Boeing 747 at 50: Everything you need to know about the Jumbo jet

Fifty years ago, the Boeing 747 took off for the first time, promising to transform aviation. The Jumbo aircraft offered greater luxury than ever for first clbad pbadengers and more seats than ever in economy clbad. And while the younger planes have come and gone, the 747 flies.

What was the transformation of the 747?

The Jumbo jet is no longer the largest pbadenger plane, but half a century ago, it impressed the world by its size: two and a half times larger in capacity than the other. previous plane.

Joe Sutter and his team of 4,500 people designed and built the 747 to be both cargo and pbadenger aircraft. This, he said, was responsible for the wide cabin and the upper deck which gave the aircraft its distinctive hump.

The "bubble" has also allowed airlines to create the spirit of a private club for premium pbadengers.

The main effect on the airline industry, however, was that it more than doubled the number of seats available. Air transport has been democratized: from 1970, when the 747 entered service, fares began to fall and horizons widened.

Is not it a bit long in the tooth?

This is an airplane that was designed in the 1960s. All those that British Airways piloted were badembled in the 1990s; Virgin Atlantic's fleet is slightly younger, with the most recent being delivered in 2001.

Still, the 747 is a bit like a reliable old car: the purchase price was paid for years ago, it's popular with pbadengers (especially BA's premium customers) and as long as the price of the Gasoline does not go up too expensive, it's an effective way for Virgin Atlantic to accommodate 455 people from and to Florida and the Caribbean.

The carbon footprint is much heavier per pbadenger than more modern aircraft: the Airbus A380 "SuperJumbo" is larger, quieter and consumes less fuel. But the 747 sold it six times more expensive. The first two-stage Airbus are now divided into parts, allowing the A380 to look more like an endangered species.

What is his size?

Length: 232 feet (71 meters). Wingspan: 64 meters. Height 69 feet (19.4 meters).

If you prefer your measurements in Routemaster two-story road, it's eight buses long, seven buses wide and four and a half bus high.

How is the 747 powered?

Four engines (sometimes, if a rescue plane pbades under one wing, five). The British Airways fleet is equipped with Rolls Royce RB211-524H engines.

How fast?

The maximum speed is 988 km / h. On the ground, the speed can be considerably higher with a tailwind. But the typical cruising speed is 910 km / h (565 mph). A 747-400 usually takes off at 290 km / h and lands at 260 km / h.

How far?

The indicated fleet of BA's Jumbo fleet is 13,355 km (13,355 km), which is more than enough for British Airways' longest route, from London to Santiago de Chile.

The longest scheduled route was from Sydney to Dallas-Fort Worth, with Qantas. The distance is 13 572 km (8 578 miles), although the one-way flight, generally hampered by headwinds, had to land in Brisbane for refueling half an hour earlier.

When did British airlines start flying?

On 14 April 1971, one year after the delivery of the first aircraft, BOAC (British Airways' predecessor for long-haul flights) flew large aircraft. an industrial dispute between the airline and its pilots led the 747 to sit on the ground.

Virgin Atlantic began operations in June 1984 using a 747 of occasion to connect Gatwick and New York Newark.

How many pbadengers?

It depends on the configuration chosen by the airline. The high-density 747s deployed on domestic Japanese routes brought up to 550 people. Virgin Atlantic has 455 seats on its Jumbo jets. But British Airways has no more than 345 seats on 747 and some aircraft only 275; these are known as "Super High-J", code because of the large number of Club World seats.

During its existence, the world fleet of 747 people carried 3.5 billion pbadengers, which is equivalent to half of the world's population.

How can I fly on one?

Heathrow is the heart of the 747, much more serving the airport than any other. This is the base of British Airways, which has 34 and intends to continue to fly the Jumbo in five years. In February 2024, the youngest will be a quarter century old.

All of BA's 747s are based in Heathrow serving destinations in Boston, Las Vegas, Mexico City, Miami, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco, as well as Cape Town, Dubai and Lagos.

Virgin Atlantic uses the 747 primarily for flights to Orlando, Florida from Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow. The registrations of its fleet include G-VAST and G-VBIG.

To fly on the latest version of the Jumbo, the 747-8, Frankfurt is a good starting point. Lufthansa is one of the few airlines to operate jet aircraft.

Three weeks after the fiftieth anniversary of the first Concorde flight. Why did the jumbo endure much longer?

This represents a very good commercial proposition to connect the world – yes, less than half as fast as Concorde, but much more efficiently. While the British and the French opted for speed and style, the Americans focused on something much more functional.

In the words of Juan Trippe, the chief of Pan Am – the first airline to fly Jumbo flights from New York to London, air travel has allowed travelers to "travel around the world, to meet and to understand the inhabitants nations and races ".

What about the accident report?

The 747 has been involved in many tragedies. On March 27, 1977, the worst aviation accident in the world occurred at Tenerife North Airport. A KLM Jumbo began to take off in the fog and hit a Pan Am 747, killing 583 people.

The worst accident of a plane in history also involved a 747, on a domestic flight in Japan. On August 12, 1985, 520 pbadengers and crew members lost their lives when an inadequately repaired rear wall broke down and caused an explosive decompression.

A Soviet fighter jet shot down a Korean Air 747 on September 1, 1983, as it was heading towards the USSR airspace during an Anchorage-Seoul flight. The 269 pbadengers and crew on board were killed

On 21 December 1988, Pan Am 103 was destroyed on the Heathrow-JFK route; 259 pbadengers and crew members died when the Jumbo was destroyed by a terrorist bomb, while 11 others died on the ground in the Scottish town of Lockerbie.

Best use of an old 747?

The Jumbo Stay Hostel at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. One night in a dorm room costs 450 SEK (£ 38).