Boeing 747 most aesthetic “Jumbo Jet” ready to fly
2023.01.29 12:56
Boeing 747 most aesthetic “Jumbo Jet” ready to fly
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – (NYSE) Boeing 747, the first and perhaps most beautiful “Jumbo Jet,” revolutionized air travel, but more efficient twinjet aircraft replaced it after more than five decades.
Atlas Air (NASDAQ:) will receive the final Boeing jumbo jet used for commercial flights. 53 years after the 747’s instantly recognizable humped silhouette attracted global attention as a Pan Am passenger jet, in the surviving freighter version on Tuesday.
“On the ground it’s stately, it’s imposing,” said Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson, who piloted a specially dressed 747 dubbed “Ed Force One” during the 2016 tour of the British heavy metal band.
It’s also surprising agile in the air. You can really chuck it around if you have to, considering how big it is.”
The nose and upper deck of the first twin-aisle wide-body jetliner in the world evolved into the most opulent club in the world above the clouds in response to demand for mass travel in the late 1960s.
However, the 747 changed travel in the seemingly endless rows at the back of the new jumbo.
Ben Smith, CEO of Air France-KLM, stated, “This was THE airplane that introduced flying for the middle class in the U.S.”
Smith told Reuters, “Prior to the 747, your average family couldn’t afford to fly from the U.S. to Europe.”
From America’s “Doomsday Plane” nuclear command post to papal visits aboard chartered 747s dubbed Shepherd One, the jumbo also had an impact on global affairs as a symbol of both war and peace.
Two previously delivered 747s are currently being fitted to take the place of the Air Force One, or presidential jet, of the United States.
Linda Freier served Michael Jackson and Mother Teresa as passengers on Pan Am flights.
Freier stated:
“The passengers were extremely diverse. “People who had very little and spent everything they had on that ticket, people who were well-dressed.”
After a delay caused by an engine problem, the first 747 took off from New York on January 22, 1970. It more than doubled the plane’s capacity to 350-400 seats, reshaping the design of airports.
According to aviation historian Max Kingsley-Jones, “It was the aircraft for the people, the one that really delivered the capability to be a mass market.”
The senior consultant at Ascend by Cirium added, “It was transformational across all aspects of the industry.”
Its inception became the basis of aviation legend.
Juan Trippe, the founder of Pan Am, wanted to cut costs by adding more seats. He challenged Boeing President William Allen to create something as massive as the 707 while they were fishing.
Joe Sutter, a renowned engineer, was appointed by Allen. The 747 was developed by Sutter’s “the Incredibles” team in just 28 months before its first flight on February 9, 1969.
The 747’s early years were plagued by issues, and Boeing’s $1 billion development costs nearly bankrupted the company, which believed that supersonic jets held the key to the future of air travel.
The plane experienced a downturn following the oil crisis of the 1970s. In 1989, Boeing introduced the 747-400, which was designed with lighter materials and new engines to meet the growing demand for trans-Pacific flights.
Dickinson, who is also the chairman of the aviation maintenance company Caerdav, stated, “The 747 is the most beautiful and easy plane to land… It’s just like landing an armchair.”
Advances made it possible for dual-engine jets to replicate the 747’s range and capacity at a lower cost, resulting in the 747’s demise. The same wave of innovation that brought the 747 to market has also brought its demise.
However, due to delays, the 777X, which is expected to replace the 747 as the most popular jet in the market, won’t be ready until at least 2025.
AeroDynamic Advisory managing director Richard Aboulafia stated, “In terms of impressive technology, great capacity, great economics… (the 777X) does sadly make the 747 appear obsolete.”
Despite this, the most recent 747-8 is expected to remain in service for many years, primarily as a freighter because it outlasted the double-decker A380 passenger jet produced by European Airbus.
As Boeing struggles following the COVID pandemic and a 737 MAX safety crisis, this week’s final 747 delivery raises questions about the Everett widebody production plant outside of Seattle’s sprawling but now underutilized future.
According to CEO Dave Calhoun, Boeing may not develop a new airliner for at least ten years.
Aboulafia stated, “It was one of the wonders of the modern industrial age.” However, “this isn’t an age of wonders, it’s an age of economics,” he added.
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