Jumbo jet, a giant reactive jet, this is the name of this aircraft around the world. It is really very large, this quality is both a virtue and a disadvantage.
In 1970, when the 747th was presented to leading airlines, many carriers doubted that the funds invested in its purchase would pay off. At first, these fears were justified, the fuel crisis of the seventies led to a sharp decrease in the intensity of air transport. However, Boeing and Boeing are in order to withstand the challenges of market conditions.
In the class of passenger liners intended for long-haul flights with a large number of people on board, this aircraft was unparalleled, so the failure of a number of airlines to operate it did not cause panic among one of the world's leading aircraft manufacturers, but only made you think about improving your car . In the fall of 1984, the development of the 747-300 modification began, and in the spring of 1985, it was already launched under the name "Boeing 747 400". In fact, it was already a new aircraft, although it had a lot in common with the prototype, in particular, its appearance.
Scheme Boeing 747 400 remained the same. A two-deck arrangement with a highly located pilot's cabin, four engines on pylons under the wing, each of which is more powerful than all the engines of the 707th Boeing combined, a huge load capacity and capacity combined with high speed - these are briefly a description of the updated Jumbo Jet. The number of passengers that he can transfer at a time is comparable to the number of tourists on an ocean cruise ship. So, in 1991, a Boeing 747,400 of the Israeli airline El Al delivered over 1,100 Ethiopian refugee returnees to their historical homeland. In normal mode, the number of passengers carried with baggage reaches five hundred.
The modified design uses new alloys, the technologies of which were developed for aircraft of the later 757th and 767th series, as a result of which the glider became lighter by almost three tons. The 3.7-meter extended wing consoles were equipped with 180 cm vertical ends, which improved the liner's stability during maneuvering.
The comfort of passengers aboard the Boeing 747 is increased. The photo of the cabin shows the presence of individual entertainment complexes, the monitors of which are mounted in the seats, even in the second class.
Avionics has become fully digital, which reduced the number of crew members to two, eliminating the flight engineer.
Work to further increase passenger capacity and carrying capacity, planned by the management and engineers of the company, is currently frozen, as in recent years the volume of sales of the liner has decreased. In total, over 1,400 airliners of this type were produced. Boeing 747,400, operating since 1989, makes up about a third of the world's fleet of this series.
Only the world's largest airlines, such as KLM, PanAm, Katay, Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa and other equally well-known carriers, can afford such an expensive aircraft. In Russia, the operators of this airliner are Transaero and Air Bridge Cargo.