EVERETT — The youngest Queen of the Skies is resting at the moment, preparing for its first day in the sky. This day was a long time coming, and its arrival for a long time was anything by a certainty. Much of the 1990s and early 2000s were spent trying to establish what the future held for the global icon of commercial aviation.
Perhaps paradoxically, the aircraft that is the quintessential icon of Boeing, has throughout its life been asked to play second fiddle to the other commercial programs that always seemed to take precedence. Whether it was the supersonic transport, 757 and 767, 777 or 787, the 747 was rarely, if ever, Boeing’s top commercial priority.
Joe Sutter, the 747’s first chief engineer, now 88, says that getting to this point has been anything but easy:
“The 747-400 has been around for almost 20 years…[customers] wanted more than the 747, but trying to get the management to invest the billions it takes to do that, trying to get the engine manufacturers to do that has been a struggle for ten years.
“If the 747 disappeared, it wouldn’t break the Boeing company, but with it there, Boeing’s going to make more money, but if the 787 dissapeared, man that would a traumatic step. So you see why that happens,” says Sutter.
In fact, the 747 is often believed to be the most profitable in The Boeing Company’s history, however, that title goes to the 767-300ER which is being replaced by the 787.
“The fun of this game is convincing these guys up on the fifth floor, “hey keep spending money on the 47 so it will happen”, he adds. “Then it finally happened. That’s the name of the game.”
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The 747-8F owes its existence today (and subsequent delays) in large part to its composite stablemate, the 787 Dreamliner.
“You’ll never convince the engine guys to build us an engine, but the 787 gave us an engine, so we lucked out. Seeing that struggle finally end in success, that’s the fun of this business,” says Sutter.
Saturday afternoon’s taxi tests were the world’s first chance to see the worlds longest mass-produced commercial aircraft moving under its own power and out of the aircraft and berm-obstructed view of the flight line.
RC501, the 1420th example of the 747, which will go by Boeing 501 Experimental for its flight test program and is expected to rotate around 145 knots from runway 34L, the same one used by RA001 in 1969. Sutter will be standing at the 4,000 foot marker at 34L as the -8F makes its takeoff roll.
February 8, 2010 is a date that should not go without note. In fact, the milestone comes one day shy of the forty-first and twenty-first anniversary of the first flight of the 747-100 and introduction into service of the 747-400 with Northwest Airlines, respectively. Boeing will pay homage to the first pilot of the 747, Jack Waddell, with the inscription of his initials – JW – on the nose landing gear door.
Though as much as the 747 requires a reflection of the road it took to get here, Boeing’s attention is very much pointed toward the future. But will the 747-8 family be the last in the bloodline of the matriarchy?
“I think there’s at least one more step,” says Sutter. “If you look at the -400 version, it lasted about 15 years and I think the -8 will last about that long. The airplane can still be stretched and there will be even better engines available. To stretch it more though, probably needs a bigger wing, which is costly, but there’s actually been wind tunnel tests, analysis on a bigger wing, it will not be a very big unknown as to how to re-treat the wing, but it’s money. And so it’s when the market wants it.”
First Photo Credit Boeing
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This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.