Boeing pilots draw a 787 across America with 18-hour flight

It’s got the aviation world talking.

A Boeing test team flew Wednesday a route that drew the outline of the 787-8 in the skies over America. The flight started and ended at Boeing Field in Seattle, covered 22 states and lasted 18 hours. It was part of an endurance test for the plane, according to Boeing.

Time FLIES when you're having fun ✈️#avgeek [Total flight time: 18 hrs, 1 min] https://t.co/151oNsMFOY pic.twitter.com/ThNWC5IM5k

— Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) August 3, 2017

The flight path is only visible through tracking websites like FlightRadar24. The wings stretch from northern Michigan near the Canadian border to southern Texas. The tail touches Huntsville, Alabama. The nose points toward the Puget Sound region.

By Thursday, aviation enthusiasts had picked up on the flight path and were spreading the image around on Twitter and Facebook. The Washington Post and other media outlets were writing stories about it.

This isn’t the first time that Boeing pilots have gotten creative with their flight plans. Earlier this year, Boeing used one its 737 MAX planes to fly the outline of the word “MAX” over the skies of Washington and Montana, according to FlightRadar24.