The Honeywell B757 visited Stuttgart on the 15th of November and stayed until the 17th of November 2021. It arrived at Stuttgart after participating in the Dubai airshow and left Stuttgart for Madrid where it flew several missions.
But what makes this plane so special?
Let´s take a look on the history of this plane.
The plane was delivered as construction number 5 and is currently nearly 39 years old. It first flew for Eastern Airlines under the registration N504EA. After its flying career in the United States it flew for Airtours International Airways and MyTravel in the United Kingdom from 1995 until 2002. After not flying for 3 years from 2002 to 2005, Honeywell bought the plane and modified it as a testbed for engines and new onboard technologies.
On the right side of the fuselage, right behind the cockpit there is a special mount for in flight engine tests. Newer and more efficient engines are tested with this mount.
The plane is also known under the name “The connected aircraft”. The background on this nickname is the special equipment on the plane. It is used for testing new avionics and advanced inflight systems. The 757 is equipped with a system which analyses the systems onboard and reports failures automatically. Honeywell is working on this program to reduce the maintenance costs for the operator and to simplify troubleshooting.
The plane is also used to improve the passenger experience, using a new system for onboard WiFi with two receivers.
Furthermore Honeywell developed a software which helps the flight planners to find the best routes based on ATC coverage and weather data. According to Honeywell, this system is saving up to 5% fuel costs per flight. The system also enables the pilots to visually go through the approach routes. This system can help pilots to gain awareness when flying to new airports.
