4 ms·

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 betw

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.

userbinator 4y ago
"thousands of dollars" may seem like a lot to an individual, but to a company like Boeing, it's tiny. They probably spend far more on explicit advertising than this.
qwertox 4y ago
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n863gt/#2f0b1162 https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n863gt/#2f0b1162 The drawing started at 16:50 UTC and ended at 19:30 UTC, so 2 hours and 40 minutes of the 6 hours and 20 minutes long flight. In any case, this most likely required approval from the FAA, but the cost per se should be neglectable, considering that they have been produced since 1970s.
- selectodude 4y ago
  It didn’t require approval from the FAA as the flight plan was filed in class G (uncontrolled) airspace below 14,000 feet. Might have been a bit of a trip to fly in your Cessna and see a 747 flying down there though.
  - qwertox 4y ago
    You're right, thank you for sharing that fact. I revisited the flight data and if flies below 13,000 ft until it finished the drawing. Then it rose to 41,000 ft and increased the speed from ~200 knots to somewhat over 500. It blows my mind to think that an 747 is allowed to use the uncontrolled airspace as if it were a Cessna.
    - gcanyon 4y ago
      Ah! This explains the 2:40 time for the drawing. Just eyeballing it, I guesstimated an hour, but I was assuming a constant flight speed. So if it was flying at ~200 for the drawing and ~500 otherwise, that would account for it. Thanks!
- gcanyon 4y ago
  Thanks for the accurate time! "The 747 burns about a gallon per second" -- so in 2:40 they burned almost 10,000 gallons of fuel, or over $20K.

userbinator 4y ago

"thousands of dollars" may seem like a lot to an individual, but to a company like Boeing, it's tiny. They probably spend far more on explicit advertising than this.

qwertox 4y ago

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n863gt/#2f0b1162 https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n863gt/#2f0b1162 The drawing started at 16:50 UTC and ended at 19:30 UTC, so 2 hours and 40 minutes of the 6 hours and 20 minutes long flight. In any case, this most likely required approval from the FAA, but the cost per se should be neglectable, considering that they have been produced since 1970s.

selectodude 4y ago
It didn’t require approval from the FAA as the flight plan was filed in class G (uncontrolled) airspace below 14,000 feet. Might have been a bit of a trip to fly in your Cessna and see a 747 flying down there though.
- qwertox 4y ago
  You're right, thank you for sharing that fact. I revisited the flight data and if flies below 13,000 ft until it finished the drawing. Then it rose to 41,000 ft and increased the speed from ~200 knots to somewhat over 500. It blows my mind to think that an 747 is allowed to use the uncontrolled airspace as if it were a Cessna.
  - gcanyon 4y ago
    Ah! This explains the 2:40 time for the drawing. Just eyeballing it, I guesstimated an hour, but I was assuming a constant flight speed. So if it was flying at ~200 for the drawing and ~500 otherwise, that would account for it. Thanks!
gcanyon 4y ago
Thanks for the accurate time! "The 747 burns about a gallon per second" -- so in 2:40 they burned almost 10,000 gallons of fuel, or over $20K.