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Functional laser weapons are just five years away. Advocates hope that won’t always be the case. The Air Force has been working on airborne laser weapons for more than 40 years, but a fielded system remains elusive. Experts also warn that the US does not enjoy a commanding lead in laser research. And the Air Force’s flagship laser weapon program, the Airborne Laser (later called the Airborne Laser Testbed) was terminated late last year and is now being dismantled. Still, service and industry experts predict there is plenty of reason for realistic optimism. Operational laser systems that can perform a...

The Pentagon has mothballed a laser-equipped jumbo jet after 15 years and $5 billion worth of research to develop an airborne missile defense system. Budget cuts shot down the Airborne Laser Test Bed but some research into anti-missile lasers will continue, according to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. "We didn't have the funding to continue flying the aircraft," agency spokeswoman Debra Christman told the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/xEnw3z ). The plane, a Boeing 747 mounted with a high-energy chemical laser, has been sent into storage at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, the agency said. The base near Tucson, Ariz., serves...

A Jumbo jet, with 286 passengers on board, had a terrifying near miss when it was forced to screech to a halt to avoid colliding with another plane that had turned into its path. The Lufthansa Boeing 747 was accelerating along a runway as it prepared to take off at Kennedy Airport, New York, when it narrowly avoided slamming into an EgyptAir Boeing 777.

'Doomsday Plane' Would Save President and Joint Chiefs in Apocalypse Scenario By MICHAEL MURRAY June 7, 2011 In the event of nuclear war, a powerful meteor strike or even a zombie apocalypse, the thoroughly protected doomsday plane is ready to keep the president, secretary of defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff and other key personnel in the air and out of danger. It may not deflect a Twitter photo scandal, but it can outrun a nuclear explosion and stay in the air for days without refueling. The flight team for the E-4B, its military codename, sleeps nearby and is ready to...

United Airlines released the first pictures Thursday of its largest jet, the Boeing 747-400, repainted with the new logo and color scheme adopted by the Chicago-based carrier as part of its 2010 merger with Continental Airlines.

Boeing rolled out a new bigger jumbo jet on Sunday almost 42 years to the day since the 747 changed the face of the travel industry. The 747-8 carries 467 passengers, 51 more than the current 747 range, burns less fuel, has new wings, tail and engines, is more comfortable and is 19 feet longer, says Boeing. Airlines have given a cool reception to the new plane with Boeing so far picking up only 33 orders from two airlines, Lufthansa and Korean Air Lines. The first plane off the production line will go to a VIP customer later this year....

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The Boeing Phantom Ray unmanned airborne system sits atop a NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a modified Boeing 747, as it takes off at 1:40 p.m. Central time for today's test flight at Lambert International Airport. The 50-minute flight was conducted in preparation for Phantom Ray's upcoming transport on the SCA to the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. "This is exciting not just because it's the first time that an aircraft other than the space shuttle has flown on the SCA, but also because it puts Phantom Ray that much closer to making its first...

United Airlines 747 flies low over the Golden Gate Bridge

The airplane starts accelerating down the runway. In the flight deck, Captain Paul Stemer feels the weight of the situation. "It's a lot of mass, a lot of energy. I have to stay ahead of it." It's up to Capt. Stemer to command RC521, the second 747-8 Freighter, into defying gravity and lifting more than 1 million pounds into the air. It's a feat neither he nor any Boeing Flight Test pilot before him has ever attempted. While the airplane gathers speed, 100 knots, 120, 140, now 160 knots, the amount of available runway quickly evaporates. RC521 still needs to...

The Pentagon’s Airborne Laser (ABL) is being prepared for a late July test in which it will attempt to shoot down an ascending target missile from twice the distance of the aircraft’s previous intercept tests, the program’s top official said. Originally conceived as an operational military system that would use a high-power chemical laser to destroy ballistic missiles in the early stages of flight, the ABL platform — only one has been built — has been relegated to the role of technology test-bed. The program is funded by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) through September, but its future is...

A British aircraft broker (Balli Aviation Ltd.) was recently fined $17 million dollars, and put on probation for five years, for illegally exporting three Boeing 747s to Iran two years ago. The broker pled guilty and cooperated with the investigation. Iran has eight Boeing 747s, and they cannot be exported to Iran without a U.S. government permit. The U.S. refuses to provide these permits, so Iran obtains these aircraft via fraud and companies that are willing to risk prosecution. The Boeing and AirBus aircraft obtained this way have to be maintained by Iran, using smuggled parts. As a result, some...

The ABL did everything it was supposed to do. Now, the Pentagon wants to call it quits. On the night of Feb. 11, off the coast of Southern California, the Missile Defense Agency scored a major achievement by destroying a liquid-fueled ballistic missile target in flight. The important part was that it did so using a laser weapon carried onboard a Boeing 747-400 aircraft. This milestone event constituted the first publicly announced test success for the Airborne Laser (ABL). However, the success was actually the second of its kind within an eight-day period. On Feb. 3, the ABL aircraft was...

Many things remain murky about the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory’s sponsorship of an effort starting in 1980 to study the possibility of launching a spaceplane off the back of a 747. AFRPL was located at Edwards Air Force Base and in early December of that year, an AFRPL engineer named Don Hart produced a several page description of what such a vehicle might look like and might be capable of doing. (See: “Fire in the sky: the Air Launched Sortie Vehicle of the early 1980s (part 1)”, The Space Review, February 22, 2010) Very quickly at least one contractor...

Sometime in the last three weeks a 747 departed Johannesburg, South Africa for Maputo, Mozambique with an camera strapped to the nose landing gear looking aft along the fuselage. The result is a stunning piece of HD video taken over African skies. (music leaves something to be desired)

The Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) faces an uncertain future as both a research project and an operational system even after its 1MW-class chemical laser successfully - and historically - destroyed a ballistic missile off the California coast on 11 February. The long-awaited intercept test proved that the modified Boeing 747-400F's key technology - a chemical oxygen iodine laser (Coil) invented by US Air Force researchers in 1977 - is a lethal weapon against ballistic missiles. A week before the ballistic intercept, the ALTB shot down a Terrier Black Brant, a two-stage sounding rocket that presents faster and smaller target to...

A high-energy laser mounted on a US military aircraft has shot down a ballistic missile in the first successful test of the weapon, the US Missile Defense Agency said on Friday. The experiment -- evoking a scene out of a science fiction film -- was carried out off the central California coast at Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center at 8:44 pm Thursday Pacific time (0444 GMT), the agency said in a statement. "The Missile Defense Agency demonstrated the potential use of directed energy to defend against ballistic missiles when the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) successfully destroyed a boosting ballistic...

– Boeing Co.'s giant 747-8 freighter — the biggest plane the company has ever built — successfully completed its first flight Monday, a year later than originally planned. The huge plane took off from Everett's Paine Field shortly after noon and returned to Paine at 4:18 p.m. PST after an approximately 3 1/2-hour flight. A crowd Boeing estimated at more than 5,000 employees, customers, suppliers and other airplane fans gathered to watch the plane take to the air. The flight came just one day short of the 41st anniversary of the first flight of the original 747 model. At 250...

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the entry into service of the 747-100 with Pan Am in January 1970, Max Kingsley-Jones and I have authored a package of features commemorating the event. During my visit to Seattle in December for 787 First Flight, I had an opportunity to sit down with Joe Sutter, who served as chief engineer for the 747 program . . . . .

Mr. Toth's First-Class Obsession Recreates Defunct Airline's Cabin (Spiral Stairs, Too) Fliers nostalgic for the golden era of air travel might want to book a trip to Anthony Toth's garage. Mr. Toth has built a precise replica of a first-class cabin from a Pan Am World Airways 747 in the garage of his two-bedroom condo in Redondo Beach, Calif. The setup includes almost everything fliers in the late 1970s and 1980s would have found onboard: pairs of red-and-blue reclining seats, original overhead luggage bins and a curved, red-carpeted staircase. Once comfortably ensconced, Mr. Toth's visitors can sip beverages from the...

Boeing will take a $1 billion charge to its third-quarter earnings to reflect growing production costs and slow demand for the new version of its 747 jumbo jet. The company said this morning that the 747-8 program is in a loss position, meaning Boeing currently projects it will lose money on the plane. Boeing said it now expects the first flight of the 747-8 Freighter to occur by early next year with the flight test program taking place in 2010. As recently as last month, the program's top executive had indicated he expected the first test plane to fly in...

For the third time in the last decade, the U.S. Air Force is looking at using commercial aircraft as bombers. This time around, it's mainly a matter of cost, with the next generation heavy bomber likely to cost over a billion dollars each, and only carry 30 tons of bombs or missiles. The idea of militarizing 747s first started gaining traction three decades ago, as cruise missiles showed up and many air force analysts did the math and realized that it would be a lot cheaper to launch these missiles from a militarized Boeing 747. The freighter version of the...

PHOENIX - Hundreds of passengers aboard a British Airways Boeing 747 preparing to depart for London from the Phoenix airport were forced to use slides to evacuate the jet on Friday night after fumes filled the cabin. No serious injuries were reported among the 298 passengers and 18 crew when the incident occurred at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at about 8 p.m. Arizona time (11 p.m. EDT), Phoenix Fire Department Capt. Shelly Jamison said. About 15 people who were on board Flight 288 were evaluated for minor scrapes and bruises, but only one person was taken to a hospital...

Jumbo jet packed with British tourists seconds from disaster after it fails to rise on take-off By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 01st June 2009 Hundreds of passengers narrowly avoided disaster when their plane nearly crashed after taking off. The British Airways plane shook violently and did not rise more than 30ft above the ground as it set off from Johannesburg to London. The pilot has been praised for his quick actions in keeping the Boeing 747 in the air, saving the lives of the 256 passengers on board. Miraculous escape: The British Airways Boeing 747, similar to this one, is thought...

LOS ANGELES — Aviation authorities say a baggage cart was drawn into an engine of a Boeing 747 as it was leaving a terminal gate at Los Angeles International Airport. .. .. a baggage cart was being towed by at the same time and the engine ingested one of the containers. The object was lodged in the outer left-side engine of the four-engine jet.

It has been 25 years since Korean Airlines Flight 007, carrying 269 passengers and crew, including Congressman Larry McDonald of Georgia, was fired on by a Soviet fighter jet off the coast of Siberia. At the time, McDonald was chairman of the John Birch Society (a subsidiary of which publishes THE NEW AMERICAN). Although several speakers eulogized McDonald at a Washington, D.C., memorial service 10 days following the September 1, 1983 attack, the words most remembered by both this magazine’s editor, Gary Benoit, and this writer were delivered by the late Senator Jesse Helms, who passed away on July 4....

A Qantas Boeing 747 was forced to make an emergency landing at Manila Airport on Friday after a midair incident. CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau would be focusing on whether an onboard oxygen tank had exploded, ripping a hole in the plane's fuselage. -snip- He confirmed an oxygen cylinder was missing from the plane and this would be a key focus of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's(ATSB) investigation into what happened.

MANILA, Philippines — A Qantas flight en route to Australia from London made an emergency stop in Manila on Friday after a loud bang punched a hole in the Boeing 747-400's fuselage, officials and passengers said.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - An American Kalitta Air cargo plane slid off the runway at Brussels's Zaventem airport on Sunday and broke in two but there were no casualties, the fire brigade spokesman said. The Boeing aircraft's five crew all escaped through an inflatable emergency slide, spokesman Francis Boileau said. Four of them had minor injuries. Boileau did not know if the accident happened during take off or landing, but said that apart from its cargo of cars and equipment, the jet was full of fuel. He said the plane came to a halt some 200 metres (650 feet) from the...

Air India Starts Talks With Boeing, Airbus; Eyes A380-Sources September 21, 2007: 01:52 AM EST NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- State-owned Air India has begun talks with Boeing Co. (BA) and Airbus to buy new planes including the A380 superjumbo, people familiar with the development said Friday. In July, Air India said it plans to buy about 60 new passenger jetliners over the next few years and aims to start the selection and purchase process by mid- August. "The airline is in touch with both Boeing and Airbus on the types of aircraft available and what will be required in the...

Italian police have arrested three Moroccan terror suspects and are charging them with running a "terror school" inside a mosque in central Italy. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the police report which stated that "in between daily prayers, the small mosque doubled as a training camp." Among the items that police seized during the mosque raid were several barrels of chemicals and an instruction manual on how to pilot a Boeing 747 airplane. From CNN:(snip)

Rather than commit to the troubled A380, there is growing speculation BA will sign up as a launch customer for Boeing's proposed 747-8, a stretched version of the original jumbo jet and capable of carrying 475 passengers.

Geneva: Boeing Business Jets has unveiled design concepts for the 747-8 VIP airplane, which is based on the new, technologically advanced Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. The company's concept renderings, which debuted at the European Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition in Geneva, include opulent features such as vaulted ceilings, spiral staircases and video wall displays. "With more than 5,000 square feet of cabin space, the new 747-8 VIP jet epitomizes incomparable luxury and operational flexibility," said Steven Hill, president of Boeing Business Jets. "The 747-8 VIP builds on the proud legacy of the 747 and incorporates the advanced technology of the 787...

Fox news Alert: Emergency vehicles on tarmac waiting for 747 with an engine out at Dulles Int'l airport. Developing...

A modified 747 airliner designed to carry an infrared telescope took its first flight Thursday, one of several checkout flights planned before it makes its way to a new home at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, consists of a 2½-meter in diameter infrared telescope mounted inside the 747 airliner, chosen for its ability to house the 45,000-pound telescope. The long-range airliner is capable of remaining airborne for six hours at altitudes higher than 41,000 feet, above much of the atmospheric water vapor. SOFIA will be used to...

International Project Features 20-ton, German Telescope on NASA 747 Aircraft New York, NY – L-3 Communications announced today that NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), completed its first test flight following extensive aircraft modification and telescope integration at the company's L-3 Integrated Systems (L-3 IS) Waco, Texas facility. SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP extensively modified to carry a 45,000-pound (20 metric ton), 98.4-inch (2.5-meter) diameter infrared telescope assembly provided by the German Aerospace Center, DLR. SOFIA will fly at altitudes up to 45,000 feet (13.7 km) - above more than 99 percent of the Earth's water vapor -...

It was 1969 and the airplane designers having lunch in the conference room of Pan American World Airways were standing by the window overlooking New York's Park Avenue when Charles Lindbergh came over. The famous aviator was a consultant to the airline at the time and he had something to say about the 747 Joe Sutter and his team at Boeing were creating for Pan Am. " 'This is one of the great ones.' " Sutter recounted Lindbergh saying, "I mean the 747, this is an airplane that will go down in history." Thirty-eight years later, as hundreds of...

Aircastle, the only listed aircraft leasing group, yesterday announced plans to buy 38 aircraft from a Chicago-based investment group for $1.6bn, in a move which highlights the improving prospects of the cargomarket. The portfolio includes 12 Boeing 747-400 freighters, the largest commercial cargo aircraft, with UPS expected to confirm this week that it has cancelled the sole remaining order for the Airbus A380F. The proposed deal will almost double the size of Connecticut-based Aircastle, which was floated last year by Fortress, the private equity group. The company is buying the 12 cargo aircraft and 26 passenger aircraft fromGuggenheim Aviation...

1970: Heathrow welcomes first 'jumbo jet' The first jumbo jet carrying fare-paying passengers has arrived at Heathrow airport. The newly-constructed Boeing 747, Pan Am Flight Two, touched down at Heathrow at 1414GMT today - seven hours late due to technical problems. The jumbo had brought 324 passengers across the Atlantic from New York to London. But the return journey to New York did not run so smoothly. Thirty-six of the 153 passengers transferred to other flights after a faulty compressed air bottle, used to blow open the plane's door in an emergency, meant take-off was delayed for four-and-a-half hours...

SEATTLE, Jan. 18, 2007 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today unveiled a life-size sales display of the interior for the new 747-8 Intercontinental. The two-story display showcases the dramatic interior architecture of the 747-8. The 747-8 applies interior features from the 787 Dreamliner that includes a new curved, upswept architecture giving passengers a greater feeling of space and comfort, while adding more room for personal belongings. The interior architecture is accentuated by new lighting technology that creates a perception of airy brightness and provides smooth lighting transitions to offer a more restful environment. In addition, the 747-8 integrates features...

After air traffic fell sharply following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, the Boeing 747, that humpbacked icon of the skies, appeared to have run out of lives. snip. . . "The 747 has turned into the Energizer bunny of airplanes," said Byron Callan, an aviation analyst with Prudential Equities Securities.

Report: Lufthansa plans big 747 order Tuesday December 5, 1:38 pm ET German airline Lufthansa AG plans to order at least 20 of Boeing's new 747-8 jumbo airplanes and take options for 20 additional planes, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal Web site. The online report said the 20 firm orders, valued at $5 billion at list prices, came at the expense of Chicago-based Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA - News) rival Airbus and its competing A380 jumbo aircraft. Boeing has received orders for its new 747-8 freighter model but the Lufthansa order would be the first order...

EVERETT, Wash, Oct. 23, 2006 -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) opened and closed the swing tail for the 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter for the first time Oct. 10. The 747 LCF is currently at the Boeing Everett factory for tests on the swing tail, a major modification to the airplane that allows large pieces to be loaded and unloaded from the back of the airplane. These tests are the first time the LCF swing tail has opened. Since its first flight, the 747 LCF has accomplished 55 flight-test hours and 270 hours of ground tests. The 747 LCF will transport major...

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 17, 2006 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] Business Jets today announced it has won seven orders for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 747-8. Undisclosed customers have ordered one 787-8, three 787-9 and three 747-8 airplanes specifically designated for the VIP market. These orders are already reflected on Boeing's Orders and Deliveries website. Boeing does not reveal the identity of private owners at the request of its customers. "Boeing has a long legacy of providing jets to the VIP market," said Steven Hill, Boeing Business Jets President. "Boeing airplanes are renowned for their high reliability, comfort and advanced technology,...

SEATTLE, Sept. 12, 2006 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings today announced the carrier has ordered 12 747-8 Freighters, making Atlas the North American launch customer for the airplane. At list prices, the order is valued at about $3.4 billion. Atlas will begin taking delivery of the airplanes in 2010 and expects all 12 aircraft to be in service by the end of 2011. "With this order, Atlas Air remains the leader in providing the capacity and operational flexibility required by our air cargo customers using the state-of-the art freighter platform," said William J. Flynn,...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co. could twist the knife into struggling European rival Airbus next week. The U.S. planemaker is set to dominate Britain's Farnborough air show with a stream of new orders for its 787 Dreamliner and other jets, which are already outselling its main competitor four-to-one. The timing could not be worse for Airbus, whose five-year reign as the world's leading commercial jet builder looks likely to end after slow sales of its delayed A380 superjumbo and indecision over its mid-sized A350. "Boeing's spent the last few Farnborough and Paris airshows getting away from the whole...

TEHRAN, July 09 (ISNA)-Iran has successfully overhauled five 747 Bowings. This is while before this, Iranian airlines had to send their planes to foreign companies, but today Iran has gained the ability to carryout this service with much lower expenses. "Of course we can not deny the negative effects of the placed airplane part sanctions, but we have removed many of the obstacles through the aid of airlines," said the executing company's manager.

ST. LOUIS, June 26, 2006 -- A Boeing-led [NYSE: BA] industry team and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) took a major step toward demonstrating the capability of the Airborne Laser (ABL) by successfully firing surrogate lasers from inside the aircraft. During recent ground tests at Boeing facilities in Wichita, Kan., the team placed the lasers in the ABL aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-400F, and fired them repeatedly into a measuring device called a range simulator. The tests verified that the ABL team properly aligned the optical beam train, a series of optical components, steering and deformable mirrors, and sensors...

Boeing considers lengthening 747-8I By Andrew Doyle in London Boeing is studying the possibility of lengthening its 747-8 Intercontinental passenger aircraft in response to requests from some airlines for additional capacity. Interest is coming primarily from Asian carriers that are also evaluating the Airbus A380, which nominally seats 555 passengers in three classes, compared with 450 for the 747-8I, say industry sources. Commenting on the potential for increasing the -8I’s capacity, Boeing says: “We are having detailed discussions in terms of both the aircraft and the potential business deal, with a lot of the large global operators around the world...

Dusseldorf, Germany - European plane-maker Airbus has suffered a setback in sales of the cargo version of its giant A380 plane, with the airline Emirates dropping two from its order, a German magazine said on Friday. In Paris, Airbus confirmed the Dubai-based airline had cancelled orders for two such A380F jets, but said Emirates had ordered two passenger versions of the huge double-deck aircraft instead. Airbus said this meant Emirates, the biggest customer for the huge jet, would still be buying 45 of the new planes. The magazine, Wirtschaftswoche, quoted the European manager of Emirates, Keith Longstaff, as saying...