Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Long-range commercial transport

Power Plant:

Four 60,000 lbst Rolls Royce RB.211-524G-T turbofans

Specifications:

History:

To increase range, performance and carrying capacity, Boeing moved on to the 747-400 series in the late 1980s. By January 1990 the Model 747 had seen twenty years of commercial use, there was an active fleet of 700, and they were estimated to be carrying 385,000 passengers a day. The 747-400 was the 13th model in the range and retained the same fuselage length of 70.67 m (231 ft 10¼ in) as the 747-300 series but incorporated improvements in aerodynamics, structural materials used in its construction, avionics and interior design that gave it more range, better fuel economy and lower operating costs than previous models.

Initial order for the Model 747-400 was from NorthWest Airlines in the United States in October 1985, followed by Singapore Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific, Union de Transports Aeriens (UTA), British Airways and Korean, the first aircraft being delivered in January 1989. The new aircraft had a range of 13,624 km (8,466 miles) whereas the range of the Model 747-100 was 7,409 km (4,604 miles).

Qantas soon ordered the new model and the first Rolls Royce powered aircraft VH-OJA  ‘City of Canberra’ was used to set a distance record on its delivery flight, the aircraft carrying 186.44 tonnes (183.5 tons) of fuel and 24 passengers, flyng from London in the United Kingdom to Sydney, NSW in 20 hrs 9 minutes, covering 17,953 km (11,156 miles) and landing with 5.69 tonnes (5.6 tons) of fuel.

British Airways found that with the Model 747-400, with the exception of Australia and New Zealand, all destinations on its world-wide network could be flown non-stop.

The most noticeable aerodynamic improvement on the aircraft was the extension of the wing by 1.82 m (6 ft) and the winglets which were 1.82 m (6 ft) high, the latter being swept back at 60 degrees and angled outwards at 29 degrees. Wingspan increased from 59.66 m (195 ft 8 in) to 64.44 m (211 ft 5 in), which stretched out to 64.92 m (213 ft) under the weight of a full load of 216,926 litres (47,718 Imperial gallons) of fuel. The winglets helped to reduce vortex drag caused by the patter of air swirling around the wing tips, providing a three per cent gain in efficiency over the earlier models. Extensive use was made of higher strength aluminium alloys in the wing, enabling a weight saving of 2,268 kg (5,000 lb) to be achieved.

Other advanced materials provided structural weight reductions, the metal flooring in the passenger cabin being replaced by light graphite composite floor panels. Carbon brakes were fitted to the 18 undercarriage wheels, providing a weight saving of 816 kg (1,800 lb). Additional improvements included new wing-to-body fairing and new engine nacelles and struts for the engines.The flight deck was reduced to a two- pilot operation and crew workload was reduced by the installation of six CRT displays.

Boeing soon offered further variants of the 747-400 series, including the Model 747-400M Combi able to carry six cargo pallets aft on the main deck behind 390 passengers seats; or up to 13 pallets with accommodation for 220 passengers, KLM being the first airline to order this model. This was followed by the Model 747-400D, a domestic short-range model able to carry up to 566 passengers in a two-class configuration with a range of 5,557 miles (3,453 miles), and the 747-400F freighter.

Engines were new-generation high bypass-ratio turbofans developed by General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls Royce, these being more fuel efficient than those in previous models.

In August 1989 the first Model 747-438 for the Qantas fleet arrived, this being a high capacity, long-range variant which permitted the airline to fly one-stop to London, UK. Subsequently further orders for the 747-400 series were placed, the new model taking over from the older models, the second VH-OJB arriving on 21 September, followed by VH-OJC on 14 October, which flew direct to Melbourne, VIC.

Two Qantas 747s were painted in special colour schemes, one being the ‘Wunala Dreaming’ livery initially on VH-OJB and ‘Nalanji Dreaming’ on VH-EBU. After the export of VH-OJB the ‘Wunala Dreaming’ colour scheme was painted on B747-438 VH-OEJ.

In late 2004 Air New Zealand ordered a fleet of Boeing 777 and 787 airliners, the plan being for these to eventually replace the company’s Boeing 747-400s in service as they reached retirement.

Over the years Boeing considered new variants, and in 2005 announced the 747 Advanced, this model having the fuselage stretched by 3.56 m (11 ft 7 in) to provide for 450 passengers, using the new higher bypass-ratio (1:8.75) turbofan engines that had been developed for the Boeing 787. Both passenger and freight models were announced, the former using new LED lighting, new sculptured interior, wireless entertainment systems, etc. Known initially as the Model 747-8, the new model was launched following an order for 18 aircraft, all freighters, for Cargolux and Nippon Cargo Airlines, the first aircraft being rolled out in 2008. In later years Boeing introduced the 747-400ER series, an extended range variant. On 28 June 2014 Boeing delivered the 1,500th Boeing 747, a Model 747-830i being delivered to Lufthansa.

The Model 747-400 series has also been used extensively by Air New Zealand, aircraft in this series including Model 747-419s ZK-NBS (c/n 24386), ZK-NBT (c/n 24855), ZK-NBU (c/n 26605), ZK-NBV (c/n 26910) and ZK-NBW (c/n 29375); Model 747-441 ZK-SUI (c/n 24957); Model 747-475 ZK-SUH (c/n 24896); and Model 747-4F6 ZK -SUJ (c/n 27602).

The Qantas fleet has included aircraft which carried names initially with ‘City of‘ when first introduced into service, this later being dropped to just the name of the city. These were Model 747-438s VH-OJA (c/n 24354 – ‘Canberra’), VH-OJB (c/n 24373 – ‘Sydney’, later ‘Wunala Dreaming‘, then ‘Mount Isa’), VH-OJC (c/n 24406 – ‘Melbourne’), VH-OJD (c/n 24481 – ‘Brisbane’), VH-OJE (c/n 24482 – ‘Adelaide’), VH-OJF (c/n 24483 – ‘Perth’), VH-OJG (c/n 24779 – ‘Hobart’), VH-OJH (c/n 24806 – ‘Darwin’), VH-OJI (c/n 24887 – ‘Longreach’), VH-OJJ (c/n 24974 – ‘Winton’), VH-OJK (c/n 25067 – ‘Newcastle’), VH-OJL (c/n 25151 – ‘Ballarat’), VH-OJM (c/n 25245 – ‘Gosford’), VH-OJN (c/n 25315 – ‘Dubbo’), VH-OJO (c/n 25544 – ‘Toowoomba’), VH-OJP (c/n 25545 – ‘Albury’), VH-OJQ (c/n 25546 – ‘Mandurah’), VH-OJR (c/n 25547 – ‘Bathurst’), VH-OJS (c/n 25564 – ‘Hamilton Island’), VH-OJT (c/n 25565 – ‘Fraser Island’) and VH-OJU (c/n 25566 – ‘Lord Howe Island’).

Model 747-48E VH-OEB (c/n 25778 – ex HL7416 – ‘Phillip Island’); Model 747-4H5s VH-OEC (c/n 24836 – ex 9M-MHN, N6009F – ‘King Island’) and VH-OED (c/n 25126 – ex 9M-MHO – ‘Kangaroo Island’); Model 747-438ERs VH-OEE (c/n 32909 – ‘Nullabor’), VH-OEF (c/n 32910 – ‘Sydney’), VH-OEG (c/n 32911 – ‘Parkes’), VH-OEH (c/n 32912 – ‘Hervey Bay’), VH-OEI (c/n 32913 – ‘Ceduna’) and VH-OEJ (c/n 32914 – ‘Wunala Dreaming’).

An ex Qantas Model 747-438 has been preserved by the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) at Albion Park, NSW.  This aircraft, VH-OJA ‘City of Canberra’, which flew with Qantas for 25 years, made 13,833 flights carrying 4,094,568 passengers and covered nearly 85 million kilometres, was donated to the HARS Museum, being flown from Mascot, NSW to Albion Park in a 12 minute flight on 8 March 2015 where it has been placed on display.