Boeing 747 400 - two-deck transcontinental liner

Jumbo jet, a giant reactant, is the name of this aircraft all over the world. It is indeed very large, this quality is both a virtue and a disadvantage.

In 1970, when the 747 was introduced to the leading airlines, many carriers doubted that the funds invested in its purchase would pay off. At first, these fears were justified, the fuel crisis of the seventies led to a sharp decrease in the intensity of air transport. However, Boeing is for that and Boeing, to withstand the challenges of market conditions.

In the class of passenger airliners designed for long-distance flights with a large number of people on board, this plane was unrivaled, so the refusal of a number of airlines to operate it did not cause panic among one of the world's leading aircraft manufacturers, but only made them think about improving their car . In the fall of 1984, the development of the modification 747-300 began, and in the spring of 1985, it was launched as a series of "Boeing 747 400". In fact, it was already a new plane, although with a prototype he had a lot in common, in particular, the external appearance.

The Boeing 747 400 remains the same. A two-deck arrangement with a high-placed pilot cabin, four engines on the pylons under the wing, each of which is more powerful than all the engines of the 707th Boeing combined, enormous carrying capacity and capacity combined with high speed - here is a brief description of the updated "Jambo Jet". The number of passengers he can translate at one time is comparable to the number of tourists on an ocean cruise liner. So, in 1991, Boeing 747 400 Israeli airline El Al delivered to its historical homeland over 1100 returnees from Ethiopia. In normal mode, the number of passengers carried with luggage reaches five hundred.

The modified design uses new alloys, the technologies of which were developed for the aircraft of the later 757th and 767th series, as a result of which the glider became lighter by almost three tons. The consoles of a 3.7-meter-long wing were equipped with vertical endings of 180 cm height, which improved the stability of the liner when making maneuvers.

The comfort of passengers on board the Boeing 747 is increased. The salon photo shows the presence of individual entertainment complexes, monitors of which are mounted in the seats, even in the second class.

Avionics became completely digital, which allowed to reduce the number of crew members to two, eliminating the flight engineer.

The work to further increase passenger capacity and carrying capacity, planned by the company's management and engineers, is currently frozen, as in recent years the sales volumes of the liner have decreased. In total, over 1,400 airliners of this type were manufactured. The Boeing 747 400, operated since 1989, makes about one third of the world aircraft fleet of this series.

Such an expensive plane can afford to buy only the largest airlines in the world, such as KLM, PanAm, Katai, Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa and other equally famous carriers. In Russia, the operators of this liner are Transaero and Air Bridge Cargo.