Highest time airframe ever

[Gilles Hudicourt]

Anyone know which aircraft has the world record total time on its airframe ?

[lapp]

What this question has to do with "Flight Deck Rumors and News" ?

[KiloB]

Surely it would have to be a Dak?

[Jonty]

One of the B-52s?

[Kerosene Kraut]

Some KLM 747-400 (PH-BFB) reached 134.000 hours and 36.000 cycles. Pretty impressive. LH had some very high time 747s as well. They fly way more than B-52s.

[Banana Joe]

Probably some converted freighter like B727, 737-200/Classic and 767-200. Many are enjoying a second life as a freighter and they fly lots of cycles, with an average of 4 sectors per day for the 737.

[ivor toolbox]

I seem to recall it's a Boeing 707,origially built for civilian market, then taken back and converted to a EC-135/KC-135, then taken back a second time for engines to be swapped out for latest fan versions.

Ttfn

[inducedrag]

Iranian airliners

[20driver]

tracer would probably know

At least on the Boeing side I'll bet tdracer has the answer. I seem to remember he posted once about some converted 747 with a lot of hours.
Plenty of DC-3's still flogging in up north and in the islands butI'm guessing their hours are lower.

20driver

[treadigraph]

Originally Posted by KiloB

Surely it would have to be a Dak?

In the 1980s, Provincetown Boston Airlines' N136PB was the highest time airliner flying with around 85000 hours. It's still airworthy in the US but accruing hours rather more slowly as befits an octogenarian; currently around 91500...

[tubby linton]

B757 G-MONB now N935FD has over 100000hours on the clock

[tdracer]

Originally Posted by 20driver

At least on the Boeing side I'll bet tdracer has the answer. I seem to remember he posted once about some converted 747 with a lot of hours.
Plenty of DC-3's still flogging in up north and in the islands butI'm guessing their hours are lower.

20driver

Unfortunately I'm out of the loop now days (retired). I know there are a bunch of 747s out there that are well north of 100,000 hours, as well as a number of 767s. But I have no information on what the current high number is. I'd put serious money on it being a 747 though - 747s are mainly used for long haul flights, meaning relatively low cycles but high hours. Cycles are the real killer - they wear out the airframe much faster than hours at cruise, so the high timer would almost certainly be a long-haul aircraft. Before I retired (about 30 months ago now) I heard that some freight operators were buying old 747-400s with over 100,000 hours and converting them to freighters - given the cost of conversion they would have to be planning to fly them for several more years (at 3000-4000 hours/year).

I would be very, very surprised if it's DC-3 (or any other piston engined aircraft) because they require so much maintenance per flight hour - and even turbine conversions get shaken badly by prop vibrations - plus it's a low altitude aircraft which means it gets beat up by turbulence much more than jets.
I'd also be very surprised by a military aircraft - they simply don't get the usage that commercial aircraft do. 1,000 hours/year is a lot for a military aircraft (even the tankers), where 3,000-4,000 hours/year is not only common but typical for commercial aircraft.

[oliver2002]

Lufthansa's A320 delivered in 1989 are still in service. LH Technik has an ESG package that allows ops until 120 000 hours.

[racedo]

Originally Posted by tdracer

I'd also be very surprised by a military aircraft - they simply don't get the usage that commercial aircraft do. 1,000 hours/year is a lot for a military aircraft (even the tankers), where 3,000-4,000 hours/year is not only common but typical for commercial aircraft.

Bearing in mind some of the publicly info available for maintenance per hr of flight for Military aircraft (assumming there has been some disclosure hold back) then would agree it is likely to be a Civilian one.

Wondered whether Air NZ or Qantas would be one as Qantas has a 26 yr old 747-400 ......................

[krismiler]

100 000 hours is around what 5 pilots can expect to log in their entire careers and is quite an achievement for a piece of machinery. I look at an old airframe and think what it must have gone through in it's life, how many Captains got their first command on it, how many F/Os did their first line flight on it. The places it's been, the passengers it's carried, the emergencies it's survived.

If only they could talk.

[Bend alot]

Originally Posted by krismiler

100 000 hours is around what 5 pilots can expect to log in their entire careers and is quite an achievement for a piece of machinery. I look at an old airframe and think what it must have gone through in it's life, how many Captains got their first command on it, how many F/Os did their first line flight on it. The places it's been, the passengers it's carried, the emergencies it's survived.

If only they could talk.

Or for something like a 747 with 100,000 hours.

1,500,000,000 litres of fuel used

[EDLB]

Originally Posted by Bend alot

Or for something like a 747 with 100,000 hours.

150,000,000 litres of fuel used

you missed a zero.

1.500.000.000 litres Or about 1.000.000 tonnes or 5 Suezmax tankers full of Jet A-1

[Bend alot]

Originally Posted by EDLB

you missed a zero.

1.500.000.000 litres Or about 1.000.000 tonnes or 5 Suezmax tankers full of Jet A-1

Thanks but only from the calculator to the post - will correct.

[Big Pistons Forever]

I flew a Convair 580 that had 96,000 hrs and 157,000 cycles 6 years ago.

[Dannyboy39]

I’ve just looked at G-INFO. The oldest BA 747 still in service which is now pushing 30 years old (G-BNLN) had TAH 119294 on the clock as of Jun 2018. So I’m going to estimate that will have around 122000 hours now. And it’s still going.