Boeing 747

what is it?

The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. It was conceived in response to the demand of Pan Am for a jet 2+1⁄2 times the size of the 707, which had been introduced in October 1958, to reduce the airline's seat cost by 30%. The design team was led by Joe Sutter, who left the 737 development program in 1965 to design the 747.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 jet engines · low wing · retractable tricycle gear · 59.6 m wingspan

base stats

• range 12,149 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 366passengers
• size 377.8 tmax take-off weight
• built 1,574made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 57 years ago, in 1969.
• 🚗Wingspan of 59.6 m: about 13 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 63 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 12,149 km: Amsterdam to New York (≈5,850 km) without stopping.

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1969-02-09

introduced

1970

number built

1,574

role

wide-body jet airliner

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Boeing Commercial Airplanes

engines

4× Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4G2

crew

3

passengers

366

length

68.6 m

wingspan

59.6 m

height

19.6 m

max take-off weight

377.8 t

top speed

—

range

12,149 km

wings

low wing

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

ICAO code

B741, B742, B743, B74R

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family