In the United States, the production of the iconic passenger liner has been permanently stopped

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The Drive writes about the completion of the production of Boeing-747 wide-body airliners. The last one left the Everett production line yesterday.

The withdrawal from production of this aircraft, known on all continents, can be considered the end of the era of four-engine civil aircraft. The twin-engine 747 Dreamliner and 787 will replace the 777 in airlines around the world.



The iconic American airliner made its first flight in 1968. For more than half a century, more than one and a half thousand units of these aircraft have been produced. At the time of its introduction, the Boeing 747 was impressive in size and technologically ahead of its time. The aircraft is over 70 meters long, with a keel height of 19 meters and a wing area of ​​560 square meters. m became the largest in the late sixties of the last century.

Over the years of production, dozens of modifications of the liner were created. Boeing-747 was operated not only by civil airlines. Several of these aircraft were being finalized for NASA and used to transport reusable shuttles similar to the Soviet Mriya. The most recognizable version of the 747 was the modification of the VC-25A Air Force One - aircraft number 1 in the United States. Since 1990, the leadership of the White House has been flying around the world on the Boeing-747. This version of the aircraft has become a record for the cost of operation - the price of its stay in the air reaches 200 dollars per hour.

The Russian airline Transaero also planned to buy two aircraft of this model. But due to the carrier's bankruptcy, the jets remained in the US and will reportedly also be refitted for Air Force One as a replacement for previous aircraft that have been flying for 22 years. Two more will be used by the US Air Force as command posts for airborne operations.

Steadily rising jet fuel prices are forcing airlines to switch to less safe but more economical twin-engine aircraft. This is facilitated by the development of new engines with high thrust. After the Airbus A380 and Boeing-747 are discontinued, the only serial four-engine airliner will be the Russian Il-96-400.
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  1. Vlad Sirs
    Vlad Sirs
    0
    7 December 2022 13: 37
    Four engines greatly increase the cost of an operating hour, a forced measure, you have to compensate for the lack of power in quantity.
  2. Sergey Latyshev
    Sergey Latyshev
    +1
    7 December 2022 15: 48
    Just ours announced the unavailability of our powerful aircraft engines ...
  3. ksa
    ksa
    +2
    7 December 2022 20: 52
    Switching to less safe twin-engine? But do they plan to carry the presidents all the same on four-engine ones?
    1. Vladimir Tuzakov
      Vladimir Tuzakov
      0
      8 December 2022 00: 36
      Yes, most will pay extra for safety, only passengers need an appropriate explanation. So the victory of competition will become 4 (3) motor. Enough technical comparisons in short multifilms (as usual).
    2. Daniel K
      Daniel K
      0
      18 December 2022 17: 13
      They seem to be no longer left with Boeing, models with 4 engines.
  4. vlad127490
    vlad127490
    0
    8 December 2022 11: 48
    From Moscow to Vladivostok, it takes 8 hours and 30 minutes to fly without landing. Russia is a big country and without aviation in any way.
    The state, with the name of the Russian Federation, should have strategic and tactical goals, and tasks for the development of national AVIATION.

    Only one four-engine IL-96 remains in the world

    It must be understood that the release of IL-96 is the strategic goal of the Russian Federation and it is necessary to discuss how much kerosene he will eat incorrectly. Let the government of the Russian Federation pay for kerosene.
    If you are chasing savings for the sake of the collapse of the development of your aviation, then take a horse, it eats hay and does not need kerosene.
    If you approach the state, then you need to produce 12 aircraft a year, four engined IL-96.
    Since in the Russian Federation all airlines and airports are private - foreign, it is necessary to create a 100% Russian state-owned airline and transfer all aircraft manufactured in the USSR and the Russian Federation to it. It will provide flights on domestic flights. There will be repair, restoration, sanitation, remotorization, refinement of domestic aircraft.
    Let the design bureau develop the future aircraft with new engines from scratch.
  5. Vladimir1155
    Vladimir1155
    0
    7 January 2023 21: 51
    as a gas turbine engine mechanic, I can say that counting engines and drawing conclusions on fuel efficiency based on their number is not professional, even 4 or 96 engines are powerful enough to not have problems with efficiency, manufacturers suffer from megalomania and try to create more powerful engines, for the sake of prestige and vanity, a twin-engine aircraft is more efficient, because its engines are more modern, and four-engine ones are equipped with engines developed a long time ago, so they turn out to be more voracious, meanwhile, fuel consumption is not so different 300 grams per hour give 3 kg of kerosene per half an equator ... this is a PR of manufacturers trying push through and impose their more modern and expensive engines under the guise of ephemeral super efficiency, meanwhile, in the conditions of a limited Russian market, unification can be done and a weaker engine can be put on a large range of aircraft, that is, two for a medium or 4 for a large one, which facilitates production maintenance and repair replacement, enhances the reliability, increases flight safety, that is, it is necessary to improve engines of lower power using modern technologies and materials, and not run after the West listening to his tales about their engines, for the sake of 12 IL 96 aircraft a year (and they don’t make so many) it makes no sense to develop a separate super big engine
  6. Vladimir1155
    Vladimir1155
    0
    7 January 2023 22: 08
    the reduction in fuel consumption is negligible, but it is not always easy to ensure a full load for wide-body aircraft, if it flies half empty, then all this fuel economy will turn out to be a swindle and a mockery, despite the large size of Russia, not so big cities of Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and even smaller Petropavlovsk are located in the east Kamchatsky, there either create difficulties for passengers by flying very rarely, or transfer passengers from medium-sized aircraft to a large one, collecting from different cities into one to Moscow, or simply put smaller aircraft ... well, let's say the Moscow-Peking line can be equipped with wide-bodies, and it seems there are almost no other directions to load IL 96, the safety of a super large aircraft further reduces the impossibility of emergency landings on random airfields or road fields, which a medium aircraft can do