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I never understood why Boeing risked it all on the 747. The Boeing 2707 was supposed to be the future of passenger travel and the 747 was supposed to get relega
by FigBug 10y ago
I never understood why Boeing risked it all on the 747. The Boeing 2707 was supposed to be the future of passenger travel and the 747 was supposed to get relegated to freight. Why risk it all for what was expected to be a stop gap product?
For the first wide body, why not start with something 767 sized? Why start with the biggest?
- sjm-lbm 10y agoYou answered it yourself: freight. Basically everything about the 747 was optimized around requirements for transporting freight (including fuselage width and placing the flight deck above the main level).
- ak217 10y agoThe requirements for the 747 were largely driven by the USAF and then Pan Am. If I understand right, both customers were so influential that Boeing felt it had to accommodate them.
- WalterBright 10y agoThe USAF never did buy any 747s.
- emp_zealoth 10y agoThe Space Shuttle never flew any polar missions either
- hga 10y agoFormally, there's the Civil Reserve Air Fleet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Reserve_Air_Fleet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Reserve_Air_Fleet and in general these planes can be used in emergencies. The transport planes the US military tends to buy have additional requirements that aren't conducive to civil air fleet profitability.
- ak217 10y agoRight, because Lockheed won the bid, and Boeing had to shop their design around to Pan Am and civilian freighters.