On Tuesday, December 15 during the noon hour, Rolls-Royce and Raytheon will be sponsoring a high-profile event that will be visible to the greater Indianapolis community.  A Rolls-Royce branded Boeing 747 (example picture below) will be flying at low altitude, into Indianapolis from the east side, through the southern perimeter of the downtown, to southwest Indianapolis.

In cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Boeing 747 will fly at minimum safe altitudes in accordance with Federal Air Regulations above the city, so our employees and the public can get a close look at the Rolls-Royce powered  Flying Test Bed (FTB) aircraft that is supported by Raytheon.

This letter is part of Rolls Royce’s outreach to inform the SVBA to ensure community concerns, if any, are held to a minimum. Rolls Royce is also coordinating with emergency response teams, government, community organizations, the news media and other stakeholders, so the Indianapolis community is aware of the low-flying aircraft and is able to enjoy the fly over. (Follow @RollsRoyceNA on Twitter: #RRIndyFlyBy )

About the Rolls-Royce Flying Test Bed:

This newly painted Boeing 747 is used to test Rolls-Royce’s most advanced aircraft engines.  With four engines on wing, a larger, Trent 1000 Package C engine will be seen on the port side of the aircraft.  The new Trent 1000-TEN (Thrust, Efficiency and New technology) engine is expected to be installed to the FTB in February of 2016 to perform extensive flight testing in support of certification in the first quarter of the year and will go into service thereafter. The Trent 1000 was the first engine on Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner.  The “TEN” variant will boost fuel economy by up to 3 percent compared with the Trent 1000s in service today.

The aircraft flying over Indy will appear slightly different then these images, since it was recently repainted. A video of the FTB can also be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5rCxwt5Dnw

Rolls-Royce Indianapolis Connection to the Flying Test Bed and Engines:

Forty percent of engineering work on the Trent 1000 is based in Indianapolis with a team of 130-150 engineers dedicated to Trent support, making it is one of Indianapolis engineering’s’ single largest engine programs. There is also a small team of engineers in Indy supporting the Flying Test Bed (FTB) operations in Tucson, AZ.  Indianapolis will also make engine components for the Trent 100-TEN.

Raytheon and Rolls-Royce:

While the Boeing 747 is designed to transport up to 480 passengers, the FTB contains only a flight crew of 15 and data monitoring equipment that is supported by Raytheon.   Raytheon’s flight crew, Instrumentation, and data collection engineering services support engine testing and certification

As with any flight information, details about specific routes and times are not reported due to air safety best practices.  If your organization needs specific information as to the flight pattern and times, please contact either company representative below.

This low flight  over Indianapolis demonstrates the technological innovation and collaboration of two of the state’s aviation companies as industry leaders right here in Indiana  Please help us spread the word about this exciting fly over on Tuesday, December 15.