The prototype Boeing 727, N7001U, takes off from Renton Municipal Airport on its first flight, 9 February 1963. (The Museum of Flight)
9 February 1963: Boeing’s Chief Test Pilot, Samuel Lewis (“Lew”) Wallick, Jr., made the first flight of the prototype Boeing Model 727 jet airliner, N7001U (c/n 18293), from Renton Municipal Airport, Renton, Washington. Richards Llewellyn (“Dix”) Loesch, Jr., was the airliner’s co-pilot, and Marvin Keith (“Shuly”) Shulenberger was the flight engineer.
Lew Wallick, Dix Loesch and Shuly Shulenberger in the cockpit of the prototype Boeing 727. (Boeing via Rebecca Wallick’s “Growing Up Boeing”)
The 727 remained airborne for 2 hours, 1 minute, and landed at Paine Field, Everett, Washington.
N7001U had been rolled out at Renton on 27 November 1962. It was painted lemon yellow and copper-brown, similar to the paint scheme of the Model 367-80 prototype, eight years earlier.
The first Boeing 727 is rolled out, 27 November 1962. (Boeing/Aviation Week)
After completing the flight test and certification program, N7001U was delivered to United Air Lines, 6 October 1964. United operated N7001U for 27 years before retiring after 64,495 flight hours, and 48,060 takeoffs and landings.
In 1991, United Air Lines donated the 727 to The Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washington. N7001U has been restored and is currently on display. According to the Museum, United purchased the 727 for $4,400,000, and during its service life, it generated more that $300,000,000 in revenue.
Prototype Boeing 727 airliner, N7001U, during its first flight. (Airline Reporter/Boeing)
N7001U is a Model 727-22, now considered to be a 727-100 series aircraft. The Boeing 727 is a swept-wing, three-engine, medium-range jet airliner intended for operations at smaller airports than could be serviced by the 707. It was operated by a flight crew of three and could carry up to 131 passengers. The airliner was 133 feet, 2 inches (40.589 meters) long with a wingspan of 108 feet (32.918 meters) and overall height of 34 feet, 3 inches (10.439 meters). Empty weight was 87,696 pounds (39.8000 kilograms) and maximum ramp weight was 170,000 pounds (77,200 kilograms).
Three-view illustration of the Boeing 727. (Boeing Images)Boeing 727 N7001U 9 February 1963 (Airline Reporter/Boeing)
Power was supplied by three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-series turbofan engines rated from 14,000 to 14,500 pounds of thrust (62.275–64.499 kilonewtons), depending on the specific version. The JT8D was a two-spool engine with a 2-stage fan section, 13-stage compressor (6 low- and 7 high-pressure stages), nine combustion chambers and a 4-stage turbine (1 high- and 3 low-pressure stages). The JT8D-1 was 3 feet, 6.5 inches (1.080 meters) in diameter, 10 feet, 3.5 inches (3.137 meters) long, and weighed 3,096 pounds (1,404 kilograms). Two of the engines were in nacelles at either side of the aft fuselage, and the third was mounted in the tail. Its intake was above the rear fuselage at the base of the vertical fin.
The prototype Boeing 727 airliner during its first flight. (Airline Reporter/Boeing)
The Boeing 727s were very fast airliners with a maximum speed in level flight of 549 knots (632 miles per hour/1,017 kilometers per hour). The Design Cruise Speed (VC) was 530 knots (610 miles per hour/981 kilometers per hour) at 25,000 feet (0.88 Mach). The airplane was certified with a Maximum Mach Number (MMO) of 0.92 Mach (this was later reduced to 0.90 Mach). (During flight testing, a Boeing 727 achieved 0.965 Mach in level flight.) The airliner’s service ceiling was 37,400 feet (11,400 meters) and the range was 2,600 nautical miles (2,992 statute miles/4,815 kilometers).
Boeing had expected to sell approximately 250 727s. (200 were needed for the manufacturer to cover its costs.) In production from 1962 to 1984, Boeing built 1,832 Model 727s, making it one of the most successful airliners in history.
Prototype Boeing 727 lands at Paine Field, 9 February 1963. (Airline Reporter/Boeing)The flight crew receives congratulations from Henry F. McCullough, Boeing preflight control supervisor, following the first flight of the Boeing 727. (Airline Reporter/Boeing)Restoration of the prototype Boeing 727 nears completion at Paine Field, Everett, Washington. (The Museum of Flight)
James A. Mollison with his de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth, shortly before his transatlantic flight. (NB Museum Archives X8735)
9 April 1933: Jim Mollison flies solo across the South Atlantic Ocean. He left Dakar, Senegal, at 12:15 a.m., 9 February, and arrived at Port Natal, Brazil, at 03:20 GMT, 10 February. Mollison’s airplane was a de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth, G-ABXY, which he had named The Heart’s Content.
Jim Mollison’s de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth, G-ABXY, “The Heart’s Content.”
Port Natal, Brazil (Thursday)
Mr. J. A. Mollison, after a flight of 17½ hours from Dakar, landed here at 3.20 G.M.T. this afternoon. He has completed the flight from Lympne, which he left at 8.12 on Monday, in 82 hours 8 minutes, thus beating the French record by 25 hours 52 minutes. This was the first solo westward flight across the South Atlantic. After he landed Mr. Mollison attended an official reception, at which the Governor of the Province, the Mayor, and a number of military officials were present.
He made a perfect landing in Heart’s Content, and getting out said, “I had good weather most of the way. The South Atlantic is a much simpler task than the North.” Mr. Mollison said his machine averaged 115 miles per hour. He is staying here to-night and flying on to Rio de Janeiro to-morrow.—Reuter
Considerable interest has been taken during the week in the progress of Mr. Jim Mollison (teh husband of Miss Amy Johnson), who left Lympne at 8.12 last Monday morning on an attempt to fly to South America in three and a half days and thus beat the record of 4½ days from France to Brazil, set up by a French monoplane.
At 5.10 on Monday evening he landed at Barcelona. Fog caused him to miss the aerodrome at Barcelona and he went some 40 miles out of his way before finding it. This delayed him about an hour.
If the Spanish Air Force had not put out flares for him it is doubtful whether Mr. Mollison would have been able to land at Barcelona at all.
He left this place at 8.45 the same night and landed at Agadir, Morocco, at 7.20 on Tuesday evening. At 3.15 p.m. on Tuesday he reached Villas Cisneros, and at 8 o’clock on Wednesday morning he was at Thies, Senegal. The distance fro, Lympne to Thies is 2,410 miles, and Mr. Mollison flew there in a few minutes under 48 hours.
At 12.15 a.m. yesterday he left Dakar for Port Natal.
—Devon and Exeter Gazette, Friday, 10 February 1933, Page 20, Column 1
De Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth three-view illustration with dimensions, from NACA Advisory Circular No. 117, THE DE HAVILLAND “MOTH THREE” AIRPLANE (BRITISH)
The de Havilland Aircraft Co., Ltd., DH.80A Puss Moth was a single-engine high-wing monoplane with an enclosed cabin for a pilot and two passengers. It was constructed of a welded tubular steel frame and wood wings covered with doped fabric. The airplane was 25 feet, 0 inches (7.620 meters) long with a wingspan of 36 feet, 9 inches (11.201 meters) and height of 6 feet, 10 inches (2.083 meters). The Puss Moth had an empty weight of 1,150 pounds (522 kilograms) and gross weight of 1,900 pounds (863 kilograms).
G-ABXY was powered by a 373.71-cubic-inch-displacement (6,124 cubic centimeters) air-cooled de Havilland Gipsy Major I inverted, inline 4-cylinder engine with a compression ratio of 5.25:1. It produced 120 horsepower at 2,100 r.p.m and 130 horsepower at 2,350 r.p.m. The engine weighed 306 pounds (138.8 kilograms).
The DH.80A had a cruise speed of 105 miles per hour (169 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 125 miles per hour (201 kilometers per hour). The airplane had a service ceiling of 13,000 feet (4,000 meters). The standard DH.80A had a range of 440 miles (708 kilometers) (with optional tanks, the range was extended to 570 miles or 700 miles).¹
De Havilland built 284 DH.80A Puss Moths between 1929 and 1933. Only eight are known to exist.
G-ABXY was first registered in July 1932. Its Certificate of Registration was number 3816. Flown by Harold Leslie Brook, it was destroyed in a crash near Génolhac, Gard, France, when Brook encountered freezing fog, 28 March 1934. Losing altitude, the airplane crashed on the slope of a mountain. Brook was injured.
¹ Specifications and performance from National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Advisory Circular No. 117, https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19930090394
Second Lieutenant Henry Burnet Post, 25th Infantry Regiment, United States Army. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)
9 February 1914: Second Lieutenant Henry Burnet Post, 25th Infantry Regiment, United States Army, was “Killed in hydroplane No. 10 accident at Signal Corps Aviation School, San Diego, Calif., at 9.35 a.m. Feb. 9, 1914. (in line of duty)”
Lieutenant Post had just returned from 15 days’ compassionate leave (22 January–5 February 1914). His father, Henry Albertson Van Zo Post, had died at the family home in Manhattan, New York City, 25 January 1914.
North Island, looking west, 1914. Coronado is to the left. The body of water between is Spanish Bight. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)
The New York Times reported:
ARMY FLIER KILLED AS MACHINE BREAKS Lieutenant Post Plunges To Death In San Diego Bay Beachley Blames The Government
SAN DIEGO, California – February 9, 1914 – Lieutenant Henry B. Post of the First Aero Corps, considered one of the most skillful United States Army aviators, plunged to his death in San Diego Bay today, when the right wing of his hydro-aeroplane crumpled. Lieutenant Post died after establishing an American altitude record of 12,120 feet. He fell 600 feet into shallow water and was dead when Francis Wildman, another aviator, reached the spot in a flying boat.
Lieutenant Post left the North Island hangars at 8:50 o’clock this morning after having declared his intention of breaking the American altitude record for hydro-aeroplanes. Within an hour he had attained a height of 12,120 feet, the barograph showing this figure when recovered from the wreckage.
A series of wide spirals was a feature of the descent, the machine appearing to be under perfect control. When within 600 feet of the water the plane was seen to collapse, then careen. The next instant the pilot was hurled from his seat and the machine dropped like a bullet. Post fell into five feet of water, the wrecked craft disappearing from sight a few feet away.
Captain Arthur S. Cowen, head of the First Corps, said the machine which Lieutenant Post was piloting was responsible for the accident.
“The man has the natural ability of a born flyer, and it had to take the breakage of his machine to cause his death.,” said Captain Cowen.
“The death of Lieutenant Post only substantiates the charge that I made against the policy of the United State Government last November,” said Lincoln Beachley, aviator, in a telegram received here tonight.
“At that time I blamed Congress for the deaths of the Army and Navy aviators. I do not believe Government aviation would be much better off if the $2,000,000 or $3,000,000 appropriation for the supposed betterment of the flying branch of the services were made. They simply would have a little more machines with which to kill off more officers.
“Within a week that old machine will probably be patched up with a few new wires and some cloth and another aviator will be sent out in it.”
Some time ago Beachley told Secretary Garrison that Army aviators were losing their lives because the equipment supplied to them was old.
Lieutenant Post was 28 years of age. He came here June 28, 1913 from Honolulu where he was attached to the Twenty-fifth Infantry, and became a military aviator November 11. He is survived by his widow and his sister, who came here recently to visit him from their home in Babylon, New York, where his mother also resides. His brother, V. Z. Post, is a novelist. His father died two weeks ago.
The body will be sent to Washington for interment in the Arlington National Cemetery.
The death of Lieutenant Post was the fourteenth aviation fatality to occur in the United States Army and Navy service. Beside the fourteen officers killed, two civilian instructors, Al Welch and Paul Beck, lost their lives while experimenting with Army machines. The first officer killed was Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge on September 17, 1908. He was flying as a passenger with Orville Wright at Fort Myer. Lieutenant Selfridge was the first man to lose his life in an aeroplane accident.
The other officers who lost their lives were: Lieutenant G. E. M. Kelly, on May 10, 1911, at San Antonio; Lieutenant L. W. Hazelhurst, jr., on June 11, 1912, at College Point, Maryland; Lieutenant L. C. Rockwell and Corporal Frank Scott at College Point on September 28, 1912; Lieutenants Rex Chandler and Lewis H. Brereton at North Island on April 8, 1913 [Note: Brereton survived the accident and rose to the rank of lieutenant general.—TDiA]; Lieutenant Joseph D. Park on May 9, 1913 at Los Angeles; Ensign William B. Billingsley on June 30, 1913 while flying over Chesapeake Bay; Lieutenant Loren H. Call on July 8, 1913 at Texas City; Lieutenant Moss L. Love on September 4, 1913 at San Diego; Lieutenant C. Perry Rich on November 14, 1913 when he fell into Manila Bay; and Lieutenant Kelly at San Diego on November 24, 1913.
— The New York Times, 10 February 1914, Page 1.
A Wright Model CH hydro-aeroplane, circa 1913. (Wright Brothers Aeroplane Co.)
Henry Burnet Post was born at Brooklyn, New York, 15 June 1885. He was the last of seven children of Colonel Henry Albertson Van Zo Post, a Civil War veteran, engineer and railroad equipment financier, and Caroline Burnet McLean Post.
Henry Post entered the School of Applied Science at Columbia University as a member of the Class of 1906. He studied mechanical engineering. While at the University, he was a member of the Alpha Chapter of the Delta Psi (ΔΨ) fraternity, and in 1905, was president of the sophomore class. Post was also a member of the Deutscher Verien (the German club). He participated in varsity athletics, playing the position of Left End on the University football team and the Stroke of the Varsity Eight Crew.
Henry Burnet Post married Miss Grace Woodman Phillips at St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church, Manhattan, New York City, New York, 25 January 1907. (Mrs. Post later married Captain Francis Cogswell, U.S. Navy. She was a Foreign Service Officer for the United States government during World War I. During World War II, she served with the Office of Strategic Service (O.S.S.) and later, the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.). She died 21 December 1971.)
On 28 January 1910, Henry Post enlisted as a private in Troop 4, Squadron A, of the New York National Guard. He served with the Guard’s 1st Aero Squadron. On 11 February 1911, Post was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 25th Infantry Regiment, United States Army. Lieutenant Post then attended the School of Musketry at the Presidio of San Francisco in San Francisco, California. He completed the course 6 January 1912.
Lieutenant Post joined Company E, 2nd Battalion, 25th Infantry, at Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, 22 March 1912.
During 1913, Schofield Barracks suffered an epidemic of typhoid fever as a result of a “gross pollution of the water supply.” Lieutenant Post was “sick in quarters (line of duty)”and quarantined from 27 January to 12 February 1913. He then returned to duty with Company E.
On 5 July 1913, Lieutenant Post was detached from Company E to attend the Signal Corps Aviation School, San Diego, on North Island, for training as an airplane pilot.
On 18 December 1913, he flew an airplane to 10,500 feet (3,200 meters). 10 days later, 28 December 1913, Georges Lagagenaux of France set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Altitude at 6,120 meters (20,079 feet).¹
Second Lieutenant Henry Burnet Post, 25th Infantry Regiment, United States Army, died in the line of duty at San Diego, California, 9 February 1914. He was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. Post Field, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, (now, Henry Post Army Airfield) was named in his honor.
A Wright Model C sits on the factory floor at Dayton, Ohio. (Wright Brothers Aeroplane Co.)
The airplane flown by Lieutenant Post during his record-setting flight, and subsequent fatal accident, was a Wright Model CH hydro-aeroplane, Signal Corps serial number S.C. 10. (This was the second S.C. 10. The first, also a Wright Model C, had been destroyed in a crash during acceptance trials at College Park, Maryland, 11 June 1912. Arthur L. Welsh, a Wright Flying School instructor, and 2nd Lieutenant Leighton Wilson Hazelhurst, Jr., were killed.) The U.S. Army Signal Corps had purchased six of these airplanes. The Model C was similar to the earlier Model B, though it had dual flight controls. The wings were shorter and the rudder taller.
Three-view illustration of the Wright Model C.H. Hydro-Aeroplane. (FLIGHT, No. 245 (Vol. V., No. 36), 6 September 1913, Page 979)
The Wright Model CH was 28 feet, 6 inches (8.687 meters) long, with a wingspan of 38 feet, 0 inches (11.582 meters). The upper and lower wings had 5 feet, 0 inches (1.524 meters) vertical separation. The airplane weighed 1,160 pounds (526 kilograms), including the 240 pound (109 kilogram) float.
Three-view illustration of the Wright Model C.H. Hydro-Aeroplane. (FLIGHT, No. 245 (Vol. V., No. 36), 6 September 1913, Page 979)The airplane was powered by a water-cooled, normally-aspirated, 405.891-cubic-inch-displacement (6.651 liters) Wright inline 6-cylinder overhead-valve engine which produced 50–75 horsepower between 1,400–1,560 r.p.m. The Wright “6-60” weighed 305 pounds (138 kilograms).
Two 8 foot, 6 inch (2.591 meter) diameter, two-bladed, fixed-pitch, counter-rotating propellers, driven by a chain drive and turning 525–575 r.p.m., are mounted behind the wings in pusher configuration.
The Model C had a maximum speed of 55 miles per hour (89 kilometers per hour).
A Wright hydro-aeroplane at Texas City, Texas, 1913. (U. S. Air Force)
All six of Signal Corps’ Wright Model C airplanes had crashed and been rebuilt at least once. The airplanes were prone to aerodynamic stall because of the pusher propeller configuration. As the pilot raised the nose, the propellers’ thrust vector accelerated the rate of pitch change. The wings stalled and the nose pitched down. There was insufficient elevator authority to bring the airplane out of the dive.
By the end of 1913, eleven Army pilots had been killed while flying Wright Brothers’ airplanes, five of them were flying the Wright Model C. Lieutenant Henry Burnet Post was the sixth pilot to die while flying the type.
Within a week of Lieutenant Post’s death, the Army grounded all pusher-type airplanes and prohibited their future use. This ended the Wright Brothers’ business with the United States Army.
NASA 911, a modified Boeing 747-146 transport, FAA registration N911NA, one of two NASA Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, makes its final landing at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, 8 February 2012. (NASA)
8 February 2012: End of an era. NASA 911, the Boeing 747-146 that has been used as a space shuttle carrier, made its last flight on Wednesday, 8 February 2012, a 20-minute hop from Edwards Air Force Base to Palmdale Plant 42. In 38 years, this airplane accumulated 33,004.1 flight hours, which is relatively low time for an airliner. It will be cannibalized for parts to keep another NASA 747 flying.
NASA 911 (Boeing serial number 20781) made its first flight 31 August 1973, registered as JA8817, and flew in commercial service with Japan Air Lines for fifteen years. It was obtained by NASA in 1989 and turned over to Boeing for modification as the second Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
Japan Air Lines’ Boeing 747-146 JA8112, sister ship of NASA 911. (Michael Gilliland/Wikimedia)
The 747-146 SR is a short-range, high-capacity airliner variant produced by Boeing for Japan Air Lines. It was strengthened to handle the additional takeoffs and landings of short-duration flights. Additional structural support was built into the fuselage, wings and landing gear, while the fuel capacity was reduced 20% from that of the standard 747-100. Seven were built between 1973 and 1975.
It is 231 feet, 10.2 inches (70.668 meters) long with a wingspan of 195 feet, 8 inches (59.639 meters) and overall height of 63 feet, 5 inches (19.329 meters). Its empty weight is 323,034 pounds (146,526 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight 710,000 pounds (322,050 kilograms).
NASA’s fleet of Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, NASA 905 (foreground) and NASA 911. (NASA)
NASA 911 was equipped with more powerful JT9D-7J engines in place of the standard airplane’s JT9D-7A engines. This increased thrust from 46,950 pounds to 50,000 pounds (222.41 kilonewtons) each. The JT9D-7J is a two-spool, axial-flow turbofan engine with a single stage fan section, 14-stage compressor section and 4-stage turbine. This engine has a maximum diameter of 7 feet, 11.6 inches (2.428 meters), is 12 feet, 10.2 inches (3.917 meters) long and weighs 8,850 pounds (4,014 kilograms).
While carrying a space shuttle, the SCA maximum speed is 0.6 Mach (432 miles per hour, or 695 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling is 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) and its range is 1,150 miles (1,850.75 kilometers).
A NASA Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft takes off from Edwards Air Force Base, California with the Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour. (NASA)
NASA 911 is on display at the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark, Palmdale, California.
The prototype Boeing 747-8F Advanced Freighter takes off for the first time, 8 February 2010. (Unattributed)
8 February 2010: At 12:39 p.m. PST (20:39 UTC), the prototype Boeing 747–8F advanced freighter, N747EX, took off from Paine Field’s Runway 34L. Chief Pilot Mark G. Feuerstein and Senior Engineering Test Pilot Captain Tom Imrich were on the flight deck. The prototype’s call sign was “Boeing 501 Experimental Heavy.”
Almost a completely redesigned airplane, the 747-8F incorporates a stretched fuselage; a more flexible wing with increased span, new airfoils, and raked tips; more powerful and efficient engines; and fly-by-wire systems similar to those of the Boeing 787 airliner. The freighter has two cargo decks and the nose can open for easy access to the cargo bays.
A Canadair CT-33 chase plane flies on the prototype’s wing. (Unattributed)
During the 3 hour, 39 minute flight, N747EX reached an altitude of 17,000 feet (5,182 meters) and a maximum speed of 230 knots (265 miles per hour/426 kilometers per hour). The prototype landed back at PAE at 4:18 p.m. PST (00:18 UTC). Mark Feuerstein said, “The airplane performed as expected and handled just like a 747-400.”
The prototype Boeing 747-8F freighter, N747EX, during its first flight, 8 February 2010. (Boeing)
N747EX was one of three new freighters used during the fourteen month flight test and certification program. Most of these flights took place at Moses Lake, Washington, and Palmdale, California. the three -8Fs flew more than 3,400 hours. The Federal Aviation Administration type certificate was approved 19 August 2011.
“A Boeing Co. 747-8 Freighter, right, comes in for a landing accompanied by an observation plane above a crowd of Boeing workers and other guests after the airplane’s inaugural test flight, Monday, Feb. 8, 2010, in Everett, Wash. (Ted S. Warren/AP Photo via Der Spiegel)”“EVERETT, WA – FEBRUARY 8: A Boeing 747-8 freighter lands after its first test flight February 8, 2009 at Paine Field in Everett, Washington. The 747-8 is the largest jumbo jet Boeing has built. (Stephen Brashear/AFP via Der Spiegel)”“Capt. Mark Feuerstein, right, Boeing Co.’s chief 747 pilot, and first officer Capt. Thomas Imrich exit a Boeing 747-8 Freighter after flying it for the airplane’s inaugural test flight, Monday, Feb. 8, 2010, in Everett, Wash. (Ted S. Warren/AP via Der Spiegel)”
N747EX is designated as a 747–8R7F, serial number 35808. It is a very large, swept wing, commercial cargo transport powered by four engines. The minimum flight crew consists of a pilot and co-pilot, though on long flights there may be six or more pilots aboard. The 747-8F is 250 feet, 2 inches (76.251 meters) long, with a wingspan of 224 feet, 5 inches (68.402 meters), and overall height of 63 feet, 6 inches (19.355 meters). The length is an 18 foot, 4 inch (5.588 meters) stretch over the previous 747-400. The cargo decks have a volume of 30,288 cubic feet (858 cubic meters).
The new freighter has an empty weight of 434,600 pounds (197,131 kilograms). The Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) is 987,000 pounds (447,696 kilograms). The payload is 303,700 pounds (137,756 kilograms).
The nose of the Boeing 747-8F freighter is raised to access the main cargo deck. The lower cargo compartments are accessed through the side of the fuselage. (Boeing)
The –8 is powered by four General Electric GENx-2B67 high bypass turbofans. These are dual-rotor, axial flow engines with a single fan stage; 13-stage compressor section (3 low-pressure and 10 high-pressure stages); and an 8-stage turbine (2 high- and 6 low-pressure stages. The fan has a diameter of 104.7 inches (2.66 meters). Each engine weighs 12,396 pounds (5,623 kilograms) and produces 66,500 pounds of thrust (295.8 kilonewtons).
The cruise speed of the 747-8F is Mach 0.845. Its maximum speed, VMO, is 365 knots (KCAS) (676 kilometers per hour). The maximum Mach number, MMO, is 0.9 Mach. The freighter’s maximum operating altitude is 42,100 feet (12,832 meters).
The airplane has a maximum fuel capacity 63,034 U.S. gallons (238,610 liters), giving it a range of 4,390 nautical miles (5,052 statute miles/8,130 kilometers).
N747EX was de-registered 23 May 2012 and exported to Luxembourg for CargoLux. It was re-registered LX-VCA, and given the name City of Vianden
The prototype Boeing 787-8F in service with Cargolux, now registered LX-VCA. (Nathan Coats/Wikipedia)
The 747 first flew 9 February 1969. As of December 2020, 1,562 have been built. On 12 January 2021, Boeing announced that the final 747s, four Boeing 747-8F freighters, had been ordered by Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. The final Boeing 747, N863GT S/n 67150, line number 1574) was delivered to Atlas Air 31 January 2023. The production of the “jumbo jet” has come to a close.
The last of 1,574 Boeing 747s, 747-8F N863GT, was delivered to Atlas Air 31 January 2023. (Airline Ratings)
