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Could’ve put some more effort in with the paint job . . .
I can still remember when the 747-400 was the cutting edge of air travel. They seem so old fashioned now.
Could’ve put some more effort in with the paint job . . .
Yeah, it looks like an old Vauxhall that someone has put together from a bunch of old write-offs.
It's outlasted the A380 in terms of production. 👍
I thought they had stopped making them years ago!
Then you have the Airbus A380 that was only introduced in October 2007 and production has already stopped.
If i remember correctly they stooped buildint passenger models years ago but kept the cargo version in production until now.
Very sad day for aviation. They will be still be flying for years to come thankfully.
It hasn't been painted yet for anyone wondering why it's green.
😀
I was on the production ramp up program for the "Last" planned upgrade to the 747 engines when i started working. (1996). Because Boeing were changing their focus and couldn't see 747 orders continuing much past the current ones (which would have finished being delivered in 2001 IIRC)
2 years later i was on the engineering dev. team for the next "Last" upgrade to the 747 engines... and a parallel program to put a next gen engine onto the 747 (that one never got to production).
When i quit, another 2 years later, we were starting the layouts for another "Last ever" upgrade to the 747 engines, as Boeing, by that point only had orders to keep production going for another 4-5 years.
AFAIK, there were at least another 3 rounds of "last upgrade ever..."
The last of the "classic" planes.
Aircraft now are really dull, you look up at something going overhead and most of the time have no idea - it's just a dull 2-engine thing that looks like every other 2-engine thing.
But a Jumbo. You always stop and look up at a Jumbo. Everyone knows a Jumbo
Saw a few going in and out of LA when I transited there a couple of months ago. Time at the runway view area well spent.
Saw a video about the new B-21 (I think). It was mentioned that the B-52 is being updated (again) to give it another 20/30 years, so will have been in service for over 80 years!
Lufthansa is rolling out A380s again for a bit
The last of the “classic” planes.
Aircraft now are really dull, you look up at something going overhead and most of the time have no idea – it’s just a dull 2-engine thing that looks like every other 2-engine thing.
But a Jumbo. You always stop and look up at a Jumbo. Everyone knows a Jumbo
I heard Gillette are going to do one with 6 engines
we were lucky enough to fly on the top deck of the last every Virgin 747 flight to Barbados pre-covid. I thought we'd never fly on a 747 again, but Jnr is off to Japan in Feb with his School and the return trip is on a Lufthansa 747, assuming it doesnt change. Even at 13 he recognises the significance.
Saw a video about the new B-21 (I think). It was mentioned that the B-52 is being updated (again) to give it another 20/30 years, so will have been in service for over 80 years!
aircraft design hasn't really advanced huge leaps and bounds for this type of aircraft, these are built for endurance and stability, same as a 747, the main changes are just making them more efficient, updating avionics and so on, the biggest issue is ageing aircraft and airframe life, hence why you get these mid life upgrades to push the fleet out another 30 years.
aircraft design hasn’t really advanced huge leaps and bounds for this type of aircraft, these are built for endurance and stability, same as a 747
Yeah, pretty much all modern airliners are variations on the Boeing 707. Constant refinements to the details, but if the 707 designers saw a modern airliner, the basic concept would be utterly familiar. Same with the Mini - it set the basic layout of modern cars. Constant improvements in details and materials, but most modern cars are variations on what the Mini did.
variations on the Boeing 707
I'd argue Comet. But yes. Subsonic aerodynamics are a well known quantity with a lot of history of 'this kind of airplane' refining what the outline and shape of them are.
Materials are one area seeing big changes, composites are in, metal less so. 3d printed metal alloy components are in engines. Engine efficiency is up too.
I’d argue Comet.
Podded engines were a big maintenance advantage over burying them in the wings. B707 had swept wings and podded engines. All large airliners have followed that pattern.
Funny enough I had this picture stored from a previous presentation I gave about incremental improvement
Architecturally it may look like incremental development, but there are and have been significant step changes in design that are largely hidden to the uninitiated. Aeroelastic tailoring, flight, fuel and landing systems, high lift control and actuation, bleedless systems, comminications ans sensing to name but a few.
Saying that, it took the aviation industry almost 70 years of design development and regulation change to converge to a design optimal for use/production/maintenance/etc…now after a further 40y we’re approaching a plateaux.
A better analogy to the axe above would be a corded telephone to a smartphone.
Could’ve put some more effort in with the paint job . . .
Yeah, it looks like an old Vauxhall that someone has put together from a bunch of old write-offs.
The green is an acid-etch primer, or something similar, to protect the alloy skin before the final paint livery is applied.
Saw a video about the new B-21 (I think). It was mentioned that the B-52 is being updated (again) to give it another 20/30 years, so will have been in service for over 80 years!
The B-52 is having a bunch of new upgrades; not so long ago the old-style bomb-bays were replaced with rotary ones, enabling the plane to carry a wider range of internal munitions, which allows it to carry more, without underwing pylons, which keeps the airframe cleaner, so more efficient. Now it’s being fitted out with Rolls-Royce engines, ones which are common across a wide range of jets like Bombardier, and others used by the USAF and civilian aviation, they’re going into bigger pods with shorter pylons, and the planes with be quieter, and even more fuel efficient, then they’re going to be fitted with a whole new avionics suite, with an all-screen cockpit system, based on the F-35, which will allow more integrated communications between the bombers, fighter escorts and loyal-wingman drones. It’s entirely possible the BUFFS will be a century old and still flying alongside the new B-21’s, while the B-1’s and B-2’s will have been scrapped
Here’s an article about the latest developments, with some renders showing how the F-130 engines will look, along with the smoother nose.
I genuinely wonder what proportion of the components of the B52s are original and how much has been replaced or upgraded.
B52s as The Sugababes. Interesting.
The green is an acid-etch primer, or something similar, to protect the alloy skin before the final paint livery is applied.
Not quite - there is a zinc coating on the aircraft, but the green you can see is plastic which is there to protect the zinc coating during assembly and initial movement. The plastic wrap will be stripped during first paint prep. Airbus don't often do this anymore as it's quite wasteful, but it may still be employed for certain lines and components.