50 Years of the Boeing 747

cml387

The very first 747 was rolled out at Everett Field on 30 September 1968

This gallery shows the launch day. Look carefully you'll see the Aer Lingus Shamrock on the side. Aer Lingus were a launch customer and therefore were featured on the side of the aircraft. A number of stewardesses were also there from Aer Lingus, who broke champagne bottles on the big day.

de biz

Appropriately 747 landing now at Dublin!

neris

Just seen 1 passing howth heading in for landing.

The Rape of Lucretia

Shocking to think that in the following 50 years, with the 747 still pretty much around and even in an Airbus guise, and with the Concorde having come and gone, we have hardly moved forward at all since.
Slightly bigger windows. Yaaaay.

And for some reason, despite 777, A380 comparable size, nothing still quite has the awe factor as watching a 747 ease into the air.

EchoIndia

neris wrote: »

Just seen 1 passing howth heading in for landing.

cml387

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

Shocking to think that in the following 50 years, with the 747 still pretty much around and even in an Airbus guise, and with the Concorde having come and gone, we have hardly moved forward at all since.
Slightly bigger windows. Yaaaay.

And for some reason, despite 777, A380 comparable size, nothing still quite has the awe factor as watching a 747 ease into the air.

I think the point is, the modern passenger jet aircraft is like a bicycle.

The most efficient design of both was achieved many years ago. There were some advances made in materials such as carbon fibre but essentially the modern passenger jet/bicycle look exactly the same to the eye as it did years ago.

That final design was of course the Boeing 707. The 747 was just an expanded version.

EchoIndia

The power, reliability and efficiency of modern engines has enabled almost all jet transports nowadays to be twin-engined. That's a significant change over the last 50 years.

N7777G

Here is the original of the species - thankfully it is now on permanent display in the Museum of Flight at at Boeing Field.



N7470 B747-121 Boeing Company by EI-GJB, on Flickr

Mebuntu

Interesting that the prototype had 10 windows upstairs on each side but the Aer Lingus 747's had only 3. There is probably someone on here who knows why .

billy few mates

Mebuntu wrote: »

Interesting that the prototype had 10 windows upstairs on each side but the Aer Lingus 747's had only 3. There is probably someone on here who knows why .

I believe the standard fit was three windows as the upper deck was originally intended as a first class lounge, some operators decided to go for a normal seat layout up there so Boeing offered them the ten window option which eventually became the norm.

Captain_Crash

billy few mates wrote: »

I believe the standard fit was three windows as the upper deck was originally intended as a first class lounge, some operators decided to go for a normal seat layout up there so Boeing offered them the ten window option which eventually became the norm.

All 747-100's were built with 10 windows and plugged before delivery. This was so the operators could easily modify any 3 windowed versions to 10 windows.


It actually formed the basis of a conspiracy theory after TWA800, with some saying the wreckage found was not the same aircraft. This was because N93119 only had 3 upper deck windows but the wreckage pulled from the ocean had 10. This was caused by the plugs blowing out on impact.


The link below contains photos showing it. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-boeing-747-100-new-york-230-killed

Oscar Bravo

G-VGAL at Manchester a couple of years back, empty plane taking off into a headwind. up in a shot

Irish Steve

A long time ago now a group of us were given the chance to use a major airline 747-400 simulator for a few hours. Some of the group were big into flight simulation, and in those days, the default airfield for Microsoft FS was Chicago Meigs, so we decided to see what we could do with a big aircraft at that location, as it was in the simulator database and scenery.

It might not have been according to standard operational procedures, but we got the aircraft on to the ground, and off again without breaking anything. Yes, it was light, there was enough fuel to get to another airfield for a landing, but not much more, and there was no other load on, but it went in and out again without too much drama. Climbed like a homesick angel too once we'd got out of tail strike danger and got the gear up.

Another exercise that we tried was take off, up to 10,000 Ft, and back down to land, the only rules were not to break the aircraft. No wind, no cloud, and any runway for landing. Some of the group were surprised to see just how fast it could be done, the best time was 6 minutes 25 seconds from brake release to brakes back on again after stopping.

Yes, the design might be old, and the engines might now not be the most economic to operate compared to some of the modern twins, but the performance of the total package has been a huge success for both Boeing and the operators for a very long time.

smurfjed

Steve, you should have tried shut down all 4 engines and landing, now that was fun

ED E

The other OAP still kicking is the B52 which is intended to keep going for a long time still, will there be 747s airworthy in 2040 do you think?

billy few mates

https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-ghost-rider-b-52-rises-from-the-grave-to-ride-aga-1686588702

Irish Steve

smurfjed wrote: »

Steve, you should have tried shut down all 4 engines and landing, now that was fun

I didn't, but the instructor did, albeit on a different occasion, and yes, it does focus the attention some. Managed to make a very quiet landing on a runway, which was the objective of the exercise, but it wasn't easy!



What I didn't mention earlier was that one one occasion, we used Kai Tak for the 10000 Ft exercise, and I took what looked like the best option, and did a straight in at a mindbending rate of descent over the top of stonecutters hill, I'd closed the throttles at 8500 Ft on the way up zoomed it through 10 while bleeding off the speed, threw out gear and spoilers, the throttles didn't open again until after we'd landed and the reversers were out. Never closed the spoilers either, but the airframe was happy with it, all the way down. The descent rate over Stonecutters was "interesting", and a long way from a 3 degree approach, but it was a stabilised approach, blah blah..........:D



While it was a lot of fun, it also had a serious side to it, as it couldn't be done flying procedurally, so it very much relied on looking out of the window and raw data flying, and unfortunately, "standard operating procedures" mean that a huge number of people flying for real these days have never developed the skills required to be able to do that. The beancounters don't think it's necessary for pilots to have those sorts of skills, or perhaps to be more accurate, they didn't for a long time, until things like the Air France A330 crash in the South Atlantic happened, they started then to realise that some critical skills had been lost, but that's another story.

jjbrien

My first ever flight was a 747 from Dublin to Shannon when I was 8 have fond memory's of it. Glad to have flown Virgins 747 from Manchester to Orlando last month and got a ride in the upper deck on my way back from NYC to Manchester was a lot more roomy upstairs than I would have imagined. Sad to see them disappearing its a pity Boeing wont update them to carbon fiber like the 787 and redo the whole aircraft. Have some photos.

Have a take off and landing over wing video if anyone's interested too but i know theirs a lot of these on youtube

https://flic.kr/p/28TXgCN

https://flic.kr/p/28TXg39

duskyjoe

jjbrien wrote: »

Sad to see them disappearing its a pity Boeing wont update them to carbon fiber like the 787 and redo the whole aircraft.

This was never an option or even thought about. The 777x is going to be the next monster with folding end wings. Quads are relics of a bygone age especially now when turbines can on reliable terms produce massive thrust. The A380 will be the sole trader in this dept The GE90 is now shortly to be superseded by an even more more efficient power plant off the GE production line rendering the queen of the skies utterly obsolete in terms of economy of scales

smurfjed

This is where I'm sleeping tonight...

www.jumbostay.com