Today, Boeing Corporation is a trendsetter in the US aviation industry and one of the world leaders in the production of aircraft. At one time, it was this company that invented the famous Boeing-707 aircraft, thanks to which international air transportation gained wide popularity.
How did Boeing come about?
Boeing was established in the early twentieth century by William Boeing. Initially, the company produced training aircraft and liners for mail delivery. Also, this company was engaged in the creation of various military equipment: bombers, torpedo bombers, fighters.
In 1930, one of the first high-speed aircraft called Monomail was released, which was used to deliver mail. Later, on its basis, the company's developers created the first Boeing 247 passenger airliner. From that moment, Boeing became the leading manufacturer in civil aircraft manufacturing.
In 1954, the company launched the world's first Boeing 707 jet passenger aircraft. The description, history and characteristics of this aircraft will be discussed in detail below. Based on this airliner, a line of passenger aircraft will subsequently be released, which includes the Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Boeing 757 and Boeing 767. These models have become leaders in the civil aircraft industry. The total number of cars exceeded 6.5 thousand units.
The history of the creation of a flying machine
The history of the creation of the Boeing 707 was adventurous from the very beginning. The manufacturing company decided to invest more than $ 16 million in its design and creation, because it was a question of developing a unique instance of a new generation passenger aircraft, which was supposed to have a turbojet engine. Due to the high degree of secrecy of this machine, she was given the code name "Model 367-80". Among the employees of Boeing, the project was known as Dash 80. And only the top management of the company knew that the future name of the new airliner was Boeing 707.
The Boeing 707 was introduced to the public on May 14, 1954. The new aircraft was created on the basis of two models of liners: civilian piston Model 377 and military Model KC-97. By its aerodynamic properties, the Boeing 707 model was close to the B-47 Stratojet military jet created in 1950.
The first experimental flight was completed by a new passenger airliner on July 15, 1954, and on October 13, 1955, the largest air carrier at that time, Pan American, concluded a contract with Boeing for the production of six Boeing 707-120 aircraft, the description and characteristics of which are given below.
Description of the Boeing-707-120 model
In the fifties of the twentieth century, passenger aircraft began to develop rapidly. In this regard, Boeing acquired a serious competitor - the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, which was engaged in the development of the Douglas DC-8 jet liner. This fact influenced the design process of the Boeing 707 aircraft and made some adjustments. The end result of the development process is called the Boeing 707-120.
From the original model of the aircraft, it was distinguished by the size of the section and the length of the fuselage. These parameters have become larger. Thanks to such technical solutions, the designers managed to increase the number of seats in one row and, accordingly, the number of passenger seats. Also, new engines were installed on the airliner, which made it possible to make a longer flight range. Now this figure was 5 thousand kilometers.
Regular flights of this Boeing model began to operate in August 1958.
Technical characteristics of the Boeing-707-120
The length of this aircraft is 44.07 m, height - 12.93 m. The weight of an empty machine reaches 55.58 tons.
The wing of an airliner is characterized by the following indicators: its wingspan is 39.9 m, and its area is 226.3 m².
The cruising speed of this Boeing model is 1000 km / h. The maximum flight height reaches 11.9 km.
The crew of the Boeing 707-120 consists of three people.
The number of passenger seats is from 110 to 179, depending on the class.
Description of Boeing 707-138
The Boeing 707-138 passenger airliner was built on special order from the Australian airline Qantas. The Boeing engineers were tasked with developing a special version of the aircraft model 707-120, which would have the ability to carry out long-distance flights.
The end result of the work was the creation of a passenger airliner with a fuselage shortened in the rear. The payload was further reduced, and another fuel tank was installed. This model of the Boeing 707 was released in a limited number - only 7 units.
Description of the Boeing 707-320
At the end of 1955, the engineering team of Boeing began work on the creation of a passenger aircraft that could carry out intercontinental flights. The new airliner is called the Boeing 707-320. Its fuselage has been increased, so that the length of the aircraft has become greater in comparison with the model 707-120. The liner fuel tank has become more spacious. The wing span also increased. The machine was equipped with high power engines. The new Boeing 707-320 was the most popular aircraft of its class.
Technical characteristics of the Boeing-707-320
The length of this airliner is 46.61 m, height - 12.93 m. The weight of an empty aircraft reaches 65.4 tons.
The wing of the aircraft is characterized by the following indicators: its wingspan is 44.42 m, and its area is 283 m².
The cruising speed of this Boeing model is 920 km / h. The maximum flight height reaches 11.9 km.
The crew of the Boeing-707-320 consists of three people.
The number of passenger seats is from 147 to 189, depending on the class.
"Boeing-707": the scheme of the cabin, seats and reviews of passengers
Let's look at what this liner is inside. The photo below shows a typical plan for the location of seats and auxiliary facilities for the Boeing-707.
The layout of the cabin of this liner contains the following notation:
- B - buffet;
- C - wardrobe;
- G - kitchen;
- L - toilet;
- LC - compartment for hand luggage;
- M - movie screen;
- S - warehouse.
The gray color in the picture indicates the cockpit of the Boeing 707.
The liner cabin contains 151 passenger seats, 16 of which are located in the first class (yellow and orange zone in the photo), and another 135 in the second (blue and green area).
In the cabin layout, non-smoking areas are marked in yellow and blue. These include rows from the first to the second and from the fifth to the eighteenth. Smoking areas are highlighted in orange and green. These are rows from the third to the fourth and from the nineteenth to the twenty-eighth.
The feedback from Boeing 707 passengers is positive, despite the fact that such a machine has long been discontinued. This airliner in flight quality can successfully compete with many modern aircraft.
Other modifications of the Boeing 707
In addition to the passenger version of this aircraft, Boeing produced other modifications for various purposes.
For example, on the basis of this model, the world's first KS-135 refueling aircraft was created, which was used by the air forces of various countries. This liner for several decades served in the specified units of the USA, France, Turkey and other states.
Another modification of the Boeing 707 was an early warning aircraft called the E-3 AWACS. This airliner was created specifically for the US Air Force and performed the work of detecting enemy aircraft by scanning the space with an oblique-return method.
Also on the basis of the Boeing-707, a special-purpose aircraft VC-137 was built, which was flight number 1 and was used to transport US presidents. Only two such liners saw the light. At the moment, they are both in the US Air Force Museum.
On the basis of the Boeing 707, a number of military transport modifications of such an airliner were created. All these machines, despite their considerable age, are now successfully coping with their tasks.
Boeing 707 John Travolta
Famous actor John Travolta is the owner of the Boeing 707. A photo of a happy pilot with his airliner can be seen below.
John Travolta fell in love with airplanes at a young age. Even then, he liked to book tickets for his family members on his own. The first flight of John brought him a lot of impressions. After this, Travolta spent some time in the city of aviators, in which the main street was replaced by a runway.
In 2003, the actor built his own house in the form of an airport. Near the building there is a runway with a length of 700 meters. It is built for Travolta's private jets. The actor's favorite is the Boeing 707, which is named after John's children: Jett Clipper Ella. Inside the airliner are three living rooms, several bedrooms, an office. This plane became the property of the actor in 2002, and Travolta is not going to part with his Boeing, at least in the near future.
The most mysterious Boeing 707 plane crash
Despite the fact that the aircraft model was very successful, disasters with its participation did occur. Over the entire period of operation of such airliners, 194 cars of various modifications crashed. The most mysterious of all these tragic stories remains the one that happened on September 2, 1983. It was then that the Boeing 707, owned by South Korean Air Lines, was shot down over the territory of the USSR by an SU-15 fighter under the control of a Soviet pilot.
According to the official version, the airliner violated the airspace of the USSR and flew over important classified military facilities. The Boeing crew refused to carry out the command to land the plane at the nearest airfield, as a result of which the airliner was shot down and crashed in the southwestern part of Sakhalin Island. The accident killed all passengers and crew. On board were also present US political figures. As a result of this incident, an international scandal erupted. To this day, the true reason for the death of the Boeing-707 on 09/09/1983 remains unclear to the end.
The end of the Boeing 707 era
By the beginning of the 1970s, the airliner ceased to cope with the increase in the number of passengers by that time. The company's engineers could not further extend the fuselage for technical reasons. Modernization work has become economically unreasonable. Indeed, to solve this problem, it would be necessary to create new engines, increase the distance between the aircraft chassis and make other structural changes. In addition, the Boeing 707 is physically outdated, was too noisy and uneconomical in terms of fuel. Improve the aircraft did not work. So, a worthy replacement should have been invented. So there was a new Boeing 747 airliner, which accommodated a larger number of passengers and flew over longer distances.
By the mid-1970s, the desire to purchase such an apparatus revealed less and less companies. Air carriers in Europe and the United States gradually began to move away from the use of this model. The main states that still operated such an aircraft were the developing countries of Asia, Africa and South America. In 1978, serial production of the Boeing 707 was completed, and in 1983 its last regular flight to the USA took place.
By the end of the 1990s, such an aircraft was used in Africa and South America. His main task was freight transportation. As of the beginning of 2010, 155 Boeing-707s were operating in the world. These were mainly military modifications. Nowadays, the only airline that uses such a passenger plane remains the Iranian company Saha Air.
Conclusion
Boeing 707 - a passenger aircraft with four jet engines. In 1954, this airliner was the first to begin intercontinental flights. This model of the Boeing was the most successful among other modifications of the aircraft of that time. She quickly gained popularity. However, by the beginning of the seventies of the twentieth century, the Boeing 707 was the victim of its success. He could no longer cope with the tasks set for him to transport a sufficient number of passengers over long distances. It was economically unprofitable to upgrade this airliner, so new Boeing models replaced it.