5 replies to this topic

[mariner]

I just posted this in the Nostalgia forum bt maybe its worth posting here too

 

Today the death of one of my all time engineering heroes was annouced. Joe Sutter " father of the Boeing 747" has died at age 95.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk...siness-37231980

 

His creation first flew in 1969 and it is still in production at his death 47 years later - incredible.

 

His team were in a way the second string as Boeing was focussed on their SST but armed with mainly slides rules and manual drafting boards they designed the 747 in 29 months.

 

If their efforts had been good, or even just reasonable, they would have done well with such simple tools but they actually created, not only one of the world's greatest planes, but something which did change peoples ability to see the world.

 

I wil long remember being in 747 juddering to a halt at the end of Hong Kong's Kai Tak airport's only runway right out in the harbour and seeing the wings hanging out over the sea as it turned. Then as you pulled onto the apron long haul 747's were jammed into every parking space.

Imagine your grandkids asking "what did you do at work Grandad?" and replying  " I designed the Boeing 747" !

[gruntguru]

 

Imagine your grandkids asking "what did you do at work Grandad?" and replying  " I designed the Boeing 747"

 . . paraphrasing - "I changed the world"

[bigleagueslider]

The 747 program development costs almost bankrupted the Boeing Commercial Aircraft business. There were lots of development problems with both the airframe and engines, but ultimately the aircraft produced a large profit for Boeing.

 

Of course, the most profitable aircraft model for Boeing, by far, has been the 737.

[Kelpiecross]

. . paraphrasing - "I changed the world"

The 707 changed the world - the 747 continued the change.

[imaginesix]

I bet today's airframes put the 747's torsional rigidity to shame.

[Allan Lupton]

The 747 program development costs almost bankrupted the Boeing Commercial Aircraft business.

A senior Boeing man, I think it was Jack Steiner, referred to the decision to go ahead with the 747 as "betting the company" and that remains the best and simplest statement of the true enormity of it all.

Only 20 years later we began to find that aeroplane launch costs had escalated so much that even quite modest steps forward were in the same league of risk.