In the modern world of aviation, huge winged cars rule the score. Among the subsonic passenger flights, several giants can be identified that can fly four hundred to five hundred people in one sitting. Against their background, the Boeing 747 stands out, the interior layout of which will allow travelers to be placed on two passenger decks at the same time.
Size matters
The post-war era was marked by explosive demand in the aviation market. The global growth in passenger traffic in the sixties posed a challenge for Boeing engineers. It was necessary to design an airplane twice as large as the seven hundred and seventh running gear at that time. The national company "Pan American" could not cope with the flows of people who want to carry out air travel by air in the shortest possible time. This state of affairs forced her to place a tender for the development, production, testing and delivery of the largest aircraft in the world on a turbojet.
Production expansion
"Pan American" met the expectations of the Boeing leadership and ordered twenty-five aircraft from the first hundred copies of the pilot series. A year later, in 1971, the air carrier placed an order for the same number of Boeing 747,200 aircraft, the cabin layout of which and more powerful engines made it possible to increase the total number of payload and passengers on board.
The giant plane was built, tested and certified in less than four years, which is a very short time even for the new model of a small aircraft. The existing aircraft concern plant did not allow the construction of cars of such large dimensions in their workshops. They simply did not fit there. Especially under the Boeing 747, the cabin scheme of which provided for an additional upper deck, as well as a high-altitude cockpit on the upper deck, a new plant was built in Everett, Washington.
Interesting Facts
Work went at an accelerated pace. Exclusively for the new class of aircraft , Pratt & Whitney designed a non-standard large jet-propelled turbofan engine with the JT9T index. The unit had a high bypass ratio and was installed in the amount of four pieces, two for each wing. An interesting fact is that the company went on a little trick. To ensure the possible replacement of a failed engine at airports remote from the company's service centers, an additional engine mount point was installed under the fuselage, not far from engine mount number two. Thus, the donor aircraft delivered a spare motor to its broken cousin, taking off with five engines installed, but controlling only four of them.
Another interesting fact is connected with the high cockpit on this monster. In order to develop piloting skills and a sense of speed at such an altitude for future pilots of the 747th (and it is not easy to feel the desired speed at such an altitude - it is perceived noticeably lower than the actual one), a special simulator was invented. On the roof of the truck installed the pilot's seat in the layout of the cockpit of a Boeing 747. The scheme of the car interior and the structure of its roof allowed the safe operation of such a hybrid in a closed area. It was used to practice taxiing procedures, parking and exit to the preliminary / executive start by future pilots. The simulator was named the “Waddel Wagon” in honor of Jack Waddell, the first test pilot in this new series.
Foggy prospects
The development of a new design of an aircraft of this scale and the construction of an unprecedented plant practically put the company on the brink of bankruptcy. However, the multimillion-dollar profits from the sales of the first models fully recouped the costs, bringing the balance of the aircraft concern to a level unattainable to this.
However, despite this positive fact, the future of the already created series of the aircraft remained uncertain. The series upgrade to the Boeing 747 300 model did not help to solve the problem, the cabin scheme of which allowed to accommodate significantly more passengers than on the previous two-hundredth version due to the increase in the length of the upper deck. The questions remained the same. How cost-effective to use such a plane? Is it economical, including over long distances? Are the huge costs of leasing justified?
Competitors are not asleep
The doubts of top managers and owners of passenger transportation companies were also spurred by the fuel crisis that erupted in the world in the early seventies. The explosive increase in oil prices instantly inflated the prices of airline tickets. Demand for air travel began to plummet. Restless competitors added fuel to the fire, including inside the same company. In addition to market innovations, such as the DC-10, L-1011 and 300, the new wide-body B767 confidently gained its position, competing with the Boeing 747. The layout of the seven hundred and sixty-seventh cabin made it possible to accommodate fewer passengers, but it was much more economical, more compact, and not so expensive to maintain.
Promising update
Similar difficulties are now faced by the young air giant of the celestial space, the Airbus A380. It was developed by the European manufacturer under the Airbus A3XX program , to create competition for the growing state producer. In response to this move, the Americans launched the Boeing 747 500 model into the project. The cabin scheme of the promising generation of the series allowed a capacity of up to 800 people per flight. At the same time, they launched the project of the six hundredth series of winged aircraft, with similar flight characteristics, but these ideas remained on paper.
In 2005, the company announced the next update of its creation. Elongated by five and a half meters, the version of the 747-400 suspension first flew on February 8, 2010. The model was assigned the index 747-8, or, according to the company’s coding of models, the Boeing 747 800. The cabin layout of the updated aircraft allows you to carry fifty-one passengers and two cargo air pallets more than the previous version of the B744. In the passenger version of the aircraft also there were noticeable changes to the eye. The entrance for passengers has become more spacious, the staircase to the second deck has become more gentle, and in the SkyBunks version you can go down to the lower deck along the second staircase.
Russian realities
In Russia, the main customer of the Boeing 747 is Transaero. The scheme of the cabin operated by the carrier aircraft provides 522 seats on most of the 20 aircraft operating on various routes. Reviews of the leadership, pilots and passengers are mostly positive. The machine is clear, comfortable, easily controlled in the air. The high landing of the aerobatic team provides greater visibility at the taxiway, and thanks to its unusual fuselage shape, other pilots immediately notice the Boeing 747 Transaero. The layout of the cabin and the flexibility of its layout allows air carriers to set the salons and classes of service according to various standards, including their own. And the remarkable passenger capacity of the cabin and the ability of the aircraft to land on the main runways of standard lengths gives this machine an additional advantage over its European competitors.