A Brief History: The Boeing 747

Video from the channel The Only Nolan about Boeing 747, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 14:19. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

A brief review of the history of the Boeing 747, from its conception in the 1960s to the closure of its production line, covering its main variants.

Faced with congested airports and the growing demand of the 1960s, Pan Am president Juan Trippe asked Boeing for an aircraft larger and more efficient than any existing one. The project was led by engineer Joe Sutter, with a team nicknamed The Incredibles, who placed the flight deck above the cargo hold—hence the characteristic hump—so the aircraft could also serve as a freighter. Boeing built the largest building in the world by volume in Everett, Washington, and partnered with Pratt & Whitney to develop the JT9D, one of the first high-bypass turbofans. The first aircraft rolled out of the factory on September 30, 1968, and flew on February 9, 1969, from Paine Field. Pan Am put it into service on January 22, 1970, between New York and London, though an engine problem forced a change of aircraft.

The video covers the 747-200 (1971), with engines from Pratt & Whitney, General Electric or Rolls-Royce, and the 747-200F freighter with a nose door; the 747SP (1976), shortened for ultra-long range, with more than 6,000 nautical miles of range and 45 units built; the 747-300 (1983), with an extended fuselage; the 747-400 (1989), with a glass cockpit without a flight engineer and with winglets; and the 747-8 (2012), 250 feet long. It ends with the gradual retirement in favor of twin-engine jets like the 787 and A350, and the closure of the production line in 2023.