Final Boeing 747 Rolls Of Assembly Line - End Of An Era

The final Boeing 747 recently exited the American aircraft manufacturer's widebody plant in Everett, Washington ahead of its delivery to Atlas Air in 2023.

The final unit of the Boeing 747 is a 747-8 freighter. Boing states that this cargo version of the iconic 747 has a revenue payload of 133.1 tonnes which the American firm claims is enough to carry 10,699 solid-gold bars or approximately 19 million ping-pong balls or golf balls.

The Boeing 747 was the world's first twin-aisle aeroplane and production of the American jumbo jet began way back in 1967. In the 53 years since the first 747 entered production, Boing has produced a total of 1,574 units of the jumbo jet including the original prototype.

In passenger guise, the Boeing 747 was capable of carrying up to 800 people if a single economy class setup was used (747-8). In the two-class configuration, that number fell to around 600 seats while in the three-class guise, the aircraft could carry a total of 467 passengers. The final passenger version of the Boeing 747 was delivered to Korean Air in 2017.

Fully fueled and in its regular three-class configuration the passenger version of the 747-8, which was dubbed the 747-8 Intercontinental (747-8I) could travel a distance of 15,000 kilometres while cruising at a speed of Mach 0.855 (1,055.75km/h).

The Boeing 747 is also one of the most recognizable planes in the world thanks to its appearance in multiple Hollywood movies and the fact that it is also used to ferry the world's most powerful man, the President of the United States of America on his trips across the country and the world in the form of Air Force One.

In fact, Boeing took the order for the next version of Air Force One back in 2017. These two jets will be the final passenger versions of the jumbo jet but they will be very different from the ones the regular public ever got to fly in. Due to multiple delays, the two jumbo jets that will act as the next-gen Air Force One are set to arrive in September 2027 and February 2028 respectively.

The only word that could be used to describe the 747 is massive. The two-aisle jet in its 747-8I configuration has a maximum takeoff weight of 442 tonnes and is the heaviest jet airliner made on American soil. The 747-8 version is also the longest commercial aircraft in service today with a length of 76.2 metres.

The 747-8I draws power from four General Electric GEnx jet engines that produce 296 kilonewtons of thrust each. A less powerful version of the engine is used to power the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Thoughts About The Boeing 747

The Boeing 747 is probably the most iconic of all passenger aircraft to have flown in the skies above us. The world's first twin-aisle aircraft only had one rival in the form of the Airbus A380. However, like its Airbus rival, the Boeing 747 has become a victim of the times with airliners switching to more fuel-efficient aircraft something that the jumbo jet was never quite good at.