Posted on 11/10/2005 7:25:29 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
LONDON - A Boeing Co. jet arrived in London on Thursday at the end of an attempt to break the record for the longest nonstop flight by a commercial jet.
The 777-200LR Worldliner - one of Boeing's newest planes - touched down shortly after 1 p.m. (8 a.m. EST) at London's Heathrow Airport after an almost 23-hour journey of more than 12,586 miles from Hong Kong.
The flight traversed the Pacific Ocean and North America before landing in London.
Boeing said that Guinness World Records representatives would monitor the flight and attend the landing at London's Heathrow Airport.
The plane has four pilots and was carrying 35 passengers and crew, including Boeing representatives, journalists and customers.
Boeing wanted to fly the jet farther than a Boeing 747-400 that flew 10,500 miles from London to Sydney in 1989.
The record-breaking attempt is part of Boeing's fierce competition with its European rival Airbus. The Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner was designed to compete directly with the popular Airbus 340-500, which has a flight range of 10,380 miles.
After leaving Hong Kong, the Boeing jet was flying to the northern Pacific Ocean, crossing North America and cruising over the Atlantic Ocean to London, said Boeing spokesman Chuck Cadena. Hong Kong-London flights usually fly over Russia.
ON THE NET
The plane's flight path can be tracked at http://www.777.newairplane.com
I was heading to Asia from NYC and was determined to break the trip into NY-SF SF-Hong Kong legs instead of a the mega hellish 19 hour NY-HK direct.
a representative from Guinness world records was on the flight and Boeing has now recieved official certification from them that they now hold the record for this flight.
Man, talk about a great event to sell that plane. Heard representatives from some perspective customers were on board. Quantas and Singpore are going to annouce large orders by the end of the year. Heard both are heavily interested in the 777 and new 747 Advanced. If Boeing gets the bulk of those orders, their should be a representative from Guinness records on hand at Airbust. They will easily break the worlds "whine" record.
I'm sure that foul a$$wipe who runs Airbus is having a whine fest this morning.
This type of thinking keeps us bound to the same spot. I am sure that in 1910 people were saying the same types of things, "Oh, we can't let those daredevil pilots fly 100 miles non-stop, what if they crash?"
I loved my lufthasa flight...
These types of flights were never meant for the type of coach that most people are used to. Boeing is aiming at Qantas for the LHR-SYD nonstop, as well as several S. America-Asia routes for this tour. These flights are for high paying business travel and the planes will be configured as such, we're talking 150-200 people or so instead of 350-400 that the plane can typically fill.
Bet ya felt well rested...
Who wants to get off before it lands?
Depends who you're sitting next to, LOL!
"The plane had 360,732 pounds of fuel before the engines were started in Hong Kong -- more than the combined weight of the plane, its passengers and their bags. When it landed in London it had 18,700 pounds of fuel remaining."
It also says:
"The plane actually flew farther than the 13,422 miles that went into the record book. That's because the distance record is measured by a straight line from the start to each of the three turn points and finally to the end point at Heathrow. But the plane did not fly in a straight line between those points. The pilots would sometimes change course slightly to find better winds, although each of the three turn points had to be overflown. A flight map that is part of the jet's in-flight entertainment system showed the total miles flown just before landing at 14,042 miles."
,,, I left Auckland one time, doing the twelve hour flight to LAX and arrived at the Hilton Palmer House in Chicago (a couple of minutes before midnight) five hours after AKL departure time. Howzat?
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