Question for the aeronautical engineers.

I'm no engineer, but wouldn't it just be a matter of perspective?
It looks to be approximately 30 feet from the cockpit to the leading edge of the wing to the fuselage, whereas it's about 45 feet on the 747. Wing sweeps look to range from 25 degrees for the 737 & 757 to 37.5 for the 747. I wonder if you can see the wings on a short 737? It also has to do with the angle of the window in relation to the fuselage.

 

Greater distance from cockpit to the wings n the other planes listed. On an early 707 (based on the KC-135) you probably could also.

A rear-engined plane, such as a 727 or DC-9 (717) has the wings located relatively rearward on the fuselage for CG reasons, so none of those wings would be visible.

 

Remember that the KC-135 (and also the 707) was never stretched, because the landing gear was too short for that. Nearly all of the later types were stretched, some (like the 757 and 767) even before the shorter versions were ever built.

I've always thought that airline pilots should have access to images from cameras pointing at the engines, landing gear and control surfaces, so that they could monitor their positions, especially if a warning light in the cockpit indicated a malfunction that might or might not represent a real problem, and could endanger the aircraft.

Just think: if the DC-10 in Chicago that physically lost an engine on takeoff, ripping out hydraulic lines that caused the slats to retract on one wing, had been thus equipped, the pilots might have known the real situation in enough time to save the aircraft (and 275 lives).

 

The 707 had a 30 deg, sweep and the 707-320 series was stretched from the 120 but not by much. The angle of view from the flight deck sometimes isn't opened enough if the nose has been stretched and the wings are swept a lot.. Even more so in something like a727 or MD 90 with the wings so far aft.

 

On the 747-400, you can see all of engine #1 if you press your head against the window. On the -8, you can't. You can just see the wing outboard of #1. Engine #4 if you're on the right side. Here's a picture with the iphone pressed up against the window. It allows you to see #1, but you can't really get this view.

Departing SFO
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It's the length of the fuselage between the wing and the cockpit...