![]() Airline orders were slowing and costs for the 747 and the supersonic jet, which the company would abandon in 1971, were soaring.Įven as parts of the wing were being made, testing revealed that the load on the outside of the wing was greater than its structure could support. Over the years, as engineers and designers worked on the plane, Boeing’s financial situation dimmed. To make that possible, they placed the flight deck above the main cabin, rather than at the front of the plane, creating the 747’s unusual hump. ![]() The designers wanted the nose to lift up so cargo could be loaded more easily. But even then, many people within Boeing were expecting the 747 to soon be supplanted by a supersonic jet the company was developing.Īs a result, and to justify their investment, Boeing and Pan Am decided that the plane should be designed with passengers and freight in mind, a choice that would be crucial to its success and determine its unique shape. The 747’s long life is remarkable partly because its start was so uncertain.īoeing began designing the airplane in the mid-1960s at the request of Pan American World Airways, a leading airline that filed for bankruptcy protection in 1991. On Tuesday, it will be handed over to Atlas Air Worldwide, a cargo and passenger airline that will use it to haul goods. The plane and its systems continued to be evaluated. Outside, fuel systems and other features were checked and the plane embarked on a test flight, landing in Portland, Oregon, for a paint job before flying back. Finally, the airplane was rolled out of the factory, through bay doors several stories high that could accommodate the airplane’s 225-foot wingspan. Near the end of assembly, the engines were added. All of the airplane’s systems were tested. Soon after, flooring, lighting, walls, parts of the flight deck and other interior fixtures were installed. “And you have a very clear path of what lies ahead.” “If you’ve done that, there are many, many important steps behind you already,” Kopecki said. Then, the plane was lowered from its supports and allowed to stand on its own, a major milestone. “That’s the place where the airplane actually finally becomes an airplane,” Kopecki said.Īfter the body sections were attached, the landing gear was installed and 14,000-pound counterweights were hung from the wings. Then, the front and back sections were lifted and moved into place on either side. Next, the middle section of the fuselage was lowered and attached to the wings. There, they were attached to either side of a stub known as the center wing box. Once the wings were ready, they were hoisted several stories high by a crane and moved into a bay sandwiched between where the wings and fuselage were built. In another bay, they build sections of the body, or fuselage, and then added wiring, plumbing and hydraulics, said Steve Kopecki, director of manufacturing for the 747. In one bay of the factory, workers constructed the wings, starting with the spars that serve as the backbones and then added parts called the ribs and skin. Production of the last 747 started in September and was typical of how its predecessors were made. Often under bright, white lights and supported by lifts, rolling staircases and other structures, they install, arrange, assemble and test the guts and shell of the plane. Seen from a distance, the specialists working on exposed sections of a 747 appear tiny, like miniature surgeons operating on parts of a blue whale. ![]() The plant has been used to make other planes, but it has remained home to the 747 down to the final one: No. That plant, generally regarded as the world’s largest building by volume, was built for the 747 in the 1960s. But the final, awe-inspiring work of assembling them into an airplane was completed at a factory in Everett, Washington. The 747 is composed of about 6 million parts produced all over the world.
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