Boeing’s biggest-ever plane makes maiden flight

Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal ^ | March 21, 2011

[ConservativeStatement]

Boeing Co.’s newest 747 passenger jet, the largest commercial plane it has ever built, took to the skies for the first time Sunday, marking the third maiden flight of a new Boeing commercial airplane in the past 15 months. (See video)

Painted in its orange and red “sunrise” livery, the massive, four-engine 747-8 Intercontinental lifted off from Paine Field, north of Seattle, at 10 a.m. local time under partly cloudy skies and gusty northerly winds. At 250 feet long, the 747-8 is 18 feet longer than its predecessor.

[katana]

It is progress so long as the A380 can stay in the air as reliably as the "old" 747 technology.

I flew the Sydney to Singapore route a couple months after the first A380's entered SQ service. Nothing special except the business class seats were weird. The seat and back were about three feet wide with a long seat belt that didn't really hold one in place side-to-side, and the little compartment where one's feet go after reclining the seat was offset to one side. I was in a starboard side seat so it was offset to my right. Result: impossible to get comfortable and pain in my hip once I got up after an 8 hour flight.

And after the recent engine failures on a couple Qantas A380's I will try as much as possible to stay with B747's for any really long haul flights.

[Hodar]

Are they making the coach seats any wider? Sitting in the middle seat of a 737 is torture unless one is stick twig thin and neighbor is not a whale.

I hear you loud and clear. But, to the best of my knowledge, the extra space is being used to pack in more passengers. If you want a wide seat - ya gotta bump up to Business or First.

[100American]

BTTT

[NeverForgetBataan]

“Sometimes bigger is not better. To make it effective they have to fill the seats don’t they?”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

No problem.

All the manufacturing outsourcing execs will fill them on flights to our friend China.

[sr4402]

747-8 is supposed to consume less fuel and have a better cost per seat than the A380.

Both are Ultra-Large, meant for only Airports that can handle them and meant for the long distance intercontinental flights.

So if the 747-8 has less of a carbon footprint and costs less per seat, it may edge out the A380 in the publics mind IMHO.

[antiRepublicrat]

Am I color blind or is your picture ... ?

Check your monitor's color settings, or those of your operating system. Many web browsers have little in the way of proper color matching.

[Hodar]

As with any new aircraft, there are going to be some bugs to work out.

I was surprised to hear about the weirdness of the seats. That’s surprising to hear. I’d hope they would be able to fix this with a relatively minor amount of effort.

[Red_Devil 232]

Video Take off

[Yo-Yo]

That isn't the 747-8.

This is the 747-8:

It's a candy. It's a breath mint. Wait, you're both right.

Bobalu's picture is of the 747-8F freighter. Yossarian's picture is of the 747-8i Intercontinental passenger aircraft.

Both aircraft share the 787's GEnX engines (modified for bleed air,) a longer fuselage, and supercritical wing.

The 787-8F sports a shorter upper deck (it isn't used for cargo) and a nose cargo loading door. The 747-8i sports the longest upper deck ever seen in a 747, and is second only to the Airbus A380-800 in passenger capacity.

[Hodar]

The question comes down to the cost/passenger and the volume of passengers on a partiuclar route.

Do you fly 1 of the Airbus 380’s or two of the B747’s?

Airbus is selling them, each one sold is a huge sale for Airbus, and a huge loss for Boeing.

Boeing SHOULD be able to compete, carbon fiber and other light-weight materials, better engines, sophisticated electronics and robotic assembly all working together to make stronger, lighter, faster and more efficient aircraft.

When it comes to innovative designs - I tend to look to American ingenuity. Anymore, we are seeing it come from someplace else, first. That’s a disappointment.

[LIBERTARIAN JOE]

Boeing, what has happened? You used to lead the world, now you are polishing a 40 yr old design, and crowing about your achievements

Boeing is an aircraft manufacturer - they either make a profit or go out of business. The 747 is a cash machine and the 747-8 is as modern as any commercial aircraft flying.

Airbust is a socialist program to provide employment - doesn't matter if they make money or not, and they won't make money on the A380.

Plus, when the last A380 is flown to the boneyard, the aircrew will fly back home on a 747.

[wolfman]

One of the biggest mistakes the Air Force ever made was choosing the Lockheed C-5 over the 747.

[Hodar]

and they won't make money on the A380.

Sounds like wishful thinking ... Did you know that Airbus has orders for 244 of the A380-800 and have delivered 44 of them to date? Source

If history tells us anything, ANY company that milks a cash cow, dies a horrible death as soon as the cash cow dies. And that appears to be what Boeing is doing. They have a ~40 yr old design, that has been modernized - but is essentially a 40 yr old design; competing against aggressive companies like Airbus and CRJ. Boeing is losing contracts, and unless they can innovate - they are going to go the way of McDonnel Douglas, Lockheed and other aircraft manufacturers.

[Scythian]

Rare Photograph from 1944, Nazi Germany. Good thing we stopped them before these got off the ground ...

[ASA Vet]

Is this innovation enough?

[antiRepublicrat]

There’s not much in the latest 747 that was there in the original. The cockpit, avionics, engines and even the wings are completely different from the original.

Sometimes a good basic design can last a long time. Take the Mauser rifle action, with some tweaking it’s survived as one of the most beloved actions worldwide for well over a hundred years.

[ConservativeMan55]

bttt

[Yo-Yo]

Sounds like wishful thinking ... Did you know that Airbus has orders for 244 of the A380-800 and have delivered 44 of them to date?

Did you know that the break-even point for Airbus on the A380 is at approximately 420 units? Source.

OTOH, don't even ask what the current break-even point for Boeing's 787 is...

[Hodar]

THATS what I’m talking about!!

Whazzit? Haven’t heard of it, but I love the flying wing design.

[skeptoid]

Have you ever considered that the proposed 380 F (that may never be produced) carries a mere 5% more payload but its OEW is 40% more than the 747-8F.

As Randy Baseler put it, with the A380F, you're flying around over 40% more airplane structural weight for only 5% more revenue payload!

Baseler also addresses the longer range of the 380.