A light aircraft pilot used his flight path, during a routine aircraft test flight, to spell out "I'm bored", leaving aviation enthusiasts and social media users thoroughly entertained.
A light aircraft pilot used his flight path, during a routine aircraft test flight, to spell out "I'm bored", leaving aviation enthusiasts and social media users thoroughly entertained. The Ravenair-operated Piper Tomahawk took off from Liverpool at 11:30 BST on Saturday for a standard post-maintenance test flight. Instead, the aircraft's unusual route over the Wirral peninsula, Cheshire and North Wales caught the attention of users tracking the flight on Flightradar24, where the playful message was clearly visible.
The aircraft landed safely back on Merseyside at 1:30 BST after completing the two-hour flight. Ravenair later confirmed that the pilot, a flying instructor in his 20s, had been conducting a routine inspection flight after a component on the aircraft was replaced.
Explaining the viral moment, operations manager Wayne Barrett said, "I think the pilot was literally a bit bored as it was just a test flight. Mind you it was pretty skillful flying."
Related Articles
He added, "I think the part was a cylinder that needed replacing. So when this happens we take the plane up for a test run to make sure everything is OK, which it was."
Barrett also joked about the effort involved in creating the airborne message, saying "He was a bit bored but he probably had to concentrate a lot in the end to spell out the words so he was probably anything but."
Dismissing any suggestion of disciplinary action, Barrett clarified: “He's not in trouble but we have had a lot of attention from it. The plane is now safely back in the hangar and the pilot is on his day off.”
