The term ‘design classic’ is frequently mis-applied but in the case of the Boeing 747 it is hard to argue with the enduring successof an aircraft that is still in production half a century after its first flight and 51 years since the first was assembled.
It is the 747's legacy as the world's first wide body jet that truly underlines its place in aviation history as a standard of its kind.
Packed with design innovations and new safety features, the 747 was a step change in capacity that brought affordable air travel to the masses, helped transform modern society and ushered in an era of globe-shrinking interchange on an unprecedented scale.
By delving back through almost 55 years of Aviation Week archives, wetell some of the story behind the birth of the design and the forces that helped craft one of the most familiar shapes to grace the skies. We also bring the story up-to-date by reviewing Boeing’s strategy of merging the 747-8 and 767 programs to help sustain production into the 2020's. |
