Boeing General

[Delta452]

Hi guys.

Firstly I appologize if this has been posted in the incorrect forum but this one seemed the most appropraite for my query. In preparing for application to a pilot training program Im researching into the different types of commerical aircraft that have been/are in use and am having a bit of difficulty looking at boeing aircraft. Does anyone know of a site that advises of the launch date of each of the aircraft and the major differences between the series, reasons for purchasing a 747 over a 737 for example. Also, Im trying to find out what the difference is between aircraft such as 737 - 400 and 737 - 500 for example.

Before anyone shouts the obvious yes I have trawled the boeing website but you can only learn so much from a company website and would preffer an unbiased one which shows the cons as well as the pro's of each individual aircraft.

Thanks in advance

[Filip Bigün]

Minor differnces between B737-300/500

Check out this website http://www.b737.org.uk/

[barit1]

Choosing an aircraft is all about route structure - how many pax, what size runways, terminal limits, nonstop distance flown etc. When these are givens, there are relatively few choices left.

[Andy_S]

Try http://www.airliners.net/info/

[Delta452]

thanks guys, will have a butchers ;)

[Two's in]

If you thought the 380 was ugly...

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/news/2006/q3/060909a_nr.html

TAIPEI, Sept. 09, 2006 -- The Boeing [NYSE: BA] 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter took to the skies for the first time at 10:38 a.m. (UTC/GMT +8 hours) today, initiating the flight test program that will culminate in U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification.

The two-hour, four-minute flight was the first of 250 expected flight test hours for the unique freighter, a specially modified 747-400 that will transport major composite structures of the all-new 787 Dreamliner.

The enormous jet -- with its enlarged upper fuselage that can accommodate three times the cargo by volume of a standard 747-400 freighter -- gracefully took off under rainy skies from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (formerly Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport). Boeing flight test pilots, Capts. Joe MacDonald and Randy Wyatt, took the airplane north, and then flew roughly 150 miles south following along the east side of the island before heading north again.

"It went beautifully," MacDonald said after the flight ended. In fact, the airplane handled so well, "quite often during the flight, it was easy to forget you were in an LCF rather than a regular 747-400," he said.

Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp., part of Taiwan's Evergreen Group, is modifying the fleet of three airplanes at its facility at the airport.

"This is a key moment in the Dreamliner program," said Scott Strode, 787 vice president of Airplane Development and Production. "The LCF fleet is the foundation of our lean, global production system and enables us to meet the unprecedented customer demand for the 787. I congratulate the global LCF team -- our design and production partners, our modification partner EGAT, and our incredible Boeing team -- for this remarkable achievement."

The flight test program is expected to last through the end of the year. The LCF also will complete more than 500 hours of ground testing in Taipei and Seattle combined. This comprehensive test program will ensure the LCF's reliability and ability to fly its intended mission.

After completing initial flight tests in Taiwan, during which the airplane's handling characteristics will be evaluated as well as ensuring the LCF is free from flutter and excessive vibration, the airplane will fly to Seattle's Boeing Field to complete the remainder of the flight test program. The ferry flight to Seattle is expected to occur mid-month. A fleet of three LCFs will ferry 787 assemblies between Nagoya, Japan; Grottaglie, Italy; Wichita, Kan. and Charleston, S.C., before flying them to the Boeing factory in Everett, Wash., for final assembly. The first two LCFs will enter service in early 2007; the third will follow later.

[ayrprox]

so this is what happens when a 747 and beluga have a love child!!:}

[SLFguy]

It's just 'big-boned'..

[Farrell]

Big-boned yes........like most dinosaurs

[ChristiaanJ]

It's just 'big-boned'.."Big-boned"... you kidding? It's what happens when somebody gets the "max cabin pressure" setting wrong during acceptance testing.... and they decide to keep the result.
Big-boned yes........like most dinosaurs.Not quite fair.... there are entire generations of those big beasts around now. Remember the Guppy that started it all?
And as to dinosaurs.... they stayed around an awfully long time....

[barit1]

Vertical fin appears to be borrowed from a 747SP.

[ChristiaanJ]

Vertical fin appears to be borrowed from a 747SP.From the write-up I saw, they extended the existing fin, rather than borrow one from another aircraft.

[Lost in Saigon]

Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp., part of Taiwan's Evergreen Group, is modifying the fleet of three airplanes at its facility at the airport.

A fleet of three LCFs will ferry 787 assemblies between Nagoya, Japan; Grottaglie, Italy; Wichita, Kan. and Charleston, S.C., before flying them to the Boeing factory in Everett, Wash., for final assembly. The first two LCFs will enter service in early 2007; the third will follow later.
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2006/q3/060909a1_lg.jpg
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2006/q3/060909a2_lg.jpg

[rhovsquared]

Her Majesty needs Weight Watchers:} it proves Boeing can beat the a380:p
I can't wait to see the 747-8:ok:


To The Max Brake Energy Limits And Beyond:} :} :}
rhov :)

[MichaelJP59]

Are they going to paint it then? Might look somewhat easier on the eye then..

Don't tell me it is already painted!?

[ChristiaanJ]

Are they going to paint it then?Judging by the first pic, they just coated it with grass seed and watered it.
A whole new environment-friendly technology!

[11Fan]

It's geting painted when it gets back to Seattle.

[discostu]

I had something similar on my back once. You should have seen what came out when I squeezed it!! :yuk:

[McHover]

How on earth do they load it? Is it like a coffin? Or does the front forty feet of fuselage swing open on two dodgy Ikea hinges?
McH

[11Fan]

Hinged Swing Tail. Look for the line on the fuselage aft of the wing.

There's other threads describing it. Look for LCF.

[Lost in Saigon]

From http://www.boeing.com/global/italy/news/release/completando-747lcf/

http://www.boeing.com/global/italy/images/news/747lcf.jpg

[The AvgasDinosaur]

Jack Conroy certainly started something:D :D :D :D :D :D :ok: :ok:
Bless him.
Be lucky
David

[Roadtrip]

Seems like it would be a lot cheaper to just manufacture the fuselage at Boeing than to have to build a special airplane and fly this stuff around. Must be politics.

[ChristiaanJ]

Roadtrip,
I see you don't work in the industry...
This is common practice in Europe for over 30 years.
Look up aircraft names like Guppy, Super Guppy, and Beluga.

I'm not well informed about the extent of this practice in the States, as far as aircraft are concerned, but space hardware has also been hauled all over the US for ages.

[The AvgasDinosaur]

The beast is now with Boeing in USA arrived as Boeing 876
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/BOE876
Hope it helps
Be lucky
David

[seacue]

Roadtrip,

Boeing is moving toward being an assembler rather than building all the components. They sold off much of their Wichita operation, now called Spirit Aerospace or some such. Spirit makes major assemblies (say 737 fuselages) and ships them to the Seattle area for final assembly.

This is also the case with the 787. Major parts of the plane are built in Japan under a risk-sharing arrangement which reduces Boeing's investment in the development costs.

This isn't a new thing. Shorts in Northern Ireland builds major portions of Canadian Bombardier aircraft. The Irish operation is now owned by Bombardier and has been Northern Ireland's largest manufacturing employer.

[The AvgasDinosaur]

I wonder if they will make it available to customers??
Allegedly you can buy a Beluga if you have enough Euros.
Volga-Dnepr perhaps??
Be lucky
David

[barit1]

To coin a phrase, there's nothing new under the Sun.

During WWII, the wood wings of Howard aircraft (& probably many others too) were subcontracted to and built by piano manufacturers. :ok:

[ChristiaanJ]

I wonder if they will make it available to customers??
Allegedly you can buy a Beluga if you have enough Euros.I can't quite imagine anybody else actually wanting to buy one.
Only Airbus and Boeing haul such huge-size low-weight items on a regular basis.
Of course one can easily think of other "outsize" stuff, but only on an incidental basis, and then you would lease an An-225, or indeed an LCF or Beluga, not buy it.

[fanatic1]

Oh my god it is so ugly!

[seacue]

Uncoventional aeroplane builders:

One would guess that most of the cabinet-makers in France were building aeroplanes during WW I. At the peak, the French built 25,000 aircraft in a single year during the Great War. Or so a placard at the Air & Space museum at Le Bourget says. I wonder how many of them flew on second-hand engines inherited from "bent" machines.

[ChristiaanJ]

.... cabinet-makers ....Interesting question. I've never really delved into the WW I details. It certainly happened in WW II, in particular in Germany towards the end.

[My Dad's Little Boy]

Uncoventional aeroplane builders:

One would guess that most of the cabinet-makers in France were building aeroplanes during WW I. At the peak, the French built 25,000 aircraft in a single year during the Great War. Or so a placard at the Air & Space museum at Le Bourget says. I wonder how many of them flew on second-hand engines inherited from "bent" machines.

And in the UK as well. They wanted experienced wood-workers.

But going back onto the thread, I can't help thinking that the 747 LCF reminds me of my ex-missus - except that the plane is a bit slimmer.

MDLB

[jumpy737]

Does anyone know if Boeing is still producing the 767-200ER or if they would if a customer requested it?

[akerosid]

Although the last 762ER built for an airline customer was a good few years ago - Continental, I believe, in 2000 - the 762 has been built for the Italian and Japanese air forces for "AWACS"/tanker usage, so I think it could still be built if an airline really wanted one.

[Check Airman]

you thinking of getting one?:)

[seacue]

Boeing honored its 7-Series family of airplanes with a special show featuring customers' Boeing-produced airplanes today in Seattle.

The airplanes on display at Boeing Field included an Omega Air 707; AirTran Airways 717; FedEx 727; Alaska Airlines 737-800; Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 Flying Test Bed 747-200; Continental Airlines 757; Delta Air Lines 767; and Air France 777-300ER (Extended Range). In addition, the Boeing 747-400 Dreamlifter was on static display.

Each airplane -- the 707 through the 777 -- took off from Paine Field, adjacent to Boeing's Everett, Wash., facility, and landed at Boeing Field in Seattle -- in sequence of airplane model numbers matching to time, beginning with the 707 landing at 7:07 p.m. Pacific time. This special display was part of a Boeing-sponsored event held at The Museum of Flight as part of the weekend's activities for the 787 Premiere.

[lambo_guy08]

are Boeing designing/building/testing a '797'
:confused:


just wondering if any one knows?




should this thread be in SLF?

[PAXboy]

I have no idea. My guess is that the Spectators Gallery (also in Misc Forums) will know the answer.

[BOEING777X]

If anyone is interested in a read...

http://fleetbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/keeping-the-freight-faith-777-200f-747-8f/

:ok:

[BOEING777X]

Update on the 777F development.

http://fleetbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/twin-engine-cargo-king-boeing-777-200f/

[BOEING777X]

British Airways appears to rule out the 747-8I, although not completely....

clicky (http://fleetbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/advantage-ba/)

[BOEING777X]

Lufthansa sticking with the 747-8I

Click (http://fleetbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/01/31/747-8i-moves-ahead/)

[BOEING777X]

http://fleetbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/narrowbody-airplanes-big-engine-challenge/

A320/737 replacement challenges

[BOEING777X]

777, 787, A350 Three way tussle

Click (http://fleetbuzz.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/three-way-power-play-777-787-a350/)