The pre-flight briefing has just taken place at Auckland Airport, with Captain Dave Morgan going through some of the key stages of the test flight. One interesting point he made was that the Boeing 747-400 being used for today's test has had to be taken off the New Zealand aircraft registry and re-classified an 'experimental' aircraft. This is because the fuel that is being used is not certified for use in a commerical aircraft yet - all things going well on today's flight and, subject to a lot more testing, it should be certified for use in a few years.
The flight today will last for around two hours, during which the pilots will take the aircraft up to around 35,000 feet - normal cruising altitude - and back down again, pausing along the way to undertake various engine test including stopping the engine completely and then re-starting it a number of times. The Boeing 747-400 was chosen for the flight because each of its four engines has the ability to get fuel from seperate tanks, meaning they can do a test using the Jatropha biofuel mix in just one engine - in this case it is the #1 engine.
The full range of tests that will be carried out on today's flight is outlined on the Air New Zealand website. After taking off from runway 23 at Auckland Airport, the flight will cruise around the Hauraki Gulf area to the east of Auckland City, out of the way of other commerical air traffic. This Google Maps view shows the approximate location of the flight test, with Auckland Airport highlighted by "A" marker:
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