Boeing's N779XX

Boeing's 777-9 test aircraft, N779XX (c/n 64241, l/n 1574) is making a stop at KOA today from BFI as BOE2. It will perform test flights while based at KOA.

KOA's official Instagram page has a post of N779XX after it arrived.

05 August 2026 UPDATE

N779XX is test flying out of KOA today as BOE2.

Northrop Grumman's N140SC

Northrop Grumman's L-1011 TriStar 100, N140SC "Stargazer" (msn 193E-1067) is making a stop at KOA from MHV this afternoon. It's bound for KWA to launch a Pegasus rocket that is mounted under the belly.

Stargazer has been at HNL twice before en route to KWA in the past.

24 June 2026 UPDATE

N140SC departed for KWA this morning.

03 July 2026 UPDATE

N140SC transited from KWA to KOA today.

04 July 2026 UPDATE

N140SC returned to MHV this morning.

Stratolaunch's N949SL

Stratolaunch's 747-41R, N949SL "Spirit of Mojave" (c/n 32745, l/n 1287), is making a stop at KOA from MHV as STRAT1. This 747 is a launch vehicle for the Talon-A3 hypersonic test vehicle.

32745's History:

Oct 2001: Delivered to Virgin Atlantic as G-VWOW "Cosmic Girl", under lease from Boeing Capital.

Nov 2015: Acquired by Virgin Galactic as N744VG "Cosmic Girl", as a launch platform.

Jly 2017: Project re-named Virgin Orbit.

Oct 2023: Acquired by Stratolaunch as N744VG "Spirit of Mojave".

Apr 2024: Re-registered as N949SL "Spirit of Mojave".

30 May 2026 - 16:00 UPDATE

N949SL departed for GUM this afternoon.

03 July 2026 UPDATE

N949SL returned to KOA from GUM.

05 July 2026 UPDATE

N949SL returned to MHV.

Federal Express' N939FD

Federal Express has ferried N939FD "Camila" (c/n 24528, l/n 250, f/n 939) from LAX to ITO, as FDX9075. This 757-23AF arrived this morning, and will be used for ground training at ITO.

24528's History:

Oct 1989: Delivered to Air Belgium as OO-ILI, under lease from AWAS.

Mar 1996: Subleased to Sunways Sweden as SE-DSM "Lennart Johansson".

Nov 1997: Sold to Tombo Aviation, and leased to Britannia Airways as G-BXOL.

Apr 1999: Leased to Air Holland as PH-AHP.

Apr 2000: Leased to Transavia as PH-AHP.

Jly 2001: Leased to British World Airlines as G-OBWS.

May 2002: Leased to MyTravel Airways as G-CCMY.

Oct 2003: Leased to Kampuchea Airlines as XU-123.

Dec 2003: Subleased to One-Two-Go as XU-123 (top photo).

  Seen at HNL on its way to join the Omni Air fleet.

Aug 2004: Acquired by Omni Air International as N549AX (above photo).

  While with Omni, it was one of the airliners chartered by Vacations Hawai‘i for their LAS flights.

Dec 2010: Acquired by Federal Express, and 

May 2011: Ferried to QPG for freighter conversion.

Aug 2011: Re-registered as N939FD, and named "Camila".

29 August 2025 UPDATE

N939FD departed for HNL today as FDX9080.

N101XW

N101XW (msn 208B0382), Joby Aero's autonomous flying Cessna C208B Grand Caravan, operated by Xwing, is making a stop at HNL from SUU today. It flies on behalf of the US Air Force's Air Force Research Laboratory and the AFWERX programs.

25 July 2025 UPDATE

N101XW is flying inter-island to OGG and KOA.

31 July 2025 UPDATE

N101XW departed for CCR this morning.

Honeywell International's N757HW

Honeywell International's 757-225 test airliner, N757HW (c/n 22194, l/n 5), is making a stop at JRF from PHX this afternoon, as HNW757. It's wearing the new livery with the #futureshaper titles on the tail. N757HW is heading for AVV [Avalon Airport, Melbourne, Australia], for the Avalon Airshow.

We've managed to catch N757HW at HNL a few times over the past several years.

21 March 2025 UPDATE

N757HW departed JRF for NAN this morning.

29 March 2025 UPDATE

N757HW arrived from NAN this afternoon, and will return to PHX tomorrow morning.

N706GD

N706GD (msn 87006), the Gulfstream G700 prototype, is making a stop at HNL from SAV [Savannah / Hilton Head International Airport, Savannah, GA]. It will continue onto DAD [Da Nang International Airport, Da Nang, Vietnam].

16 October 2024 UPDATE

N706GD returned from DAD, and will return to SAV the next morning.

Boeing's N779XY Grounded

Boeing announced today that they are grounding all four 777-9 test bed airliners as a thrust link mount component in one of the General Electric GE9X engines on N779XY was discovered. That 777-9 is still at KOA, and the defect was found after a certification flight.

Further details in this Aviation Week article.

31August 2024 UPDATE

N779XY was due to return to PAE, but according to Instagram's @boeing777xlovers post, N779XY is still at KOA.

06 September 2024 UPDATE

N779XY performed a round-trip test flight from KOA.

08 September 2024 UPDATE

N779XY departed for BFI this morning as BOE3.

N289MT

Raytheon’s heavily-modified 727-223, N289MT (c/n 22467, l/n 1765), is making a stop at HIK as it transits from DNA to LAX, via AWK and HIK. Known as Voodoo One, it is the avionics and radar testbed aircraft for Raytheon.

22467's History:

Jly 1981: Delivered to American Airlines as N710AA (f/n 710), under lease from the Connecticut National Bank, then WFBN (date unknown)

Jan 2001: Withdrawn from service, and stored at TUL.

Mar 2002: Acquired by the Raytheon Corporation, and converted to a testbed aircraft.