Boeing 747-8 - Ein Jumbo-Jet hebt ab | Doku

Video from the channel WELT Nachrichtensender about Boeing 747, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 46:57. Language: German. Video type: Documentary.

Report from the German channel WELT (formerly N24) following the delivery to Lufthansa of the first passenger-version Boeing 747-8: the inspection at Boeing's Seattle plant, the technical acceptance, the final payment and the delivery flight to Frankfurt on 1–2 May 2012, with Captain Uwe Strohdeicher at the controls.

The report presents the 747-8 as Boeing's answer to the Airbus A380 in the large-capacity aircraft market: it carries fewer passengers than the A380, but uses less fuel per passenger. It recalls that the first 747 flew in 1969, that Pan Am and Japanese airlines were its first major customers, and that the freighter version succeeded thanks to its hinged nose. The nickname "jumbo", initially derogatory, ended up as an affectionate moniker. The last major change had been the 747-400, developed in the mid-1980s. According to the report, the new wings and engines make the -8 a 70% new aircraft, although pilots can fly both the -400 and the -8 under the same licence after a differences course.

Certification required around 1,200 test flights: a take-off at about 445 tonnes, trials on a flooded runway, a minimum-speed take-off with the tail scraping the ground, and parabolic flights. Lufthansa, launch customer for the passenger version, wanted to receive 20 units.

At 76.3 metres, the 747-8 is presented as the longest passenger aircraft in the world. Lufthansa's version seats 376 passengers (8 in first class, 92 in business and 276 in economy), though it can hold up to 600. Its list price is 317 million dollars, and painting it costs around 500,000 dollars and 450 kilograms of paint. Lufthansa's engineers marked more than a thousand defects with red tape, and those not fixed were deducted from the price. According to the report, it emits 15% less than other large-capacity aircraft and uses 20% less fuel than its predecessor. The delivery flight took off at about 290 km/h, climbed to 37,000 feet with 113 tonnes of kerosene, and covered 8,180 km in eleven hours. Lacking adapted trolleys and trays, the cabin crew had to improvise the service. The aircraft landed in Frankfurt on 2 May at 7:50, where more than 1,500 journalists and guests awaited it in hangar 5.