Posted on 08/31/2016 9:19:54 AM PDT by EveningStar
Joe Sutter, who was dubbed “Father of the 747” by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, has died at age 95. As the former chief engineer of Boeing’s 747, Sutter is credited with leading the birth of the first widebody airliner, which ushered in the globe-shrinking age of mass air travel.
(Excerpt) Read more at atwonline.com ...
Kidding. Right?
How about ferrying the shuttle back to Florida after a California landing.
Wow...I have always thought the pilots must feel like they are flying a skyscraper through the sky!
In both the pilot was blond and born on a Tuesday.
It is not nice to make fun of other’s deformities.
Its parents were apparently exposed to too much cosmic radiation from high altitude flight.
Yes I was. Just a little levity to break the monotony.
When you are upstairs you really notice the extra height. Plus it is super quiet..
Well, you’re both right....
The first use of the 747 NASA transporter as part of the early flight testing was to take the Enterprise shuttle to altitude and release it so it could prove out the unpowered glide to landing portion of the shuttle recovery from orbit.
Most of that work was done in the mid 70’s and the 747(s) went on to serve as ferries as BG posted.
Got to help with the installation of ejection seats in the Enterprise before those tests started and the last time I saw Enterprise was in a Toyota commercial when they towed her off to a museum.
Ain’t fer sissies, either!
But the RR engines developed for those models were tested before RR had its own testbed. The original prototype 747 line number 1 was used to test the P&W and RR engines for the 777-200, 777-200ER and 777-300. The engines on the 787 are quite large. The GE GEnx engines developed for the 787 have a larger fan diameter than the ones developed for the 747-8.
Hahaha...I read your post about sitting in front of the nose gear, and I can just imagine, for a split second, that as you taxied into the terminal, it was a “WHOAAAAAAA!” feeling, like you were going to go through the gate or something!
The Iranians own the only 747 tanker in the world...I think that might even be the one before they sold it to them.
Great book! I loved the part about the landing gear, and how he wanted additional backup systems...paid off on one of the first commercial flights, IIRC...
The Shah bought two; one crashed some time after the revolution. The other is still flying, supposedly. That one probably did end up sold to Iran.
That irritates me. WE should have a 747 tanker, not them!
I will say it makes the loudest racket I have eber heard come from a plane.
That last one is called the “DreamLifter”. Saw one flying over Spokane a few years ago.
It would certainly be bigger than the KC-46 (B767 variant) that we do have.
“Wonder if any of my G-Shocks will still be working in 100 years... “
I’d just be happy with a decent toaster that would last 8-10 years.:-)
.
Ever heard the BUFF taking off at full power with water injection?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.