Airliner · Civil · United States
Boeing 247
- February 8, 1933
- First flight
- 1933
- Introduced
- In service
- Status
- 75
- Units built
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First flown on February 8, 1933, the Boeing 247 is regarded as the first modern airliner: an all-metal monoplane with retractable landing gear, an autopilot and de-icing equipment. Only 75 were built, because its very success drove the competition to Douglas and the lineage that produced the DC-3.
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History
When the Boeing 247 flew on February 8, 1933, it brought together for the first time in a commercial aircraft the traits that would define the modern airliner: all-metal semimonocoque construction, a low wing, retractable landing gear, an autopilot and de-icing equipment. Carrying 10 passengers, it could cross the United States from east to west eight hours faster than predecessors such as the Ford Trimotor. It entered service on May 22, 1933 with Boeing Air Transport, William Boeing's airline, which took 60 of them.
That very exclusivity sealed its commercial fate. When TWA tried to buy the 247, Boeing's conglomerate declined the order, and TWA president Jack Frye turned to Douglas: from that commission came the DC-1 and, with it, the family that would culminate in the DC-3, which left the 247 technically outclassed within a few years. Only 75 were ever built.
Even so, the 247 led a varied life: it flew the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race from England to Australia with an aircraft leased from United that later returned to regular airline service until 1937, and during the Second World War a number served under the military designation C-73. Its legacy lies not in the numbers built but in setting the formula every airliner afterwards would follow.
Variants
| Model 247 | 247A | 247D | 247E | 247Y | C-73 | Model 280 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First flight | February 8, 1933 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Aircraft type | Pioneering airliner | Pioneering airliner | Pioneering airliner | Flying testbed | Armed airliner | Military transport | Proposed airliner |
| Powerplant | 2 × Pratt & Whitney Wasp S1D1 radials of 410 kW (550 hp) each, with Townend speed-ring cowlings and fixed-pitch propellers. | 2 × Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp Junior radials of 466 kW (625 hp) each, with variable-pitch propellers. | 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340 S1H1-G Wasp nine-cylinder air-cooled radials rated at 410 kW (550 hp) each, with NACA cowlings and two-blade Hamilton Standard variable-pitch propellers, worth some 11 km/h over the fixed-pitch propellers of the early 247. | 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp radials; the aircraft served Pratt & Whitney for powerplant trials and tested the improvements later adopted by the 247D. | 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340 S1H1-G Wasp radials of 410 kW (550 hp) each, as on the 247D it derives from. | 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340 S1H1-G Wasp radials of 410 kW (550 hp) each, unchanged from the civil 247D. | 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radials of 522 kW (700 hp) each, proposed to recover performance at a higher weight. |
| Powerplant | 2 × Pratt & Whitney Wasp S1D1 | 2 × Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp Junior | 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340 S1H1-G Wasp | 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp | 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340 S1H1-G Wasp | 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340 S1H1-G Wasp | 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet |
| Power per engine | 550 hp | 625 hp | 550 hp | — | 550 hp | 550 hp | 700 hp Best value in this row |
| Length | — | — | 15.7 m | — | — | — | — |
| Wingspan | — | — | 22.6 m | — | — | — | — |
| Height | — | — | 3.7 m | — | — | — | — |
| Wing area | — | — | 77.7 m² | — | — | — | — |
| Empty weight | — | — | 4,046 kg | — | — | — | — |
| MTOW | — | — | 6,192 kg | — | — | — | — |
| Top speed | — | — | 322 km/h | — | — | — | — |
| Max speed altitude | — | — | 2,000 m | — | — | — | — |
| Cruise speed | — | — | 304 km/h | — | — | — | — |
| Cruise altitude | — | — | 3,658 m | — | — | — | — |
| Service ceiling | — | — | 7,700 m | — | — | — | — |
| Initial climb rate | — | — | 5.8 m/s | — | — | — | — |
| Range | — | — | 1,199 km | — | — | — | — |
| Combat radius | 0 km Best value in this row | 0 km Best value in this row | 0 km Best value in this row | 0 km Best value in this row | — | 0 km Best value in this row | 0 km Best value in this row |
| Range conditions | Performance below that of the 247D because of the speed-ring cowling and the fixed-pitch propeller. | More powerful engines than the standard 247; no separate published range figures. | Range of 1,199 km with a cruising speed of 304 km/h at 3,658 m and a service ceiling of 7,700 m. | No published performance of its own: configuration changed with each test. | Performance equivalent to the 247D apart from the penalty of the armament. | Range and ceiling identical to those of the 247D it comes from. | No published performance: the project never left the drawing board. |
| Armament | None | None | None | None | Two machine guns in the nose; Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's aircraft also carried a flexibly mounted 12.7 mm Colt. | None | None |
| Max weapons load | 0 kg Best value in this row | 0 kg Best value in this row | 0 kg Best value in this row | 0 kg Best value in this row | — | 0 kg Best value in this row | 0 kg Best value in this row |
| Payload | — | — | 1,180 kg | — | — | — | — |
| Cargo capacity | Ten seats and a crew of three. Initial production version, the prototype flying on 8 February 1933. | Ten seats. Special order placed by Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1934. | Ten passengers in individual seats and a crew of three (two pilots and a flight attendant), plus baggage and mail; useful payload of about 1,180 kg. | One of the early 247s, diverted from the United Air Lines order for test work. | Modified 247D: one aircraft for China and a second kept for trials. | Twenty-seven 247Ds impressed by the USAAF in the Second World War for liaison and training duties, keeping the original ten seats. | Fourteen seats against the ten of the 247. A proposed development that was never built. |
| Crew | 3 Best value in this row | 3 Best value in this row | 3 Best value in this row | 3 Best value in this row | 3 Best value in this row | 3 Best value in this row | — |
| Passengers | 10 | 10 | 10 | — | — | 10 | 14 Best value in this row |
| Units built | — | — | 14 | 1 | 2 | 27 Best value in this row | — |
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