New Boeing record started today.

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18 years 11 months

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A Boeing B.777 will take off today from Hong Kong to attempt the longest 'commercial' flight in history. The plane will cover 11,500 miles and is expected to land at Heathrow after flying for over 23 hours. Hope they have enough inflight entertainment :D

Original post

Member for

18 years 8 months

Posts: 221

Just seen the story on the BBC News website, here's the link with if anyone wants a peep!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4420110.stm

I still wouldn't like to spend that much tim ein the air though!!!!

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18 years 7 months

Posts: 1,655

Not much of a record with only 35 bums on seats,including crew, and minimal baggage :rolleyes:

Member for

18 years 11 months

Posts: 8,847

Not much of a record with only 35 bums on seats,including crew, and minimal baggage :rolleyes:

35 bums :dev2: including crew :diablo: almost more crew than 'passengers' :D Does this mean that with a full passenger load, it couldn't complete the flight? :confused:

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19 years 8 months

Posts: 741

Perhaps Boeing are hedging there bets....dont want to look like complete buffoons if it needs to top up the tanks somewhere...but if it lands it can say...."with our calculations it can do this that and the other...and the A345 can only do this and that!

Interesting choice from Hong Kong....perhaps looking to Cathay Pac for orders, as they are so dishilusioned (sp?) with Airbus?

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19 years 9 months

Posts: 12,109

Dont Know about commercial aviation but usually when records are set they are usually with a favourable load rather then a full passenger load. Even the boeing 747 which holds the record was going for a delivery flight and not fully loaded.

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19 years 6 months

Posts: 1,583

The only thing which lead sme to say that this isn't really a record is the fact that the aircraft is using auxiliary fuel tanks to complete this flight. As much as this is an incredible feat, I do believe the 744 did it without and the A345 never that luxury while if was undergoing its trials.

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18 years 8 months

Posts: 1,101

http://www.777.newairplane.com/shell.htm

You can see where the aircraft just is! :cool:


Trying to figure out their interior!

I mean, in one interior description, their First Class looks like they had 3 abreast and 3 rows. The Business Class has 7 abreast and 9 rows. The Coach looks like 9 abreast in some images and 10 abreast is asserted in text of the interior description.

On their seatmap in the Interactive Tour, they have no First, and only 3 rows of Business.

So, counting the bums... 35 including the whole crew. 2 pilots will be in the cockpit at any time. Leaving 33 bums to accommodate.

They are said to have 2 sets of pilots. Is 4 pilots enough to fly 24 hours? Shouldn´t one like 5 or 6 pilots for a flight so long?

Anyway, 2 of the 33 would be off-duty pilots. They are therefore supposed to have an overhead crew rest.

Just how comfortable is the overhead crew rest of a 777? No windows. No emergency exits. How much is the headroom, floor to ceiling?

Among the rest, how many stewardesses? They should also go to the overhead crew rest.

But with 30 or so bums for passenger seats... If they have 9 First Class seats, they easily fill them all, with overflow to Business.

If they do not have First at all, and just 21 Business seats, then they get overflow to Coach. Meaning 24 hours in Coach...

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24 years 2 months

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It landed about 15 minutes ago.

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19 years 10 months

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HI

World record is set. By Boeing 777

Flight Boeing 002, Landed Heathrow 25 mins early. This also With a hold in OCK. for 20 mins.

bbc news reads as follows.

Boeing plane wins distance record

Boeing's 777-200R was launched this year amid much fanfare
A Boeing plane has broken the record for the longest non-stop passenger airline flight, after a 12,500-mile trip from Hong Kong to London.
The 777-200LR Worldliner jet landed at Heathrow Airport just after 1300 GMT, some 25 minutes ahead of schedule, and 23 hours after the start of the flight.

The flight was central to Boeing's belief that the future of flying lies in point-to-point long-haul flights.

Its arch-rival Airbus believes in flights between hub airports.

Fuel-saving aim

The plane's journey, which in kilometers was more than 20,000km, took it east across the Pacific, then over the US and onto the Atlantic.

Boeing has now beaten its previous world record for the longest non-stop commercial airline flight, which was set in 1989 by a 747-400 jumbo jet flying 10,500 miles from London to Sydney.

The airline hopes its latest record success will encourage airlines to offer non-stop flights across the world, saving fuel and time spent on stopovers.

It is facing fierce competition from European manufacturer Airbus, which earlier this year launched its A380 double-decker passenger jet with the aim of capturing the long-haul market.

First orders

The Boeing 777 competes directly with the widely-used Airbus A340-500, which has a flight range of 10,380 miles.

The twin-engine Boeing 777-200LR, which is due to come into service next year with Pakistan International Airlines, will be able to carry 301 passengers.

Qatar Airways, Air India and Taiwanese carrier EVA Air have also announced orders.

The plane uses lighter composite materials to improve range and fuel efficiency.

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18 years 11 months

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I think the ultimate "record" will be when the 772LR flies a longer commercial distance than any other airplane out there... meaning a revenue flight, and not just one for publicity.

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20 years 10 months

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/sgt_schlappy/avatar-rockon.gif

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18 years 8 months

Posts: 1,101

PIA

I think the ultimate "record" will be when the 772LR flies a longer commercial distance than any other airplane out there... meaning a revenue flight, and not just one for publicity.

Which seems not likely to be very soon.

The longest commercial distance on Airbus 340-500 is Singapore to Newark, about 9500 land miles by great circle.

Now look what is at the antipodes of Pakistan. Basically Eastern South Pacific, and some land around.

If PIA were to fly to Tahiti or Lima or Santiago de Chile, they would set a distance record. Flying to Houston or Sao Paulo or Bogota would not exceed the record of SIN-EWR. So, is there anywhere in South America where PIA would want to fly?