777-200LR Flight Test Journal: Archives
21 July 2005
In the spotlight
Dave Ingebright, crew member on WD002
I'm writing from Auckland, New Zealand, where I'm accompanying WD002, the second 777-200LR Worldliner, on its World Tour. The stops along this tour last anywhere from one day to several days. We use these stops to show off this beautiful airplane to customers, government officials, media, and financial representatives around the globe.
Last week we were in Hong Kong and Singapore and then spent the weekend in Sydney, Australia, before arriving here. And the airplane sure attracted a lot of attention at each stop. It feels like we're "roadies" for a big-name concert tour, and the big name on this tour is Boeing.
A unique view from below the airplane.
Whenever a plane like this comes to a new airport, it draws a lot of attention. All of the airport workers who drive equipment -- toilet and water service trucks, fuel trucks, vans for airline control, etc., come out to look at the new Boeing plane.
In Hong Kong last week, while we were waiting to be towed to the Cathay Pacific hangar for the "official" show, we became so inundated with visitors that we had to station someone at the door for crowd control. It's always fun to explain how things work and show off the airplane. Everyone takes turns giving tours.
At 9 a.m., our tow truck arrived and we began to set up the plane for the show. This involves assembling and mounting a five-foot-long model of the airplane, setting up some futuristic interactive kiosks, putting out information placards, vacuuming the carpet and cleaning fingerprints from the cockpit controls, the galleys and the bathrooms. We spent the rest of the day answering questions from airline executives and press people, giving out gifts, and smiling a lot.
In Hong Kong, Luke Brown (left), a flight test instrumentation crew member, explains test equipment to three students touring the airplane.
Later in the afternoon, a group of about 30 young people showed up from Cathay Pacific's "I Can Fly" program. They were pretty excited about the plane. One of the pilots showed some video clips of our testing. Our guests circulated around the plane and we answered questions and gave out gifts of stickers and hats. During the next three hours about eight busloads from the Royal Aeronautical Society, a local group of aviation enthusiasts, arrived. They toured the airplane and asked more questions. Finally done at 8 p.m., we didn't get back to the hotel until nearly midnight.
The next day we flew to Singapore and arrived during an afternoon tropical cloudburst after a three-and-a-half hour flight. It's always interesting when we pull into a new place. After we taxi in, stop and park, a mobile air stairs is pulled up and soon there is a small group of people on the other side of the main door.
We can see faces peering in through the little window and I'm sure they can see the same thing from their side. Usually there is a customs and immigration guy and right behind him is our "handler," our local contact who makes all of the arrangements at the airport for equipment, fuel and whatever we need. Behind him and further on down the stairs are the local airport people and others that have come to see the airplane.
As we open the door, all of these people crane their necks to see what we look like. What I hope they see is a bunch of smiling Americans arriving on an exciting new airplane, ready to show it off!