The Flying Giant Is 40 Years Old

Ponca City, We love you writes "Four decades ago, Boeing's prototype 747 took to the skies over Washington State for a 75-minute flight that helped bring cheap airline travel to millions of people and would remain the world's largest commercial aircraft for 37 years until the advent of the double-decker Airbus A380. What made the 747 unique was that it was the first 'wide body' aircraft with more than one aisle — a big step towards reducing the sense of traveling in a narrow tube, and inducing a sense more equivalent to flying in a large room with high ceilings. But back in the 1960s, convincing people that the 747 would fly was a tough call. Joe Sutter, the director of engineering on the project, even spent an hour with Charles Lindbergh, going over all the data to prove that the jumbo would not flip over or become unstable at high speeds. Boeing has sold more than 1,400 jumbos in the past four decades, worth, at today's prices, more than $350 billion and although we might complain of traveling in 'cattle class' we have the 747 to thank for being able to do so at affordable prices."

Comments

To celebrate...

[CompMD]

...Boeing will fire 10,000 workers!

I don't say this to troll. I work in the aerospace industry and am watching bright, talented friends and coworkers get laid off left and right.

Re:Oh how I love planes..

[John Hasler]

> And then hate how they treat you like a farm animal on flights.

Nothing is stopping you from flying first class.

Re:So little progress in aerospace.

[Richard_at_work]

Modern aircraft compare extremely well to their 1960s counterparts - the best example is that of 'ETOPS' (Extended Twin Engine Operational Performance Standard), or 'LROPS' as it is known today (Long Range Operational Performance Standard).

Try finding a 1960s aircraft that is rated to fly for 208 minutes, or nearly 3 and a half hours, on one single engine. Thats how far the technology has come, its extremely reliable.

Re:Oh how I love planes..

[Anonymous Coward]

So Airlines weren't competing on price prior to deregulation?

No. Airfares were set by the FAA, so they competed on the quality of service during the flight. If it's the same price and equivalent schedule, do you go for the "free" salmon meal or the peanuts?

Prior to deregulation, airlines weren't trying to maximize profits?

Since they couldn't, by law, change the fare, they tried to maximize profits by having the most passengers on the most profitable routes by offer the best of the least expensive services.

Feel free to pontificate on other stuff you don't understand though.

Lokheed and Boeing

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

Boeing 747's original design was to compete for the defense contract for the Strategic Air Command heavy cargo aircraft. Lockheed won the competition and got to build C5-J. Boeing lost the military contract but converted the design to civilian use and won the bigger market. What tipped the scale for Lockheed was that C5J had a low cargo floor and flip up nose that allowed it to deliver 60 ton tanks with its internal ramps. Boeing's low wing, high floor design needed infrastructure support to unload such cargo.

With hindsight getting the civilian market was the bigger prize.

Re:747s have broken the sound barrier

[georgewilliamherbert]

The China Airlines 747 was severely damaged and nearly had to be scrapped. Not due to supersonic flight loads, but due to damage from the high-G pullout required to recover from the out of control power dive towards the ocean.

Among other things the landing gear locks pulled out of their fuselage mounts and the gear extended partly during the dive pullout, damaging the gear and gear doors.

The pullout encountered 5.1 and 4.8 G peaks, which exceed the normal structural limits, and the aircraft's wings were permanently bent upwards 2-3 inches.

The horizontal tailfins also were partially shredded - see pictures and more incident data at:
    http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19850219-0

Also NTSB report available at:
    http://www.rvs.uni-bielefeld.de/publications/Incidents/DOCS/ComAndRep/ChinaAir/AAR8603.html

Re:Oh how I love planes..

[david.given]

But they *do*. It's called first class! I know people who *do* pamper themselves when flying to their vacations, and it's a wonderful way to fly - but it's not for everyone, or indeed even a large portion of the traveling public.

I fly long distance (London->Beijing, London->Dallas, about ten hours for either trip) quite frequently, and usually go British Airways. The BA long-haul planes are usually 777s, and carry four classes:

• Economy (a.k.a. cattle car class); three rows of three seats. They're very narrow, but there's a surprising amount of legroom, far more than in short-haul flights. Can be very cheap (£300 return from Heathrow to Dallas!).
• Premium economy (a.k.a. business class lite); 2-4-2 rows. Wider seats, possibly a bit more legroom, and best of all there's actually a bit more space between you and your unwashed neighbour so you don't actually have to make skin contact if you don't want to. This is tailored to business budgets, so it's more expensive than economy but not overly so.
• Club World (a.k.a. pod people class). Lie flat beds in your own little cubicle! I got into one once, via a free upgrade, and they're fantastic. The bed is powered and turns into a comfortable chair. You sit head-to-feet with your neighbour, but there's a privacy screen so you never have to talk to them. Decent food, a menu, real crockery, etc. The price is scary.
• First Class (a.k.a. I don't know anyone that rich class). I don't know what these are like, they don't let people like me into that part of the plane. I assume it's similar to Club World but more so. The price is similar to those long numbers written on the back of your stereo.

Food and alcohol is free in all classes, and in fact these days, even in economy the food is pretty good. Snacks, drinks etc can be had for the asking; they encourage you to go to the galley rather than ring for a steward. Personal TVs all round, laptop power everywhere but economy. What's best, the staff have always been uniformly friendly and polite to me --- although it helps that I've flown enough to know how everything works and so know how to behave so I don't make their lives harder.

BTW, if you're ever travelling long haul, go visit seatguru.com. It'll tell you everything you ever need to know about where the best seats are. (On these 777s, you want the front row premium economy seats. Extra legroom and storage and you can get out without climbing over your neighbour! Pity that these days they send me out economy class...)