High wing Boeing 747?

[rodquiman]

Hello,

I was told that the first Boeing 747 design, the one that was proposed for the C5 program for the USAF was a high wing aircraft, like the Galaxy, which was the winner. Is this true?:confused:
Thanks...

[Lu Zuckerman]

To: rodquiman

I believe the B-747 was already flying prior to the bidding on the C-5A program.

Little known fact:

Douglas bid on the C-5A and like the others had to build a scale mockup in order to show the ability to load and unload cargo. Lockheed and I assume Boeing made their mockup of wood where Douglas made their mockup to a smaller scale and the outer skin was metal which gave a truer replication of the skin lines and the station lines which could be scaled off of for lofting purposes.

Because the mockup was smaller than the actual C-5A Douglas had to build smaller scale tanks and vehicle as well as any other outsized materials carried in the C-5A.

The reason for this is that if Douglas won the contract they had a mockup that was just about the size of the 747 and could be used in the lofting of the lines to build a competitor for the 747.

:E :E

[Notso Fantastic]

Lu, I distinctly remember the C5A did its maiden flight in about '67? I was on holiday on a boat in France and was desperately trying to understand the Paris Match article all about it (the trauma of that lives in my memory). I believe the 747 flew first in 1969 and entered service about 18 months later in 1971? And because BOAC had them grounded immediately (pilot dispute), BOAC made a fortune at loaning the engines to all the other airlines with oval casings!

[Lu Zuckerman]

To: Notso Fantastic

It has gotten to the point if I want to establish in my mind what was happening at some point in the past I have to look at my resume. The part about Douglas building a subscale Class A mockup of the C5-A was correct. At that time both Boeing and Douglas were designing the 747 and the DC-10 respectively. Douglas wanted to compete with the 747, which was yet to fly. The Class A mockup would give them a leg up if Douglas got the C5-A contract.

As far as a high wing 747 I believe that Boeing had to comply with the C5-A specs which dictated a high wing design. From a commercial application it would be difficult to operate a high wing 747.

So forgive an old man who lets his alligator mouth overload his hummingbird ass. I stand corrected.


:E :E

[Notso Fantastic]

Lu, we remember events this long ago by what else we were doing at the time. I was cold and wet on that little boat in France looking at the colour pictures of that amazing aeroplane, so I think it must have been July or August '67 or '68? I think one of the engines flew off sometime around then too!
Don't worry about mixing up the memories- when you get of 'more mature years', you have so many of them in the barrel that they get intertwined with each other! Just no separating 'em!

[rodquiman]

So, what´s the final conclusion? Was the first project a high wing aircraft?

[Unwell_Raptor]

I don't know the answer, but it is highly likely, isn't it?

Military transports are usually high-wing because that gets the engines higher out of the way of FOD, gets the belly, and thus the ramp, closer to the ground, and allows a rugged landing gear setup.