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The Boeing 747, commonly called a Jumbo Jet, is among the most recognizable jet airliners and is the largest passenger
airliner currently in service. First flown commercially in 1970, it held the size record for more than 35 years until surpassed
by the Airbus A380 (due to enter service in 2007). The Soviet-built Antonov An-225 cargo transport remains the world's largest
aircraft in service, while the Hughes H-4 Hercules had a larger wing-span.
The four-engine 747, produced by Boeing's Commercial Airplane division, uses a two-deck configuration. A typical three-class
layout accommodates 416 passengers, while a two-class layout accommodates a maximum of 524 passengers. The hump created by
the upper deck has made the 747 a highly recognizable icon of air travel. As of August 2006, 1375 planes have been built with
66 more on order in various 747 configurations, making it a very profitable product for Boeing.[3]
The 747-400, the only series currently in production, flies at high-subsonic speeds of mach 0.85 (567 mph or 913 km/h),
and features intercontinental range (7260 nm (13446 km)).[4] In some configurations this is sufficient to fly non-stop from
New York to Hong Kong — a third of the way around the globe. In 1989, a Qantas 747-400 flew non-stop from London to
Sydney, a distance of 11185 miles (18001 kilometres) in 20 hours and 9 minutes, although this was a delivery flight with no
passengers or freight aboard.[
The prototype 747, City of Everett, at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.The 747 was born from
the explosion of air travel in the 1960s. The era of commercial jet transportation, led by the enormous popularity of the
Boeing 707, had revolutionized long distance travel and made possible the concept of the "global village." Boeing had already
developed a study for a very large fixed-wing aircraft while bidding on a US military contract for a huge cargo plane. Boeing
lost the contract to Lockheed's C-5 Galaxy but came under pressure from its most loyal airline customer, Pan Am, to develop
a giant passenger plane that would be over twice the size of the 707. In 1966 Boeing proposed a preliminary configuration
for the airliner, to be called the 747. Pan Am ordered 25 of the initial 100 series for US$550 million, becoming its launch
customer. The original design was a full-length double-decker fuselage. Issues with evacuation routes caused this idea to
be scrapped in favor of a wide-body design.
At the time, it was widely thought that the 747 would be replaced in the future with an SST (supersonic transport) design.
In a shrewd move, Boeing designed the 747 so that it could easily be adapted to carry freight. Boeing knew that if and when
sales of the passenger version dried up (see below regarding the future sales of the 747), the plane could remain in production
as a cargo transport. The cockpit was moved to a shortened upper deck so that a nose cone loading door could be included,
thus creating the 747's distinctive "bulge". The supersonic transports, including the Concorde and Boeing's never-produced
2707, were not widely adopted, such planes being difficult to operate profitably at a time when fuel prices were soaring,
and also there were difficulties of operating such aircraft due to regulations regarding flying supersonic over land.
The 747 was expected to become obsolete after sales of 400 units. But the 747 outlived many of its critics' expectations
and production passed the 1,000 mark in 1993. The expected slow-down in sales of the passenger version in favour of the freighter
model has only been realized in the early 2000s, around 2 decades later than expected. The development of the 747 was a huge
undertaking - Boeing did not have a facility large enough to assemble the giant aircraft, so the company built an all-new
assembly building near Everett, Washington. The factory is the largest building by volume ever built on over 780 acres of
land.
Pratt and Whitney developed a massive high-bypass turbofan engine, the JT9D, which was initially used exclusively with
the 747. Four of these engines mounted in pods below the wings power the 747. To appease concerns about the safety and flyability
of such a massive aircraft, the 747 was designed with four backup hydraulic systems, split control surfaces, redundant main
landing gear, multiple structural redundancy, and sophisticated flaps that allowed it to use standard-length runways. The
wing was swept back at an unusually high angle of 37.5 degrees, and it was chosen in order to minimize the wing span, thus
allowing the 747 to use existing hangars.
During the flight certification period, Boeing built an unusual training device known as "Waddell's Wagon" (named after
the 747 test pilot, Jack Waddell) which consisted of a mock-up cockpit mounted on the roof of a truck. It was intended to
train pilots on how to taxi the plane from the high upper deck position.
Uniformed flight attendants representing each of the 747's initial 26 airline customers.Boeing had promised to deliver
the 747 to Pan Am by 1970, meaning that it had less than four years to develop, build and test the aircraft. Work progressed
at such a breakneck pace that all those who worked on the development of the 747 were given the nickname "The Incredibles".
The massive cost of developing the 747 and building the Everett factory meant that Boeing had to borrow, and gambled its very
existence on the 747's success; had the project failed, it would have taken the company along with it. Initial problems with
the JT9D's development forced Boeing to delay deliveries up to year, and as a result up to 30 planes at one time were left
stranded at the Everett plant, with the company on the brink of bankruptcy.
The gamble paid dividends, however, and Boeing enjoyed a monopoly in the very large passenger aircraft industry for decades.
In fact, the record and benchmark set by the 747 would only be surpassed, more than 35 years after its first delivery, by
the A380, built by Boeing's rival, Airbus.
 | Four 252.4kN (56,750lb) Pratt & Whitney
PW-4056 turbofans or 266.9kN (60,000lb) PW-4060s, or 275.8kN (62,000lb) PW-4062s, 252.4kN (56,750lb) General Electric CF6-80-C2B1Fs
or 273.6kN (61,500lb) CF6-80-C2B1F1s or -80-C2B7Fs, or 258.0kN (58,000lb) RollsRoyce RB-211-524G or -524Hs, or 262.4 to 266.9kN
(59 to 60,000lb) RB-211-524G/H-Ts.
| 747-400 - Max cruising speed 939km/h
(507kt), long range cruising speed 907km/h (490kt). Design range with 420 three class pax at 396,895kg (875,000lb) MTOW 13,491km
(7284nm) with PW-4000s, 13,444km (7259nm) with GEs, 13,214km (7135nm) with RB-211s.
747-400ER - Range at MTOW 14,205km
(7670nm).
747-400ERF - Range at MTOW 9200km (4970nm).
| 747-400 - Standard operating empty with
PW-4056s 180,985kg (399,000lb), with CF6-80-C2B1Fs 180,755kg (398,500lb), with RB-211s 181,755kg (400,700lb); operating weights
at optional MTOW with PW-4056s 181,485kg (400,100lb), with CF6-80-C2B1Fs 181,255kg (399,600lb), with RB-211s 182,255kg (401,800lb).
Max takeoff 362,875kg (800,000lb), or optionally 377,845kg (833,000lb), or 385,555kg (850,000lb), or 396,895kg (875,000lb).
747-400ER/ERF
- MTOW 412,770kg (910,000lb).
Wing span 64.44m (211ft 5in), length
70.67m (231ft 10in), height 19.41m (63ft 8in). Wing area 541.2m2 (5825sq ft).
747-400 - Flightcrew of two. Typical
three class seating for 416 (23 first, 78 business and 315 economy class pax). Cargo hold 170.5m3 (6025cuft) or 151m3 (5332cuft).
747-400 Domestic - Two class seating for 568 (24 first and 544 economy).
747-400 Combi - Typical arrangement for six
or seven pallets and 266 three class passengers.
747-400ER - Same as -400, but cargo hold 158.6m3 (5599cuft) or 137m3
(4837cuft).
747-400F - 30 pallets on the main deck and 32 LD1 containers in the lower hold.
Orders for the 747-400 as of August 2002
stood at 632 (of which 17 ER/ERF), of which 585 had been delivered. Total 747 sales stood at 1356.
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