Rules for Frequent Fliers
—An anonymous Internet posting
No flight ever leaves on time unless you are running late and need the delay to make the flight.
If you’re running late for a flight, it will depart from the farthest gate within the terminal.
If you arrive very early for a flight, it inevitably will be delayed.
Flights never leave from Gate #1 at any terminal in the world.
If you work on your flight, you’ll experience turbulence as soon as you touch pen to paper…or start to drink your coffee.
If you’re assigned a middle seat, you can determine who has the seats on the aisle and the window while you’re still in the boarding area: Just look for the two largest passengers.
Only passengers seated in window seats ever have to get up to go to the lavatory.
The crying baby on board your flight is always seated next to you.
The best-looking woman/man on your flight is never seated next to you.
The less carry-on luggage space available on an aircraft, the more carry-on luggage passengers will bring aboard.
The ability of the military’s Stealth aircraft to avoid detection is so good that mechanics have reported finding dead bats on the concrete around the airplanes each morning.
When you read about an airplane called the B-17G you can tell it’s a bomber because of military naming conventions that have been around since 1924. B-17G stands for the seventh (G) variant of the seventeenth model of bomber. (No, B doesn’t mean “Boeing”!) Similarly, C means “cargo aircraft,” H means “helicopter,” K means “tanker,” R means “reconnaissance,” and X means “special research.” Today, F means “fighter” (like the F-18), but prior to 1947, F meant “foto” reconnaissance airplane. So fighters in World War II used P (for pursuit).
Building Airplanes
The modern automobile is a beautiful piece of machinery, carefully assembled out of several thousand parts. But cars can hardly hold a candle to the astonishing complexity of jet airplanes, which are built from up to 3 million separate parts held together by another 3 million rivets, bolts, and other fasteners. If you’ve ever wondered about what it takes to build and maintain these behemoths, you’ll find the answer right here.
Making Airplanes
It’s not hard to build an airplane that can fly; in fact, you can even buy a kit and build one at home. What is difficult, however, is building an airplane that can fly more than a handful of people safely, economically, with an extremely low rate of parts failure, and with multiple redundant systems for the inevitable times that something does go wrong.
That’s one reason there are so few commerical airplane manufacturers in business these days; dozens of aircraft companies have either merged, been bought out, or gone out of business in the pursuit of building successful airplanes. Today, just two companies—Boeing and Airbus—build about 99 percent of large passenger jets (aircraft that carry more than 110 people). The market of smaller regional aircraft companies is only slightly larger, including Embraer (based near São Paulo, Brazil), Saab (based in Sweden), and Bombardier Aerospace (based near Montreal, Canada), which now owns Learjet, de Havilland, and Canadair.
Putting It Together
Each day, fifteen railcars full of airplane parts roll into the Boeing manufacturing plant in Everett, Washington, just north of Seattle. It’s here that the Boeing twin-aisle, wide-body aircraft—the 747, 767, and 777—are built inside the world’s largest building (measured by volume): one-third of a mile wide and over two-thirds of a mile long, standing eleven stories tall. You could fit Disneyland inside it and still leave room for fifty acres of indoor parking lots. It takes a lot of power to build big jets: The Everett plant uses as much electricity each year as 32,000 homes.
Opposite: The Everett manufacturing plant.
Although welding metal together is common practice in automobile manufacturing, most airplane parts are held together with rivets, bolts, and screws because welding would be too brittle and would damage the thin aluminum aircraft skins. However, recent breakthroughs in welding technology have made it possible to fuse two pieces of metal so that they act as a single piece; in the future you may no longer see those characteristic rivets all over airplanes.
The fact that William Boeing started his company in Seattle wasn’t entirely by chance. Boeing made a fortune in the Pacific Northwest timber industry before he started making airplanes. What’s more, the Sitka spruce tree—a species that grows almost exclusively in the Pacific Northwest—proved to be the best wood to use for airplane construction because it was strong, lightweight, and wouldn’t splinter when struck by a bullet.
The rudder is often painted even before it gets attached to the airplane’s tail because the weight of the paint must be taken into account to precisely balance it in place.
Everett and its sister plant thirty miles south in Renton, Washington (where Boeing builds the single-aisle 737 and 757 aircraft), assemble their airplanes out of parts made by almost 3,000 suppliers in every one of the fifty American states and sixty-five countries around the world. To make a Boeing 747, it takes about six million individual parts—half of which are rivets, bolts, and other fasteners. A Boeing 737 is much simpler, containing only about 360,000 parts and 600,000 fasteners.
Of course, many of these parts are already pre-assembled when they roll in. For instance, the entire fuselage for the Boeing 737 is built in Wichita, Kansas, before being loaded on a train for its 1,800-mile journey to Renton. The fuselage is so long that before the first one could be shipped, Boeing had to build a wooden mockup and an eighty-nine-foot-long railcar to test whether it would make it cross-country without being damaged in sharp turns or low tunnels. The mockup made it just fine until the rail spurs entered the Renton plant; there Boeing realized that two feet had to be shaved off the side of a factory building. Later, the company encountered one other problem with this transport system: A fuselage would occasionally arrive in Renton with a few small (and easily patched) bullet holes apparently made by locals taking potshots at the train along the way. Security was quickly tightened and this is no longer a concern.
Almost everything that you see inside an airplane—lavatories, kitchen galleys, seats, fabrics, and dividers—was ordered by the airline separately from the aircraft itself. Airlines decide seat sizes and configuration, entertainment options (video, telephone, and so on), and even the number and placement of lavatories. Boeing or Airbus may or may not install these items for the airline, depending on the contract.
While aluminum has long been the primary material for building airplanes (it’s lightweight and relatively strong), synthetic materials called composite are increasingly attractive to aircraft manufacturers. Some carbon-based composites are significantly lighter and stronger than aluminum, and they don’t corrode like metal. Today, much of the tail assembly on the Boeing 777 and parts of the wings and tail on some Airbus aircraft are made from composites.
When all the fuel is drained out of a Boeing 747, a person five foot, eight inches (1.7 meters) tall can stand upright inside the wing near where it attaches to the fuselage.
The hollow fuselage takes about six months to build, but once it enters the factory, workers have about eighteen days to attach the wings and tail; line the interior with thirty-six miles of wiring, insulation, and padding; and install the cockpit instruments, nose radar cone, landing gear, interior fixtures (including seats, lavatories, sound-absorbent insulation, and overhead compartments), and engines. Although the aircraft are enormous, the precision is extraordinary: New laser-guided tools can align the wing to the fuselage within a thousandth of an inch.
Airbus Industries assembles its aircraft in a similar way. Sections are built in Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and France, and then delivered to Toulouse, France, or Hamburg, Germany, for final assembly and testing. However, Airbus does use a different delivery system to move parts around. Instead of the train, Airbus uses the world’s larges
t civil freight aircraft, its own A300-600ST Super Transporter—nicknamed “Beluga”—which can carry an entire airplane fuselage or a pair of aircraft wings.
The A300-600ST Beluga-Super Transporter.
(Courtesy of Airbus Industrie)
Finishing Touches
Take a drive through the city of Renton, and you’ll see a line of silvery green 737s and 757s on the tarmac of the municipal airport, waiting for paint and flight testing. The greenish color is a vinyl coating, applied before assembly, that protects the metal from corrosion and scratches; it get washed off just before the airplane is given its livery (painted in the colors and style of whatever airline ordered it).
When Boeing first designed the 777, it offered airlines an option for wings that could fold upward when parked at the gate, like those on navy aircraft carrier jets. This feature would save valuable airport space, but would add to the weight and operating costs of the airplane, so no airline has (to date) asked for it.
On a Boeing 777, the horizontal stabilizers on the tail are small compared to the wings, but these stabilizers are as big as the main wings on a Boeing 737. Each engine on a 777 is as wide as the fuselage on a Boeing 727.
The Boeing Company was founded in 1916, and over the years it has built high-tech hydrofoils, airplane engines, and even the lunar rover. However, when finances were tight, the company manufactured railcars, boats, and even furniture.
Boeing generally paints an aircraft only once—immediately after it’s built—and airlines are responsible for repainting their aircraft from then on. However, Boeing makes an exception for the two modified 747s owned by the U.S. government that fly the president and vice president around (whichever one the president is on at any given moment is called Air Force One), which it repaints every few years.
Painting an airplane isn’t like painting a house. The metal skin of the plane is given a slight negative electrical charge and the paint is sprayed on with a slight positive charge so that the paint adheres as smoothly and lightly as possible. Remember, paint adds weight. Jet airplanes typically carry between 400 and 1,000 pounds of paint, which can take three to five days to apply.
Every component of an airplane (every wire, every instrument, and so on) is tested before it rolls off the assembly line. The testers pump air into the cabin to ensure it can withstand twice the amount of pressure it will actually experience in flight. Even the landing gear is raised and lowered numerous times while the airplane is jacked up in the factory. Nevertheless, before delivery to an airline, each aircraft is also given two or more test flights by trained test pilots from both the manufacturer and the airline. A new wide-body jet costs well over $150 million, and repairs aren’t cheap either, so airlines are extremely careful that the aircraft is in perfect flying condition when they assume ownership.
Everyone knows that the two largest commercial jet airliner companies today are Boeing and Airbus. Here’s the geneaology of some other important airplane manufacturers.
The Glenn L. Martin Company (founded in 1912) merged with American-Marietta Corporation in 1961 to create Martin-Marietta, which in 1995 merged with Lockheed Corporation (originally founded in 1916 as the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company) to form Lockheed Martin. Lockheed built the famous L-1011 “TriStar” wide-body jet in 1972.
Douglas Aircraft Company (founded in 1920) and the McDonnell Aircraft Company (founded in 1939) merged in 1967 to form McDonnell-Douglas. The last Douglas-designed passenger aircraft, the DC-10, rolled out in 1970. All subsequent designs had the “MD” moniker, such as the MD-80, which was originally to be the DC-9 “Super 80.” Boeing acquired McDonnell-Douglas in 1997, and the MD-90 aircraft was given a new name, the Boeing 717.
The airline manufacturing industry relies on a “just in time” inventory system. For example, the jet engines for a Boeing 777 cost about $15 million each, so Boeing does not just have piles of them sitting around. Instead, they arrive at the last stages of the aircraft assembly, just in time to be tested and installed.
Besides, the airlines don’t waste time and money by taking a new jet home to admire it. Instead, they often fly it directly from the factory to an airport to pick up passengers.
The Boeing 747
When the Boeing 747 was first designed in the late 1960s, no one was sure whether the world wanted an airplane that big. True, flying was beginning to become the popular way to travel, and between 1960 and 1966 the number of air passengers nearly doubled to 200 million. But Boeing took an enormous risk, literally betting the future of the company on the success of this aircraft. Pan American Airlines only agreed to buy the first twenty-five 747 aircraft on the condition that Boeing could prove that the airplane would be profitable even if it were only flown with cargo. Fortunately, the 747 became immensely successful flying both cargo and passengers, and today it is the most recognized aircraft in the world.
Here are a few statistics on this famous airplane. (Note that most of the following refers to the Boeing 747-400, which is the only model Boeing currently builds, but which is significantly different from the early models, such as the -100 and the -200.)
The Boeing 747-100 was first flown in 1969. The first passenger flight, from New York to London, was on January 21, 1970. The one millionth passenger flew on a 747 six months later on July 16, 1970.
Most passenger 747s in service today are the 747-400 model: First entered service in 1989.
Length: 231 feet, 10 inches (70.6 meters)
Wingspan: 211 feet, 5 inches (64.4 meters)
Height of tail: 63 feet, 8 inches (19.4 meters)
Width of interior cabin: 20 feet (6.1 meters)
Maximum takeoff weight: 875,000 pounds (396,890 kg)
Maximum fuel load: 57,285 U.S. gallons (or 383,800 pounds, 216,840 l)
Maximum range: 7,325 nautical miles (8,430 statute miles, or 13,570 km)
Typical takeoff speed: 160 knots (180 mph or 290 km/h)
Typical takeoff distance: 10,500 feet (about 2 miles or 3.2 km)
Typical cruise speed: .85 Mach (565 mph or 910 km/h)
Typical landing speed: 140 knots (160 mph or 260 km/h)
Boeing offers three types of 747s: all-passenger, passenger and cargo (called combi), and all-cargo. An average two-class passenger configuration carries 524 passengers; the average three-class configuration carries 416 passengers. In the combi and cargo configurations, the nose can be fitted as a door to facilitate the loading of long and bulky articles.
The flight deck has 365 lights, gauges, and switches (reduced from 971 on earlier 747 models).
There are about 171 miles (274 km) of wiring inside a 747. Covering about 5,600 square feet (525 m2), the wings cover a greater area than a basketball court. Each wing weighs 28,000 pounds (12,700 kg).
The 747-400 has a flexible cabin interior: Seats, class configurations, galleys, and even lavatories can be moved within one or two days.
Over 1,215 Boeing 747s have been built; about 1,100 are still in service.
Boeing 747s have flown over 2.2 billion passengers in the past thirty years.
On the average international 747 flight, an airline must load over 50,000 in-flight service items and 5.5 tons of food.
Like a tree flexing in the wind, the wingtips are designed to bend over 10 feet up or down.
The 747 carries half of all air freight flown worldwide.
The U.S. Postal Service unveiled its thirty-three-cent postage stamp commemorating the 747 in 1999.
Each of the four engines can produce about 60,000 pounds of thrust
The Boeing 747 has five wheel trucks: one in the front of the aircraft, one under the base of each wing, and two under the airplane’s belly. The nose truck has two wheels, while each other truck has four wheels with nonskid, high-pressure tires that can bear almost 425,000 pounds. Safety regulations require that the plane can land safely on only two of the four rear trucks.
Aircraft Maintenance
The airplane you next fly on might be twenty, thirty, or even
forty years old. Does that make you nervous? After all, you can hardly expect to drive 1,000 miles in a vintage 1970 car without a breakdown or two. But if you treated your car as well as airlines treat their airplanes, you could probably drive it your entire life.
A big commercial jet receives about eleven hours of maintenance for every hour it flies. Smaller commuter airplanes, with their simpler designs and systems, may receive only six hours for each hour of flight. No, airplanes don’t break down that often; it’s simply that airlines are heavily invested in making sure their aircraft are always in peak operating condition. Low-level mechanical problems can mean lower fuel efficiency, which can quickly become expensive. (Airlines in the United States alone consume over 10 billion gallons (38 billion liters) of fuel each year; a difference of even 1 percent in efficiency is a matter of millions of gallons.) Of course, more serious mechanical problems cause delays or even accidents, which are extremely expensive, or even disastrous, for the airline.
Each commercial airplane has its own maintenance schedule, based on a certain number of hours in flight and cycles (takeoffs and landings). Mechanics inspect every aircraft at least once each day, looking for obvious problems and giving special attention to concerns logged by the pilots and flight crew (called squawks). If any repairs are needed to an item on the airplane’s official minimum equipment list, the airplane may be kept longer. Then, every six or seven days, two mechanics give the aircraft a more thorough review (sometimes called an A Check), which can usually be performed overnight.
The Flying Book Page 16