The design and building of the Boeing 747 was an audacious leap forward in aviation. The demand to relieve congestion at airports struggling with the influx of a growing travelling public was to be solved by offering fewer aircraft with higher carrying capacity. An aircraft with a carrying capacity double that of the existing workhorses, the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC8, was required.
Strangely enough, it wasn’t the extra carrying capacity that attracted early customers of the aircraft, but longer range compared to other aircraft of the day.
The ability to consider designing such a large aircraft was made possible by the introduction of the High By-pass Turbo Fan engines that were able to deliver much higher thrust at a much-reduced fuel burn rate compared to pure jets in use at the time.
The four-engined Boeing 747 was designed to be the safest airliner so far built. Redundancy was in place for systems such as hydraulics, where a back up was available should the main system fail. There were dual control surfaces to enable the continued control of the aircraft should any of the surfaces fail. There were four main landing gear bogies each with four wheels. This was not only to spread the weight of the aircraft more evenly, but the 747 was capable of landing on two opposing bogies if necessary.
Everything about the 747 compared to other aircraft in use at the time of its initial launch, was on a grand scale. For instance; 147,000 pounds (66,150 kg) of high-strength aluminium is used in its construction, 171 miles (274 km) of wiring along with 5 miles (8 km) of tubing is used, six million parts are used, half of which are fasteners.
Boeing 747 Specifications Table
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| Range | 6,100 Statute Miles 9,800 Km |
7,650 Statute Miles 12,320 Km |
7,900 Statute Miles 12,700 Km |
7,700 Statute Miles 12,400 Km |
8,354 Statute Miles 13,450 Km |
| Seating | 3 Class 366 2 Class 452 |
2 Class 331 | 3 Class 366 2 Class 452 |
3 Class 412 2 Class 496 |
3 Class 416 2 Class 524 |
| Length | 231 Ft 10 In 70.6 Mtrs |
184 Ft 9 In 56.31 Mtrs |
231 Ft 10 In 70.6 Mtrs |
231 Ft 10 In 70.6 Mtrs |
231 Ft 10 In 70.6 Mtrs |
| Wingspan | 195 Ft 8 in 59.6 Mtrs |
195 Ft 8 in 59.6 Mtrs |
195 Ft 8 in 59.6 Mtrs |
195 Ft 8 in 59.6 Mtrs |
211 Ft 5 in 64.4 Mtrs |
| Tail Height | 63 Ft 5 in 19.3 Mtrs |
65 Ft 10 in 20.06 Mtrs |
63 Ft 5 in 19.3 Mtrs |
63 Ft 5 in 19.3 Mtrs |
63 Ft 8 in 19.4 Mtrs |
| Cabin width (Interior) | 20 Ft 6.1 Mtrs |
20 Ft 6.1 Mtrs |
20 Ft 6.1 Mtrs |
20 Ft 6.1 Mtrs |
20 Ft 6.1 Mtrs |
| Freight (underfloor) LD-1 | 6,190 Cu Ft 173.3 Cu Mtrs 30 x LD-1s |
TBA | 6,190 Cu Ft 173.3 Cu Mtrs 30 x LD-1s |
6,190 Cu Ft 173.3 Cu Mtrs 30 x LD-1s |
6,025 Cu Ft 170.5 Cu Mtrs 30 x LD-1s |
| Typical Cruise Speed at 35,000′ | Mach 0.84 555 MPH / 895 KPH | Mach 0.88 614 MPH / 990 KPH | Mach 0.84 555 MPH / 895 KPH | Mach 0.85 565 MPH / 910 KPH | Mach 0.85 565 MPH / 910 KPH |
| Maximum Takeoff Weight | 735,000 lbs 333,400 Kg |
670,000 lbs 304,000 Kg |
833,000 lbs 374,850 Kg |
833,000 lbs 374,850 Kg |
875,000 lbs 396,890 Kg |
| Maximum Fuel Capacity | 48,445 US Gal. 183,380 Litres |
47,210 US Gal. 178,000 Litres |
52,410 US Gal. 199,158 Litres |
52,410 US Gal. 199,158 Litres |
57,285 US Gal. 216,840 Litres |
| Engines and Thrust | Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7A Thrust 46,500 lb (20,925 kg) Rolls-Royce RB211-524B2 Thrust 50,100 lb (22,545 kg) GE CF6-45A2 Thrust 46,500 lb (20,925 kg) |
Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4W Thrust 46,500 lb (206.8 kN) Rolls-Royce RB211-524C2 Thrust 46,500 lb (206.8 kN) |
Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4G2 Thrust 54,750 lb (24,635 kg) Rolls-Royce RB211-524D4 Thrust 53,000 lb (23,850 kg) GE CF6-50E2 Thrust 52,500 lb (23,625 kg) |
Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4G2 Thrust 54,750 lb (24,635 kg) Rolls-Royce RB211-524D4 Thrust 53,000 lb (23,850 kg) GE CF6-80C2B1 Thrust 55,640 lb (25,040 kg) |
Pratt & WhitneyPW4062 Thrust 63,300 lb (281.57 kN) Rolls-Royce RB211-524H2-T Thrust 59,500 lb (264.67 kN) GE CF6-80C2B5F Thrust 62,100 lb (276.23 kN) |
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If there is more you want to learn about this airliner, please visit: Boeing 747 Home, Boeing 747 History, Boeing 747 Order Book, Boeing 747 Interior and Boeing 747 Assembly,
We welcome your comments below, is there more we could be showing or are there topics you would like to see? Thank you.
Do you know where I can find info on the first groups of 747s delivered to TWA by Boeing. My Dad was a captain and I am curious if he flew the Flt 800 aircraft or not.
Hi Brendan,
I bet your Dad had some great stories to tell of those 747 days. I’ve scraped up some info below which I hope gives you some help to finding out more.
Thank you for stopping by. Don’t forget to share out site.
Cheers Peter
747-121 01/12/1988 to 05/01/1989 Reg: N751PA Sold to Evergreen Int
747-121 01/12/1988 to 13/07/1989 Reg: N753PA Sold to Evergreen Int
747-131 18/08/1970 to 01/03/1975 Reg: N93101 Sold to Iran Air Force
747-131 31/12/1969 to 14/11/1975 Reg: N93102 Sold to Boeing
747-131 08/10/1970 to 01/12/1975 Reg: N93103 Sold to Iran Air Force
747-131 20/02/1970 to 10/12/1990 Reg: N93104 Sold to Tower Air
747-131 03/04/1970 to 25/03/1992 Reg: N93106 Sold to Tower Air
747-131 26/09/1970 to 15/10/1975 Reg: N53111 Sold to Boeing
747-131 04/10/1970 to 14/03/1975 Reg: N53112 Sold to Boeing
747-238B 30/05/1996 to 17/09/1997 Reg: N307TW Sold to Aerolineas Argentinas
747-131 22/10/1970 to 31/03/1975 Reg: N93113 Sold to Boeing
747-131 02/11/1970 to 03/11/1975 Reg: N93114 Sold to Boeing
747-131 02/09/1971 to 13/11/1975 Reg: N93118 Sold to Boeing
747-131 27/10/1971 to 15/12/1975 Reg: N93119 Sold to Boeing
747-257B 17/05/1985 to 01/07/1992 Reg: N303TW Sold to Unknown
747-257B 01/07/1992 to 05/05/1993 Reg: N303TW Sold to Air Atlanta Icelandic
747-257B 18/02/1994 to 26/05/1998 Reg: N303TW Sold to Aerolineas Argentinas
747-257B 01/04/1985 to 15/05/1991 Reg: N304TW Sold to Nationair
747-136 25/03/1981 to 28/03/1991 Reg: N17125 Sold to Tower Air
747-136 30/03/1981 to 28/03/1991 Reg: N17126 Sold to Tower Air
747-131 20/05/1971 to 26/03/1987 Reg: N93115 Sold to GATX
747-131 24/05/1971 to 21/04/1987 Reg: N93117 Sold to Tower Air
747-131 08/12/1988 to 24/03/1993 Reg: N93117 Sold to Family Airlines
747-282B 04/06/1984 to 16/04/1993 Reg: N301TW Sold to Tower Air
747-282B 30/10/1984 to 16/04/1993 Reg: N302TW Sold to Tower Air
747-SP31 21/03/1980 to 21/02/1985 Reg: N58201 Sold to United Arab Emirates Gvmt
747-SP31 08/05/1980 to 16/10/1986 Reg: N57203 Sold to American Airlines
747-131 18?08/1971 to 17/07/1996 Reg: N93119 Lost off Long Island
Hi, could you please advise what the width of the L4 cabin door is on a 747?
Hi Amanda,
there are 10 main deck doors and looking at the 747-400 in this case, all the doors, including 4L(4 left), are the same dimensions.
Opening size = 1.07 x 1.93 Metres (42 x 76 inches).
Overall door size = 1.19 x 1.93 Metres (47 x 74 inches).
Door 4L is 40.74 metres (133 feet 8 inches) back from the nose of the aircraft.
Can we ask why 4L in particular?
Cheers Peter
Was just curious as to who were the original airline customers who booked the 747 in 1968/69
Obviously there are a number of cabin crew & logos on the launch aircraft, but the names of each airline that booked the first lot are nowhere to be seen, I can see that PanAm TWA JAL Air India were there
Would love to have the full list of original airlines
The launch customer of the Boeing 747 was Pan Am. Juan Trippe of Pan Am asked Boeing to produce an aircraft twice the size of the Boeing 707. This is in our Boeing 747 History page.
Cheers Peter
Hi there – is there anywhere i can look up the dimensions of the first class cabin in the 747? I’m thinking about converting my downstairs music room to have that unique cone-shape. Could be cool!
Hi Stu,
cool idea. We haven’t been able to find the measurements. We wish you luck. If you ever get it done, we’d love to see a picture of the finished result.
Cheers Peter
why is there no 747-8 on this page
Good question. It should be together, but it came such a long time after that we decided to dedicate a specific page of its own. Here it is, Boeing 747-8