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Home | Update | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 7/97 BOEING 747 STILL REIGNS THE SKIES by Norbert Burgner Even after 28 years, more than 40 billion flight kilometers and approximately two billion passengers, the Boeing 747 is still the undisputed leader of the world's airliner fleet. 20 versions of the Jumbo-Jet were built over the years. There is a difference of up to 200 seats and up to 75 tons of weight between the first model, the -100, and the most current and biggest version, the 747-400. Originally, everything was planned differently: In the beginning of 1964, the US Air Force had called for tenders for the development of a new heavy military transport aircraft. The three big US aircraft manufacturers, Boeing, Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas, were competing for the contract. Pratt & Whitney and General Electric were competing for the aircraft engines. GE won in 1965, getting the contract for the development of the TF39 turbofan, the first high-bypass engine for large-capacity aircraft. Later in the same year, the C5A transporter program was won by Lockheed. Boeing and Douglas lost. It was later speculated that, although Boeing had offered the better concept, the decision for Lockheed's version was made based on the lower price. While Boeing was certainly disappointed by the news, it had a back-up option at hand. Parallel to the military contract activities, the manufacturer had conducted an analysis of the civil market development. The aircraft manufacturer from Seattle "suspected" that, by the beginning of the seventies, the airlines would need an aircraft which could cope with the forecasted capacity problems. On the evening of the Galaxy decision, Boeing ordered one of its most experienced engineers, Joseph F. Sutter, back from his vacation. Another 100 engineers joined the team in the next few days, working on not less than 50 design options in the following months. The final design of the 747 was chosen based on the requirement for a high capacity, both for passenger seats and for freight. In December of 1965, Boeing President William Allen and Juan Trippe, head of Pan American World Airways, met to discuss Boeing's plans concerning the new airliner. As one of the largest airlines at this period in time, Pan Am's opinion had a major impact on the design requirements for a new long-range jet. Although details about the conversation were never revealed, the talk supposedly went like this: Trippe: "If you build it, I buy it." Allen: "If you buy it, I build it." The result was an order over 25 aircraft for a price of $20 million per unit. Today, a current 747-400 costs approximately 156 to 174 million dollars, depending on the equipment. After consulting Pan Am and other potential customers the configuration of the giant was fixed: The two-aisle cabin was reportedly to have 50 to 54 seat rows, seating up to 382 passengers in a two-class configuration and 418 passengers in a single-class lay-out. A freight bay of 168 cubic meters was planned underneath the cabin floor. The cockpit was supposed to be located above the main deck, an unique design which was done to make room for the necessary nose door of the projected freighter versions. After the Pan Am order became official in April of 1966, other airlines, such as Lufthansa, Air France, Japan Airlines, and TWA, followed. Additional orders came from mainly the domestic US market operating airlines, such as Continental, American Airlines, Northwest or United Airlines. The "Operation Jumbo-Jet" was a wire act for Boeing also: The development costs of more than one billion US dollars were equivalent to the net value of the entire company at that time. Still, with 158 orders from 26 airlines before the aircraft even rolled out, the airlines showed their confidence in the new design. The weight of the aircraft grew during the development phase up to 710000 lbs. One of the engineering ideas came from Juan Trippe. While walking around the aircraft he asked for the purpose of the room behind the cockpit. The answer was that the aircrew would use it as a resting room. Trippe said that for Pan Am, this room would be reserved for passengers. That's how the upper deck of the 747 became what was initially used as cocktail bar. Later it was used as an additional business class. Today, for example in the Lufthansa's 747-400s and much larger in size, it is reserved for the first class passengers. Still, there were some doubts about the rightness of the 747 concept. Voices were heard, saying that the airports wouldn't be able to handle the giants. Overcrowded passenger terminals and baggage systems, too small gate areas were some of the concerns. Furthermore, critics forecasted that the airport taxiways, runways and ramps would be damaged by the high weight of the 747. Looking at today's discussion concerning the Airbus A3XX and (maybe) the Boeing 747-500/-600 mega-liners, this sounds very familiar. Nevertheless, the forecasted horror scenarios did not become true, the giant was well integrated into the existing air traffic structure. The 747 gave its first official debut on September 30, 1968. The first flight followed on February 9, 1969, the Jumbo-Jet raising its nose towards the sky at a speed of 263 km/h. Test pilot Jack Waddell later remembers, the really unusual thing about the first flight was to maneuver a 322-ton aircraft on the ground from a height of 10 meters. Other than that, he said, the 747 is an easy to fly "two-finger" aircraft. The following certification program was also historical. With 1400 flight hours and five aircraft in eleven months, it was the most extensive test program in the history of aviation up until that point. With 28 million dollars it was also the most expensive one. The super-Jet was FAA certified on December 30, 1969, and three weeks later Pan Am operated the aircraft for the first time on the New York - London route. The 747 era had begun. From page 12 of FLUG REVUE 7/97 Home | Update | Latest Issue | Gallery | FR Profile | Datafiles | FR 7/97 Copyright 1997 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved. Last updated June 4, 1997