N8701Q Boeing 737-MAX 8 "Spirit of Renton" Testbed Aircraft

[Mick West]

The above plane just flew over my house, at about 3,000 feet (1,800 above ground level). Quite noisy.



It's a Boeing 737-MAX 8 test plane called the "Spirit of Renton", the first 737-MAX ever built. It first flew in January this year.

It has an interesting trailing antenna device for measuring the air pressure accurately.


Given that it's a test plane, it's likely to be flying around in random circuits, maybe leaving contrails. So look out for it in the "chemtrail" pages.

 

[SR1419]

Looks like it flew in/out of Mather airport- the old AF base.

 

[CeruleanBlu]

A ground level view.

Source

And some info on similar trailing cones and their design.

http://www.spaceagecontrol.com/Main/S002b1

 

[Trailblazer]

The Bader-Meinhof phenomenon in full effect: just two days ago I saw mention of a trailing cone for the first time ever (in a thread in another message board) and now here it is again.

("Baader-Meinhof is the phenomenon where one happens upon some obscure piece of information—often an unfamiliar word or name—and soon afterwards encounters the same subject again, often repeatedly." http://www.damninteresting.com/the-baader-meinhof-phenomenon/ )