Qantas: Project Sunrise – London to Sydney

Something about . . . last done 30 years ago with a 747. . . research flights . . . ‘supper at breakfast time’ . . . building on learnings from New York flight . . .

Flight 7879 from London is timed to arrive in about an hour and a half at 12:30pm today (15 Nov. 2019). It may go over my house.

From the Qantas Media Release:

Flight fast facts

• QF 7879 flight from London to Sydney will take around 19-and-a-half hours subject to wind and weather conditions on the day. Distance between London and Sydney is 17,800 kilometres (11,000 miles). This compares to a travel time of 22 hours and 35 minutes on the current London to Sydney via Singapore flight.
• The flight will be operated by a brand-new Boeing 787-9 with a special Qantas Centenary livery, registration VH ZNJ, named “Longreach”.
• Four pilots will be on rotation throughout the flight. Two additional pilots will be in the cabin, having flown the aircraft to London.
• The route will depart London and overfly 11 countries including England, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Philippines and Indonesia before crossing the Australian coast near Darwin, tracking across the country before descending into Sydney.
• The aircraft will operate with a maximum fuel load of approx. 126,000 litres. Projected fuel remaining upon landing is approximately 7,500 litres which translates to about 100 minutes of flight time.
• Maximum take-off weight for a 787-9 is 254,000kg. QF 7879 LHR to SYD will depart at 233,000kg take-off weight with the same amount of fuel that Qantas departs Perth to London flights with.
• Flight will travel at 85% the speed of sound which is around 930 kilometres an hour. Cruising altitude will start at 35,000 feet and then as the aircraft weight reduces with fuel burn, the cruising altitude will increase to 40,000 feet.

2PAX Takeout

Obvs my invitation got lost in the mail again.

You can read what I said yesterday here