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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'm guessing it is in the range of 50..60k. The sibling posts come up with lower values, including only fuel, ignoring the cost of the required regular (flight hours in this case) maintenance.
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
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Should note that's a 707 that Tex Johnston rolled, not a 747. I'm not aware of any barrel rolls performed in a 747.
It wasn't even a 707, it was a prototype model 367-80. There were some unusually significant structural differences between the prototype dash 80 and production 707's, for example: > The 132 in (3,400 mm) wide fuselage of the Dash 80 was large enough for four-abreast (two-plus-two) seating like the Stratocruiser. Answering customers' demands and under Douglas competition, Boeing soon realized this would not provide a…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting. I often feel safer in smaller (but not too small planes), where I don't see the wings visibly flapping. Something like a A320 or a 737. With 747s the wings flap up and down quite visibly in turbulence, and you can even see the fuselage twisting if the curtains aren't closed between the sections. There's also just the wall thickness to mass ratio. You ever notice that you can crash toy RC cars all you wan…
Maybe this video helps a bit to put all that twisting into perspective? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B74_w3Ar9nI
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…
Every complex project lives and dies by a relatively small group of true believers. From the outside, we don't know who they are, but sometimes we get a glimpse of their passion.
So, how does this work? Do you plot this via the Auto Pilot? Like, inserting a list of waypoints?
Given that they flew this below 15k feet, not requiring the full IFR flight plan which would be required above that altitude, I suspect they might have hand flown this out by Moses lake by following a magenta line on a map. They could have also just programmed the FMS with the waypoints and the plane flew itself.
