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British Airways breaks the New York to London subsonic flight record
British Airways just set a new record for subsonic flight -- with some help from nature. The airline has confirmed Flightradar24 data showing that one of its Boeing 747s completed a New York to London flight in just 4 hours and 56 minutes, handily beating the previous best of 5 hours and 13 minutes set by Norwegian in 2018. A typical version of this flight takes 6 hours and 13 minutes, Flightradar24 said. The aircraft was helped by a stronger-than-usual (200MPH-plus) jet stream that took the 747 up to 825MPH -- technically faster than the speed of sound, but not supersonic as the winds would have prevented the aircraft from breaking the sound barrier.
Space Shuttle Endeavour hitching a ride atop a 747 to its new home on September 17
Space Shuttles Discovery and Enterprise have already settled into their new homes, and now Endeavour is scheduled to depart for its future abode at the California Science Center on September 17th. Taking to the skies atop a modified Boeing 747, the shuttle will make pit stops in Texas and at Edwards Air Force Base in the Golden State before touching down at Los Angeles International Airport on the 20th. During the journey out west, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft will buzz certain cities and NASA sites along its flight path at roughly 1,500 feet in altitude. After its voyage, Endeavor will head to the science center on October 13th, but won't be on display until the end of the month. Yearning to catch a glimpse of the historic vehicle before it reaches its final resting place? Head past the jump for its flight schedule and flyover details.
Visualized: Boeing 747-8 makes its longest flight to date, writes name in the sky
It's always fun to write your name on things -- chalkboards, diplomas, speeding tickets, yellow snow... you know, the usual. The folks at Boeing couldn't agree more, which is why they tasked 747-8 pilots with writing the jet's name in the sky on a flight test across the US. What could be called the "747-8 wuz here" mission is designed to test the outer limits of the jumbo jet in a max endurance operations test. Taking off yesterday morning from Seattle's Paine Field, the jet flew across 18 states in a 747 pattern until it landed on the west coast a little after midnight -- 17 total hours of mayhem. It seems like everything went swimmingly, which means the brand spanking new jet will be sold to Cargolux, a ginormous cargo airline, later this year. The jet writing does somewhat resemble a drunken righty's attempt at left-handed writing, but hey, who are we to judge?
Boeing's biggest jet takes flight, promises lowest 'seat mile' cost of any commercial airliner
Boeing took a huge -- both literally and figuratively -- step in the development of the largest commercial jet in its history when the 747-8 took to the skies for the first time. Granted, the airframe's cargo version has already logged over 1,600 hours up in the air, but putting the 250-foot passenger plane with a 224-foot wingspan -- 19 feet longer and 13 feet wider than the gargantuan 747-400 -- through its first few paces without incident is no small feat. The 747-8 borrows some of the 787 Dreamliner's weight-trimming tech for better fuel efficiency and lower operational costs than older 747s and jumbo jet competition from Airbus. We just hope it didn't inherit the 787's penchant for delays as well. If all goes according to plan, the new jetliner should complete the 600 test flight hours needed for FAA certification in time to deliver the first 747-8s to customers by the end of the year. We doubt airlines will use the plane's extra space to give us shlubs riding coach any more legroom, but at least its improved all-around efficiency should make flying a little cheaper. PR's after the break.
