A Ravenair pilot traced the words 'I'm bored' across the sky above the Dee Estuary on the England-Wales border during a test flight on Saturday, July 13, 2026. The message was captured on the flight-tracking website Flightradar24, showing the aircraft's path spelling out the blunt two-word phrase in tight, angular loops over the water between Talacre and Greenfield.
Flight path and details
The Piper Tomahawk took off from Liverpool and flew over Southport, Ormskirk, Wirral, Cheshire, North Wales, and the Dee Estuary during a two-hour journey. The pilot spent approximately 20 minutes carefully forming the message at an altitude of around 1,100ft, with the aircraft travelling at speeds just under 100 knots.
Aaron Rheins, a flight tracking blogger on TikTok, commented: 'I've never seen a pilot saying he's bored by writing it in the sky.'
Pilot and airline response
Ravenair confirmed the pilot was a flying instructor in his 20s who had taken the aircraft out for a test flight after a replacement part was fitted. The airline's operations manager, Wayne Barrett, praised the pilot's skills and said he would not face punishment. Speaking to the BBC, Barrett stated: 'I think the pilot was literally a bit bored, as it was just a test flight. Mind you, it was pretty skilful flying. 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.'
Barrett confirmed that while the test flight itself was necessary to check the new part, the specific route taken had not been authorised. Despite the apparent boredom, Barrett noted the high level of concentration required: '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.'
