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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

#211

Post by gcanyon »

supernova87a wrote: post #46

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…

As this involved an extra hour(?) of flight time, it cost thousands of dollars. It also required filing a particular flight plan, and probably coordination between Boeing and Atlas. So it seems safe to say that it required approval at a pretty high level. And given everything else that happened surrounding the delivery, that doesn't seem strange at all.

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

#212

Post by rootusrootus »

alexose wrote: post #140
juliand wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It took them 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete the easter egg

More cynically: Roughly 2.4 tons of fuel, equating to 16.8 tons of CO2 emissions.

I think you misplaced a decimal point on that fuel tonnage, they probably burned around 27 tons of fuel for that pattern.

If my own napkin math and google searching is correct, the daily worldwide consumption of jet fuel is (in very round numbers) a million tons a day. A bit less than the total daily consumption of gasoline in the US.

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

#213

Post by kelnos »

alexose wrote: post #140
juliand wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It took them 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete the easter egg

More cynically: Roughly 2.4 tons of fuel, equating to 16.8 tons of CO2 emissions.

I was thinking along those lines as well, but:

1. For context, this was the final delivery flight of a 747, ever. It's a pretty momentous occasion.

2. If we're going to criticize something like this, then we probably should be criticizing a lot more about the waste in our own lives. Everyone generates a lot of unnecessary waste, even if we don't think about or consciously acknowledge it.

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

#214

Post by shepherdjerred »

alexose wrote: post #140
juliand wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It took them 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete the easter egg

More cynically: Roughly 2.4 tons of fuel, equating to 16.8 tons of CO2 emissions.

That's equal to the average CO2 emission of one US citizen per year. I don't think this is particularly noteworthy. There is a cost to this celebration, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth doing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ...

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

#215

Post by kelnos »

jehb wrote: post #119
rootusrootus wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a textbook case of buzzkill.

Being a buzzkill doesn't make it less true, though. I'm disappointed to see the parent comment being downvoted.

It may be true, but I would expect this sort of waste is a drop in the bucket -- drop in the swimming pool, even -- compared to all the waste going on over the rest of the planet during the same time period.

That's not to say we shouldn't avoid waste, but this flight was a pretty momentous occasion (final delivery flight of a 747), and I think it's appropriate to mark that occasion in some unique manner. Burning a bunch of extra jet fuel doesn't seem all that inappropriate, especially considering the total amount of jet fuel burned in a given day.

There's just really no need for such buzzkillery.

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

#216

Post by Aeolun »

runarberg wrote: post #193
americanmotto wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree. I've said for ~10 years now, that it seems the American Dream has transitioned from "Anything is possible as long as you work hard enough." to "Do as little as work possible to get the same paycheck." Something has definitely changed in the culture.

I think majority of jobs are low wage with no future prospects, and quite a lot of jobs have bosses or—worse—shareholders taking away the profits for their own private climate devastating opulence. Why would you work hard for these people? Why would you do anything more than the absolute minimum? I think this supposed American dream was only ever a ruse, a Hollywood propaganda. If it ever existed it only applied to a…

> Why would you do anything more than the absolute minimum?

For personal satisfaction? You are going to be there anyway, you might as well do a good job.

I’m not saying to put in more hours than contracted, but those hours should be high quality (or as high as you can make them, under the circumstances).

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

#217

Post by girvo »

americanmotto wrote: post #176
mach1ne wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t mean to be negative, but most people certainly don’t try their best. Many are only working for the paycheck and don’t attach their sense of success to their professional output.

Agree. I've said for ~10 years now, that it seems the American Dream has transitioned from "Anything is possible as long as you work hard enough." to "Do as little as work possible to get the same paycheck." Something has definitely changed in the culture.

Companies no longer reward loyalty or working hard on the whole, so I'm surprised that you are surprised. Those at the top reap entirely outsized rewards, the company does stock buy-backs, and the workers get table scraps.

We're insulated somewhat from that in our industry, we're well compensated, but I don't blame others in other industries for responding to how companies focus their resources today.

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

#218

Post by Aeolun »

blantonl wrote: post #79
supernova87a wrote: post #46

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…

What's cool is that aviation can be so stifling at times with training, rules, regulations, etc, that it seems that certain very cool traditions are either set in stone, or born and survive relatively intact. ADSB reporting, which powers these flight tracking sites that are available to the public, is (relatively speaking) a very new thing to aviation and the general public. And the fact that these maneuvers are abso…

You don’t think this is an autopilot course?

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

#219

Post by whydoyoucare »

mach1ne wrote: post #117
polishdude20 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's more that most people are basically trying their best and that includes managers and top brass. Sometimes we get a glimpse when that shines through from the whole group.

I don’t mean to be negative, but most people certainly don’t try their best. Many are only working for the paycheck and don’t attach their sense of success to their professional output.

I don't think "working for a paycheck" necessarily implies one is not trying his/her best. Also the sense of success may not even depend on "success at work". Being successful and trying their best is far more nuanced than usually made out to be.

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

#220

Post by rootusrootus »

kelnos wrote: post #215
jehb wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being a buzzkill doesn't make it less true, though. I'm disappointed to see the parent comment being downvoted.

It may be true, but I would expect this sort of waste is a drop in the bucket -- drop in the swimming pool, even -- compared to all the waste going on over the rest of the planet during the same time period. That's not to say we shouldn't avoid waste, but this flight was a pretty momentous occasion (final delivery flight of a 747), and I think it's appropriate to mark that occasion in some unique manner. Burning a bu…

> drop in the swimming pool

That's pretty close. It could be a good chance to educate people, perhaps, without turning it into a buzzkill. "This plane burned 27 tons of fuel for that pretty pattern in the sky, but if that sounds like a lot of fuel just wait until you find out that planes burn a million tons every day!"

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