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A California woman is going ahead with the construction of a house made of elements from a 747 Jumbo jet. Francie Rehwald wanted her house to look "feminine", have curves and be eco-friendly. Her architect's answer was: "Let's use a 747!" The wing of the Boeing jet will be used for the roof, its nose as a meditation temple while its trademark "bulge" will serve as a loft.

The first of the superfreighters that will ferry pieces of the 787 across the globe is now nearing completion in Taiwan. These previously unpublished company photos convey the magnitude of the modification work involved in transforming the used 747s into oversized delivery vehicles. Evergreen Aviation Technologies is modifying the planes in a 3-acre maintenance hangar at Taipei's Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport. .......... That spurred Adam Pilarski, an analyst with Avitas, to quip that Boeing's new superfreighter fleet is "designed in Russia and built in China."

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Although The Boeing Co. has yet to announce a customer for the passenger version of its planned 747-8, two key airlines in Europe and Asia are seriously considering the plane. Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines both operate older 747-400s, and the newer model would make a good fit in their respective long-haul fleets, executives of both airlines said in interviews. The two airlines also are considering Boeing's 787, although the chief executive of Lufthansa said he is most interested in the 787-10, a stretch version that Boeing only recently said it will develop. Chew Choon Seng, chief...

BOEING is pitching the new version of its legendary jumbo jet to Qantas, arguing it will beat Airbus's double decker A380 on costs per seat as well as for a total trip. The passenger version of the Boeing 747-8 will be stretched by 3.6m and will be able to carry 34 more seats in a three-class configuration with 21 per cent more revenue cargo space than the existing 747-400. Due to enter service in 2010, it will boost range by 1850km, give a 16 per cent lower fuel burn and 8 per cent lower costs per seat. More importantly,...

What is the better option – the Airbus A380 or the Boeing 747-8? We consider the two giants’ pros and cons as the airframers square up at Asian Aerospace © Flight International The Boeing 747-8 (back) and the Airbus A380 (front). Which is the better option for airlines? With Asia set to be a key driver of ultra-large-aircraft demand, Airbus and Boeing will be using next week’s Asian Aerospace as the ideal showcase for their offerings. Until the emergence of Boeing’s 747-8 as a firm programme last year, Airbus had the 400-plus-seat market all to itself with its 550-seat A380,...

Iran to buy jumbo souvenir from Air France Sunday, January 29, 2006 LONDON, January 29 (IranMania) - Iran is set to buy the Air France Boeing 747 jumbo that flew revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini back to Tehran from exile in 1979, a government newspaper said Sunday, according to AFP. Sanctions imposed by the United States prevent Iran from buying Western aircraft, but the Iran newspaper said the plane was no longer fit to be used for commercial purposes and that the clerical regime only wanted it as a souvenir. "After contacts with France, Iran is set to buy the...

<p>The former number two official in Saddam Hussein's Iraqi air force claims the former Iraqi dictator moved weapons of mass destruction from Iraq to Syria in the months preceding the current Iraq war.</p>

When the father of the 747, Joe Sutter, was asked by ATW about the longevity of the model on the 30th anniversary of its entry into service, he said without so much as a second's hesitation that the "Queen of the Skies" would be around for another 30 years. A bold statement indeed when made against a backdrop of the launch of the A380 and the many failed attempts by Boeing to commit to significant upgrades since the dash 400 version rolled out in January 1988. Perhaps when Sutter made the prediction he had in mind a dramatic engine breakthrough...

NEW YORK, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) might be close to beating French rival Airbus for a deal, worth more than $10 billion, with Singapore Airlines, a newspaper reported on Friday.

Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up as it flew over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988, when 12–16 oz of plastic explosive was detonated in its forward cargo hold, triggering a sequence of events that led to the rapid destruction of the aircraft. Winds of 100 knots scattered passengers and debris along an 88-mile corridor over an area of 845 square miles. Two hundred and seventy people from 21 countries died, including 11 people on the ground. Known as the Lockerbie bombing and the Lockerbie air disaster in Britain, it became the subject of that country's largest criminal inquiry,...

In 1965, when Boeing launched its new short-range 4737 twinjet, some Wichita workers didn't think there would be a large market for the plane. They figured the much bigger 747 would be the hotter seller. After all, airlines were using hubs more than they were offering point-to-point service -- direct routes between cities that bypassed hubs. At the time, Wichita workers built the tooling for the 737 fuselage as if they would manufacture only about 100 planes in all. Time has proven them wrong. The 737 is the most popular jetliner in commercial aircraft history. It has provided jobs...

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 12, 2005 -- The Boeing-led [NYSE: BA] Airborne Laser team announced today the successful completion of a series of tests involving its high energy laser at the Systems Integration Lab at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. During this test series, lasing duration and power were demonstrated at levels suitable for the destruction of multiple classes of ballistic missiles. This is the second of two program significant knowledge points planned for 2005. Airborne Laser's (ABL) megawatt-class Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) is designed and built by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC). Lasing tests included more than 70 separate...

CHICAGO -- Boeing Co.'s stock price topped $70 a share for the first time in five years Thursday and neared its all-time high amid continuing momentum in its military contracting and commercial aircraft businesses.

The Boeing 747-8 will introduce an upgraded cockpit that borrows technology from the 777 and recently launched 787 programmes, but still shares a common pilot type-rating with the existing 747-400. Boeing vice-president 747 programmes Jeff Peace says two to four days of differences training will be necessary for 747-400 pilots to use the new aircraft’s electronic checklists, cursor controls and upgraded flight management computer. Peace says the -8’s “essentially new wing” will feature a simpler flap system with fewer parts, which should improve reliability. Double-slotted inboard and single-slotted outboard trailing-edge devices replace the 747’s current triple-slotted flaps, and raked wingtips...

It's official. The men and women who sell commercial jetliners for The Boeing Co. have set a record for most orders ever won in any year by Boeing, Airbus or the late McDonnell Douglas. With the 42-plane firm order announced Sunday by Emirates Airlines at the Dubai Air Show, Boeing now has 800 gross orders for 2005, or 775 net orders, which includes cancellations. That shatters the previous jetliner order record set by Boeing in 1996, when it won gross orders for 668 jetliners. Some recent media reports have said Boeing's best year came in 1986, when it won orders...

Boeing (NYSE: BA) shareholders, rejoice! The company is rolling lucky sevens -- as in 777s, 787s, and 737s. The lifeblood of aircraft manufacturing is the order book, and Boeing has a fat one now. And for a company recently overwhelmed by questions regarding its corporate governance practices and ongoing competition due to forthcoming Airbus product releases, that has to be a nice thing to hear.

-- 787 technologies to increase passenger and freighter capabilities, improve fuel efficiency, reduce noise and emissions, provide unmatched operating economics SEATTLE, Nov. 14, 2005 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today officially launched the new Boeing 747-8 program, which includes the 747-8 Intercontinental passenger airplane and the 747-8 Freighter airplane. Cargolux, based in Luxembourg, has ordered 10 747-8 Freighters and will take delivery of the first 747-8F in third-quarter 2009. It also holds purchase rights for 10 additional airplanes. Cargolux currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of 13 747-400 freighters. Nippon Cargo Airlines, based in Japan, has ordered eight 747-8...

SEATTLE, Nov. 3, 2005 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] announced today that Russia's AirBridge Cargo airline, a part of the Volga-Dnepr Group, has ordered two Boeing 747-400ER freighters. The airplanes, with a list price value of $450 million, are scheduled for delivery in October 2007 and February 2008 and will be powered by General Electric CF6-80C2B5F engines. "We are thrilled that Volga-Dnepr is moving up to the 747-400ER Freighter," said Marlin Dailey, vice president of Sales for Europe, Russia and Central Asia - Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The 747 freighter family revolutionized the air cargo industry and it will remain...

As plane deals go, this could well be the biggest prize in recent memory. In December three major Asia-Pacific carriers are expected to place orders for more than 100 widebody jets worth an estimated $16.8 billion. And by the looks of things, Boeing Co. (BA ) looks poised to supply most of the planes.

Boeing is expecting a record number of commercial-jet sales this year that would put it ahead of Airbus for the first time in five years. The star prize that could seal the victory is an extraordinary order with a list-price value of at least $16 billion from Australian carrier Qantas. During the next two months, Boeing and Airbus will wrestle fiercely to finalize several massive orders, including key contests over Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Dubai-based Emirates. With the Qantas order, which may be awarded in stages that stretch into next year, the stakes go beyond the big price...