Blocked aircraft following B787

[turbidus]

Any ideas on this B787 out of CHS and the blocked aircraft (out of SAV)?

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1030x590/boeing_9acb8f49034758daa54726e718c6a79e3c3a2d2d.jpg

[DogSpew]

The 787 (BOE214) out of CHS is a Boeing B1 or C1 flight. The B1 is a Boeing flight (Boeing test pilots) just after production from the Charleston factory and is the first flight to test all aircraft systems. Once the B1 is complete the Customer airline sends their Technical Pilot or another experienced Company pilot to fly the same profile which is a C1. Each flight takes approximately 2 to 2.5 hours. These flights are conducted off the South Carolina coast in a race track pattern as shown on your FR24 image. From memory this area is also part civil and part military airspace.
Not sure what the BLOCKED airplane is, but might be military!! Who knows.

Dog

[Airbubba]

The other aircraft is N720GD, callsign Gulfstream Test Eleven, a Gulfstream 600 doing airwork down low below FL200. The B789 was up at FL370. They were working the same area but not related as far as I can see.

From FlightAware:


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1005/n720gd_f6291419a04e9c030461ce566df2b6ba7fbc10aa.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1031/boe214_3904d81712467e377af31b40551fdd98b11b1f96.jpg

[turbidus]

Thanks dog and bubba for the replies!

Not sure what the BLOCKED airplane is, but might be military!!
Thats what I was wondering, especially with the Mil in SAV.. was thinking about the aircraft that a mechanic stole in SEA and was driving around.

I only was looking at FR24...but it seems like I need to check more websites!

NASA has the Gulfs, any chance it was flying the wake, I dont see the alt profiles ?

Thanks again!

[Airbubba]

NASA has the Gulfs, any chance it was flying the wake, I dont see the alt profiles ?

Thanks again!

Here's the altitude and speed profile for BOE214 from FlightAware:


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1361x467/boe214_profile_c8501510ff28c5d7c2e2209cc1d50047da3e6547.jpg

And for N720GD:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1361x464/n720gd_profiel_62a73154bd207c9b9a49151ca8442bbbe9806a83.jpg

Maybe BOE214 was doing a production test run as DogSpew said and N720GD was doing some development testing with approaches to stalls. Looks like the Gulfstream went south to separate from the Boeing for some high altitude airwork before they both went home for happy hour.

If you see a plane in flight that is blocked the Global Radar View on ADS-B Exchange World's largest co-op of unfiltered flight data (http://www.adsbexchange.com/) is worth checking to get an ID. The coverage is not as good as the larger commercial sites but his tracks are unblocked.

Both Boeing and Gulfstream do a lot of classified military and civilian mods with their passenger planes and many are one of a kind.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1600x724/73_155_0b42677b57112bb672ab92e8d21da0e5e8548aa0.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1200x800/d_hmawixoaastja_070b0e0a03fcea008e81e965603476cf852cf4e3.jpg

[turbidus]

Thanks so much for the info!

Given the FP of the Gulf, it may well have been a wake turbulence study, or perhaps station keeping.