According to aviation analytics firm Cirium at the end of 2022, only 44 passenger versions of the iconic plane are still in service. However, over 300 Boeing 747 freighters remain in use. The last 747 “This monumental day is a testament to the generations of Boeing employees who brought to...
One key to understanding variations in aircraft prices is looking ahead to a plane’s future. If there’s a big (sometimes really big!) repair bill on the horizon, the purchase price will be substantially lower. For private-usePart 91 aircraft, there are no strict overhaul requirements. But...
But before the 747 could get off the ground, Boeing and its then-President and Chairman of the Board,William M. Allen, needed to build a facility that was huge enough to accommodate the construction of the massive plane. Boeing considered building a new plant in California, but the 747's ...
The Boeing 737 is the most common commercial aircraft in service. To me, there are a couple most obvious signs that a plane is a 737, as opposed to an A220 or A320. One method is to look at the cockpit windows. The 737 has six cockpit windows (which is standard), and the window ...
For those who don’t travel at the pointy end of the plane nor have a wallet full of shiny gold cards, you may need to buy your way into the lounge… Paid-for Airport Lounge Access There are various ways of purchasing airport lounge access if you are not flying business or first class...
The Enterprise separates from a Boeing 747 to begin one of its flight and landing tests Photo courtesy NASA Near the end of the Apollo space program, NASA officials were looking at the future of the American space program. They were using one-shot, disposable rockets. What they needed...
Completing flight training is a major accomplishment, and one that everyone should be proud of. Imagine walking through the doors of PEA having never flown a plane, and leaving with every license and certificate from Private Pilot to Flight Instructor Ratings, ready to take on the skies and sec...
The amount of power a piston engine makes is directly related to how big the cylinder is and how far the piston moves; unless you use hefty cylinders and pistons (or many of them), you're limited to producing relatively modest amounts of power. If your piston engine is powering a plane...
Can you get Wi-Fi on a plane over the ocean? Airplanes can provide Wi-Fi when flying over oceans if they are supplied by a satellite operating system. This is where signals from ground units are beamed to satellites in orbit, which then relay these signals to an airplane even when travel...
A turbofan is the turducken of engines -- essentially a turbojet wrapped in a larger cowling with a big fan slapped on its front. The fan pulls in more air, which the engine then splits into two streams: Some air moves through the nested turbojet, while the rest flows through the ...