Airplane Review (Boeing 747-400) by a Pilot : A first for Team-BHP! Review of an airplane is something is definitely a first for me. Have flown 8 different types from 2 to 400+ seater Boeing 747 Jumbo Jets. My favourite, I must say is what I fly now the 747-400.
First the specs:
Minimum crew 2 Pilots, 12 Cabin Crew (to man each door of the cabin, 10 doors on the main deck, 2 on the upper deck).
Max Passenger capacity 423 (12 First Class,26 Executive Class, 385 Economy Class)
Maximum Take off Weight 377.8 tons
Max Fuel Capacity 153 Tons (Specific gravity plays a huge role!)
Max Range about 14000 Kms (Average fuel burn about 10tons/hr)
No. of Engines 4, Pratt & Whitney Turbofan engines 56000 lbs of thrust/engine, all engines have thrust reversers for high speed deceleration.
Max Speed about 1150 Km/hr (We fly on a speed called Mach number. Mach 1 being the speed of sound, standard cruise is Mach 0.86 for the airplane, Never Exceed Speed being 0.92)
Maximum Altitude capability 45100 feet.
Length 213 feet Wingspan 231 feet. Height of Cockpit 60 feet.
16 main wheels and 2 nose gear wheels. Main landing gear are 4 trucks of 4 wheels each. All main landing gear wheels equipped with AntiSkid System and Autobrakes.
4 hydraulic systems, 3 airconditioning systems, 4 pressurization systems all controlled automatically with 2 controllers which alternate between flights.
It has a full glass cockpit (Glass cockpit meaning no dials and meters for instruments, everything is displayed on LCD screens in a logical format) PFD=Primary Flight Display, ND=Navigation Display EICAS=Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System. These three are the basics of a glass cockpit. It also has 3 Autopilots for system redundancy. Capable of CAT III operations and automatic landings.
Handling a heavy jet is done with a lot of touch and feel, no harsh control inputs. She is a big lady and you have to treat her right else she will bite you so bad that you wont know what hit you! The training is done on a 6 axis simulator which can duplicate everything that can possibly happen in an airplane. The visuals are very accurate and you can see the traffic on the Western Express Highway in Bombay when you come in to land! The airplane is easier to fly than the simulator except for one important detail – the airplane does not have a pause button! As one of my first instructors had told me – never let an airplane take you to a place where your mind has not gone 5 minutes before..
The Boeing philosophy of designing airplanes is quite different from Airbus. Both manufacturers design very safe airplanes, but from a pilots point of view (and I have flown an Airbus previously) I would say that a Boeing gives more control to the pilots whereas an Airbus has a computer watching what you do at all times (like big brother!). A Boeing is more fun to fly. My friends and colleagues who fly Airbus airplanes may differ, but this is my review! |