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Boeing 777

The Boeing 777-300ER flew over the airport and did a few circuits. The runway at Wanaka is not long enough for it to take off or land. It is one of the more modern aircraft in the Air New Zealand fleet (which consists of both Boeing and Airbus jets as well as various smaller prop aircraft such as the ATR).

I thought the plane looked really good in its black and white colours. Maybe Air New Zealand should paint all their aircraft in this colour because it does look very sophisticated, it is distinctive, and the colours are associated with New Zealand (especially through the All Blacks).

The 777 has the most powerful engines of any airliner. A single engine has more power than all 4 used in the original 747 and that single engine would be enough to allow a current 747 to cruise safely. It is also very safe because since 1995 when the 777 was introduced 1361 have been delivered but there have been no fatalities although there were 8 "incidents".

Use the controller to watch a movie of the Boeing 777 flying overhead. This movie requires a modern browser supporting HTML5 (using the MP4 codec) and is fairly large movie (about 500K).

Specs for 777-300ER:
Seating capacity: 365 (3-class), 451 (2-class), 550 (maximum)
Length: 242 ft 4 in (73.9 m)
Wingspan: 212 ft 7 in (64.8 m)
Tail height: 60 ft 8 in (18.5 m)
Cargo capacity: 7,640 cu ft (216 m^3), 44 x LD3
Empty weight: 370,000 lb (167,800 kg)
Maximum landing weight: 554,000 lb (251,290 kg)
Maximum takeoff weight: 775,000 lb (351,500 kg)
Maximum range: 7,930 nmi (14,690 km)
Typical cruise speed: Mach 0.84 (560 mph, 905 km/h, 490 knots) at 35,000 ft (11,000 m)
Maximum cruise speed: Mach 0.89 (590 mph, 950 km/h, 512 knots) at 35,000 ft (11,000 m)
Engine: 2 x GE90-115B1
Thrust: 2 x GE: 115,540 lbf (514 kN)

Sources: Wikipedia, Warbirds Over Wanaka 2012 Programme.