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One reason the 747 has had such a long life is that when it was developed, the expectation was that it would soon be replaced by faster supersonic aircraft, so
by WillAdams 1y ago
One reason the 747 has had such a long life is that when it was developed, the expectation was that it would soon be replaced by faster supersonic aircraft, so it was designed to be easily re-purposed/retrofitted to serve as a cargo aircraft --- that said, despite its vast cargo capacity, since it was the last major aircraft designed using pen and paper, if one were to print out a compleat set of blueprints/specifications and try to load them into one, it would probably be too heavy to take off.
It really was remarkable to fly in, esp. if one was fortunate enough to sit in the front rows of seats which had the wrap-around windows, or to be admitted to the cockpit as was often done for children when I flew from Japan to the U.S. on one (somewhere in my stuff is a set of plastic Pan Am wings which the pilot gave me).
- bayouborne 1y agoExpanding on your point, a while ago I read a great book on 747 development (by Joe Sutter, who was the lead engineer for the 747) and one surprising thing for me was that Boeing was very much into the supersonic race at the time. The SST project was Boeing's darling. As such it got the top-ranked technical talent assigned to the project, as well as the best tools, management oversight, etc. In contrast, the 747 dev teams got pretty much less of everything, including being dispersed over a large area of corporate buildings. Despite all of that, it still succeeded beyond anyone's expectations at the time.
- WillAdams 1y agoThanks! Added that to my "Want to read" list on Goodreads.
- hydrogen7800 1y ago>if one were to print out a compleat set of blueprints/specifications and try to load them into one, it would probably be too heavy to take off. This expression might actually have it's origins in the 747. I've heard in aerospace that "you don't fly until the paper weighs more than the plane"
- GarnetFloride 1y agoConsidering the 747-400 carried 1,000,000 pounds (453,592.37 kilos) to cruising altitude, that might be in dispute.
- WillAdams 1y agoHyperbole can be like that. Still, it was an interesting factoid, and by all accounts, the redundancy of the technical documentation (multiple drawings of bolts depending on which system they were used for, which grade/alloy/coating was specified) edges it towards believability.
- WillAdams 1y agoPretty sure that's a much older expression and is more in reference to exhaustive paperwork and maintenance documentation.