Originally Posted by
B2N2
Keep in kind that when transport category aircraft are in cruise they don't fly 'level'.
When viewed from the outside it's more like "plowing" as they fly 2-4 degrees pitch up in cruise.
You can feel this as you walk through the cabin. It's definitely walking uphill towards the flight deck.
This is true (sometimes) but also kind of meaningless. In the end, the plane will always fly at whatever attitude puts the wing at the AOA to make the same lift as the amount of weight.
The designers' job is to set the fuselage axis relative to the wing chordline such that the fuselage is straight to the airflow at the design cruise speed/AOA. What number of degrees is displayed on the attitude indicator when it's at that attitude, is arbitrary. The CRJ, for example, cruises at about half a degree to a degree.
The 747 in that picture is probably flying slower than the design speed, for whatever reason... be it that it's going for best range or best endurance, is matching speed with the camera ship, or is flying at 250 below 10K, etc. (Or is actually climbing!)