Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago

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Last week, Rolls-Royce's Boeing 747-200 took off from their base in Tucson, Arizona.

This 747 is a Flying Test Bed for Rolls-Royce, and is powered by three RB211s and one Trent 1000. It was headed up to Fairbanks, Alaska, apparently to do some cold weather testing with sustainable aviation fuel.

Not only is this a super rare plane to see in the air but there are just a handful of 747-200s still flying around the world. As far as I can tell, this is the last active civilian one in North America.

It was originally delivered to Cathay Pacific in 1980, and was then operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic from 1999 to 2004 and was purchased by Rolls Royce in 2005. It's been operating as a test bed for them ever since, making it almost 45 years old as of filming.

I just so happened to be in Arizona last week with a couple friends on vacation and when we saw this would be departing, well, we had to see this. Enjoy this extra rare 747 Classic!

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FLIGHT INFORMATION
Airline: Rolls-Royce North America
Aircraft: Boeing 747-200B (B742)
Livery: Rolls-Royce (New)
Engines: 3x Rolls-Royce RB211-524D4, 1x Trent 1000
Registration: N787RR
Route: Tucson (TUS) - Fairbanks (FAI)
Callsign: Heavy Experimental November 787 Romeo Romeo
Runway used: 12
Date filmed: February 2025

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Outro song - "Take Flight" by Nyhtian: youtu.be/bCTTwQ_269c

© Alex Praglowski Aviation 2025

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