Was a flying visit to the boeing 747 yesterday lol, history on the net is scarce for this particular one but there is this stuff about the 747's in general

Quote:

During the late 1960s, some 50,000 Boeing people belonged to a group called "The Incredibles." These were the construction workers, mechanics, engineers, secretaries and administrators who made aviation history by building the 747 -- the largest civilian airplane in the world -- in less than 16 months. The incentive for creating the giant 747 came from reductions in air fares, a surge in air-passenger traffic and increasingly crowded skies. Following the loss of the competition for the gigantic military transport, the C-5A, Boeing set out to develop a large advanced commercial airplane to take advantage of the high bypass engine technology developed for the C-5A. The design philosophy behind the 747 was to develop a completely new plane, and other than the engines, the designers purposefully avoided using any hardware developed for the C-5. The 747's final design was offered in three configurations: all passenger, all cargo and a convertible passenger/freighter model. The freighter and convertible models loaded 8- by 8-foot cargo containers through the huge hinged nose. The 747 was truly monumental in size. The massive airplane required construction of the 200-million-cubic-foot 747 assembly plant in Everett, Wash., the world's largest building (by volume). The fuselage of the original 747 was 225 feet long; the tail as tall as a six-story building. Pressurized, it carried a ton of air. The cargo hold had room for 3,400 pieces of baggage and could be unloaded in seven minutes. The total wing area was larger than a basketball court. Yet, the entire global navigation system weighed less than a modern laptop computer. Pilots prepared for the 747 at Boeing training school. The experience of taxiing such a large plane was acquired in a contraption called "Waddell's Wagon," named after Jack Waddell, the company's chief test pilot. The pilot sat in a mockup of the 747 flight deck built atop three-story-high stilts on a moving truck. The pilot learned how to maneuver from such a height by directing the truck driver below him by radio. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration later modified two 747-100s into Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. The next version, the 747-200, holds approximately 440 passengers and has a range of about 5,600 nautical miles. In 1990, two 747-200Bs were modified to serve as Air Force One and replaced the VC-137s (707s) that served as the presidential airplane for nearly 30 years. The 747-300 has an extended upper deck and carries even more passengers than the -200. The 747-400 rolled out in 1988. Its wingspan is 212 feet, and it has 6-foot-high "winglets" on the wing tips. The 747-400 also is produced as a freighter, as a combination freighter and passenger model, and as a special domestic version, without the winglets, for shorter-range flights. The longer-range 747-400 airplanes (also known as 747-400ERs), were launched in late 2000. The 747-400ER, which first flew July 31, 2002, is available in both passenger and freighter versions and has a range of 8,826 miles. It incorporates the strengthened -400 Freighter wing, strengthened body and landing gear, and an auxiliary fuel tank in the forward cargo-hold, with an option for a second tank. When the 747-400ER's full-range capability is not needed, operators can remove the tank (or tanks), freeing up additional space for cargo. 747 home page Specifications First flight: Feb. 9, 1969 Model number: 747-100/-200 Classification: Commercial transport Span: 195 feet 8 inches Length: 231 feet 4 inches Gross weight: 735,000 pounds Cruising speed: 640 mph Range: 6,000 miles Ceiling: 45,000 feet Power: Four 43,000-pound-thrust P&W JT9D-3 engines Accommodation: 33 attendants, 374 to 490 passengers

Pics arent great but there we go lol, we tryed!



































Was a good laugh,
Thanks for looking!

Frosty.

dont think obs is gunna put his up now....wish id got me camera back out for some outside plane shots now

very nice photos dude, na i wont bother as i think you guys have covered it very well. nice to see some general info, this is what i found the other night so not worth doing a report lol. Was a great night and well happy we got it ticked off the list

Sounds a very difficult site to do - you guys did really well. Wouldn't worry about the criticism - tends to be the armchair explorers who do that

I'm surprised you went in the early evening!

How you got the guts to do that i don't know, we went at 2am lol