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Credit to Shaniqua Manning Muhammad
Boeing Test & Evaluation teams were in it for the long haul: an 18-hour endurance flight for 787-8 Dreamliner ZA004 that kept them airborne for 8,550 nautical miles (9,840 miles or 15,835 kilometers).
The reliability and endurance tests, which began Wednesday afternoon at Boeing Field in Seattle and wrapped up there Thursday morning, checked the functionality, range and efficiency of the 787 Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN engine that’s planned for entry into service later this year. The 787 is designed to allow carriers to provide more direct flights for long-distance routes.
With time to spare in the air, the test team got creative, flying a route that outlined a 787 in the skies over nearly half of the United States.
Andrew Rerecich, lead ground operations engineer for ZA004, came up with the idea.
“I like to call it aerial graffiti,” said Rerecich, who sketched the airplane and positioned the layout on a map of the U.S. “I positioned it so the nose is pointing at the Puget Sound region, representing its home.”
The wings stretch from upper Michigan near the Canadian border to southern Texas just north of Mexico, and the tail touches Huntsville, Ala. The flight plan is visible using a flight-tracking website like FlightAware.
With 22 states to cover, plotting the flight with 45 waypoints — longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates — took an extraordinary amount of planning. The Flight Ops dispatch team coordinated with air traffic control centers covering every region.
“This is one of the most fun parts of the job,” said Laurie Karin, a Boeing Test & Evaluation flight dispatcher. “We get to be part of something that is unique.”
The crew on board included four pilots who took turns staffing the flight deck.
“Eighteen hours is a long time, and fatigue is a big issue,” said Capt. Jennifer Henderson, the flight’s pilot in command. “We bring blankets and pillows for when we’re off duty, to rest and watch the country go by. I even do laps on board the airplane during breaks to keep my energy up.”
Bob Risi, the lead 787 TEN test director, said the “testing is proving to us, the [U.S. Federal Aviation Administration] and our partners and customers that this engine-airframe combination are a fantastic match.”
It’s not the first time BT&E teams left an airplane’s flight-path mark during a test flight. Teams testing the 737 MAX took a route in February that spelled out “MAX” while flying over Washington state, Idaho and Montana.
