Boeing #12

[nostromo]

Yes, this was a real flight.

Here are some progress pics from earlier today:

http://i.imgur.com/R1kERlg.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/YNMNnJr.png

More info for the curious: http://www.geekwire.com/2014/boeings-new-seahawks-themed-747...

[gadders]

From the article:

"We’ve been hearing a few people complain that Boeing is “wasting fuel,” by flying the 747-8 Freighter today in the “12″ pattern."

Jeez. People really will complain about anything these days.

[hemancuso]

Also, Boeing Logo: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/BOE236/history/20120209/2...

[ceejayoz]

19 hours, 12 minutes. Not bad!

[ars]

How do they manage to make the lines so straight? Isn't the earth round? Do they know the exact projection flightaware uses and can match it?

Isn't it hard to constantly fly a slightly curved route?

[icegreentea]

It looks like flight aware is using Mercator... which is what I assume most navigational charts use. If it is Mercator, then straight lines on the map are lines of constant bearing in reality, so pretty straight forward to follow.

[TylerE]

The flight computers in a Boeing can track with an error of less than 500ft except in the most turbulent conditions. It's not a problem.

[jcrawfordor]

Not so hard when the guidance computer is telling you exactly when and how much to turn - or is doing it for you.

[omegant]

People in charge of the database is able to load arcs with a given radious. It's not possible to do it from the mcdu (the flight computer keyboard and display). I guess this was designed on the ground and then loaded at the aircraft.

[bulte-rs]

In theory you're right; but on the scale they flew this pattern; maintaining a constant heading will look like a straight line. Also, as mentioned in other replies; the map projection has a big impact on this (e.g. A lambert projection will show a constant heading as a curve).

[tlrobinson]

Autopilot? Those letters look to be about 200 miles tall.

[INTPenis]

Maybe the pilot hacked the tracking system.

[optimiz3]

Not normally a sports fan, but living in Seattle while the Seahawks go to the Superbowl is tons of fun just because of all small ways the various techie industries are coming together.

E.g. seismic monitoring of CenturyLink Stadium (which is engineered to be one of the loudest), Boeing putting on this stunt, office buildings with "12" spelled out over multiple floors, 12-cent Starbucks.

Seattle is just a fun city to live in.

[codereflection]

As someone who also lives in Seattle and is also not a sports fan, I have to agree.

[davidw]

Always happy to see these guys in the news. The site is powered by Apache Rivet, which I helped work on. It never saw wide adoption, so the one big user always makes me pleased that it did take off somewhere.

[aaronbrethorst]

oof, Tcl. props, but oof.

[terpua]

This is dedicated to the Seahawks' 12th man :)

http://deadspin.com/a-seahawks-747-is-currently-flying-a-gia...

[kilroy123]

A non-sports-fan-geek, I have no idea what the #12 means.

[jcdavis]

Its a reference to the "12th man", a commonly used phrase to describe Seattle Seahawks fans (Also Texas A&M, but thats another matter) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_man_%28football%29

[tolmasky]

The REAL #12 https://www.google.com/search?q=la+doce&client=safari&hl=en&... http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boca_Juniors

[BlackDeath3]

It's the way that a lot of people live vicariously through sports superstars by fantasizing about being part of the team.

[vmarsy]

In short : There's 11 players on the field, the fans represent the 12th player.

[alecsmart1]

Never thought companies would do such things. Expedia did something as well-

http://m.imgur.com/a/ML3wn

[mikeash]

You may or may not be aware, but this stuff is generally done on test flights where they need to be in the air for a certain amount of time but have no specific location they need to do it. Might as well spell something out in the sky while you're at it. I doubt Boeing would do this sort of thing otherwise, since it costs tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of dollars to keep a 747 in the air for hours.

[codecondo]

That won't get them back their Google rankings.

[amaks]

What an awesome gesture. Go Seahawks!

[samstave]

What an awesomely lame waste.

[kartikkumar]

Brilliant advertising for Boeing. In the true spirit of what the Super Bowl is really about.

[staunch]

Curious what that flight would cost.

[InclinedPlane]

Net? Probably nothing. Boeing has lots of test flights to do just to rack up hours of operation and so forth so a flight like this easily fits into their budget of flights they have to do anyway.

[joshmlewis]

For everyone who's trying to say this was a waste of fuel please think about the purpose of test flights. In this instance they were testing a new freighter variant. How else do you expect to test and tune new aircraft/parts? Besides it's Boeings money to waste even if it was.

[jessaustin]

I realize it's the high desert, so few people live there, but I'm surprised all that airspace was open for such a flight. Aren't there any military installations around?

[zw123456]

It reminds me of the old Tex Johnson 737 Barrel role. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra_khhzuFlE

[c141charlie]

Boeing should have flown this route this over Denver, Colorado.

[mynameishere]

So anyway, if there's anyone else here who doesn't give the slightest fuck about football, and was wondering what this references:

http://msn.foxsports.com/buzzer/story/daily-buzz-12th-man-in...

...yep, total rubbish. But at least the Climate Change (LLC, TM, Patents Pending) we've been hearing about gets a boost from it. One plus is that it gives all of us non-interested people an interest: Whoever is playing against Seattle (Denver, I think) really needs to win this one.

[yawz]

Go Broncos!!! :)

[gtani]

I can confirm that #12 is still flying aimlessly around Snohomish County (or was, a couple hours ago)

[era86]

Go Hawks!