for having fun, and I love that they spent the money to do it

Not a flight buff, but... - Jet fuel from NYC to LAX seems to cost ~$10k.[1] - You pay a pilot $50 / hour salary. (+100% more with benefits?)[2] - Double all of that for a bunch of random things I can't think of (airport fees?) My napkin math seems to indicate this couldn't possibly cost Boeing more than $10-20k? Pretty small potatoes to such a large company. [1] https://simpleflying.com/commercial-airliner-fuel-cost…

[deleted]

Re: Easter egg in flight path of last 747 delivery flight

#49

Post by tyincdyon »

ssgodderidge wrote: post #7

Any flight buffs know the estimated cost of doing something like that? I’m all for having fun, and I love that they spent the money to do it

Former pilot here: $3-4 million easy. FAA regulations alone require $500k per sky-number drawn by any aircraft [1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MKOFTEN

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