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Friday, June 27, 2014

The Day They Delivered the 1,500th 747

Maybe not today exactly, but the papers have been signed, and the fly away is pending. One Thousand Five Hundred 747 Jumbos built... but technically fewer delivered into service so far, as at least eleven frames prior to this frame have yet to enter service (line 1 never did either, the only 747 that's waited longer than line 1416). Maybe we can have another celebration in ten or so deliveries.

Lufthansa will take line 1500 (RC035) D-ABYP back to Frankfurt, and there couldn't be a better customer for this milestone frame. Well, maybe Pan Am. It's funny; Lufthansa just got done feting their 75th 747 a few months ago, and now this much more significant milestone. Honestly, every delivery right now is a reason to party for me.

Anyhow, here's a great read on the event, as well as an even more interesting video which mentions interest in follow on orders from existing customers:



I'll be updating this post as more stuff starts to pop up.

UPDATE:
 ... and we got a 1500 decal.


 

3 comments:

  1. Nice Video. Thanks for sharing.

    Two very interesting things He says there, 3.5% better fuel efficiency compared to the earlier Non-PIP frames and Range for the 8I being 8200 Miles. Although I'm not sure if these are NM or Statute Miles.

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  2. The 3.5% number is something Boeing talked about when they were delivering the PIP, however most placed didn't report on it because it took into account the overall improvement since the frame's EIS in 2011. They seemed to just focus in on the engine improvement portion of things.

    Here is a blog that I posted on here back in December that had some more detailed notes:

    http://aviationweek.com/blog/first-genx-2b-pip-powered-boeing-747-8-delivered

    The main quote is: “Together with the other improvements made since entry-into-service on the 747-8F at the end of 2011, the engine PIP bundles 1.8% with another 1.7% for a total of 3.5% (fuel burn),” says 747-8 chief project engineer Bruce Dickinson.

    It seems that since that blog post, Boeing has removed another 1000 lbs, as the video talks about current frames being 9000 lbs lighter, and the blog only mentions 8000. I believe their stated goal was to get at least 10,000 lbs out of the frame, and maybe more.

    Regarding the range, the original spec was 8000 nm with the tail tank. With the improvements that have been made aerodynamically and structurally, as well as the increase in MTOW to improve payload/range, the actual number is currently beating spec, as it is 8100+ nm. I believe Boeing wants that number to be greater than 8200 nm, so that they can do what they say in the video, and fly 8200 nm missions no matter the weather or the winds aloft.

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  3. Another good article, with more details and extended text from an Eric Lindbald interview, regarding the design of the 747-8, the market it currently faces, and their plans going forward.

    http://airchive.com/blog/2014/06/26/boeings-747-celebrates-1500-airplanes-as-future-remains-uncertain/

    Airchive also has a detailed photo gallery of D-ABYP and the 747 assembly line on their site.

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