A "keel" is the lowest part of the body, usually on the front to rear centerline, in the case of a single hull vessel. ( ie a ship) Same thing on an aircraft. It is sometimes straight, sometimes curved, and sometimes (in the case of a racing sailboat) angular The area above the "D" in United, is called a "turtleback", for the way the 3-dimensional curves of a turtle's back are formed. The part right below the flight deck (in red) is "First Class", see attachment.... right up to the Movie screen in the nose. The rest area I believe, is the area just under the staircase, on the main deck. But, I think some models may vary...? Image Unavailable, Please Login
Nah! I wuz just two kwik two klik.... It seems Spasso was correct too! What'd you do Switches??? Pass down your text books? This, from a date some 50 years earlier than my posting is dated stanchion 1343, from O.Fr. estanchon "prop, brace, support" (Fr. étançon), probably from estant "upright," from prp. of ester "be upright, stand," from L. stare "to stand," from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). From: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=stanchion
The area above the word" United" is the UPPER DECK. The area aft of the letter "D" is where the rest areas are located. That's the overhead above the passenger comprtment. The keel line is the lowermost point of the fuselage where the vertical centerline ( Buttock line 0 ) intercepts the bottom contour of the fuselage. In the digital world now, those old terms have become X=Stations, Y=Buttocklines, Z=Waterlines. So, any point in the airplane can be located by x,y,z, coordinates down to the 12th decimal point if necessary. The 777 was designed this way, the first time where it was all done in the CATIA computer system. One dataset was used to configure the loft, design all the sheet metal parts, and to machine all fittings. It was a snap together airplane and one of Boeings finest. BUT looking at that picture that you found of the United 747 really pulled at me because it is still one beautiful airplane and I can remember many hours of overtime and sweat to get number one out the door on time. I am proud that I ended my carrer on the 777 where we sat before a screen and designed the whole damned airplane AND it worked ! AND it's a great airplane ! Switches
Forget about the upper deck of the 747, especially the part above the "D". Look AFT of the upper deck on the 747 and you will see a typical "round" fuselage like you would see on all airliners of any size, all the way back to the rear passenger doors. The rest areas are located in that area I described above, AFT OF THE HUMP. The diameter of the fuselage is so big that if one were to climb up above the ceiling in the MAIN passenger cabin that person could stand straight up. In the 777, one option is an 8 person crew rest in the overhead space above the MAIN passenger cabin back by the very LAST (aft) passenger doors. Sometimes they put a 6 man crew rest overhead in the body section above the wings. They put a 2 man, "Pilots only" crew rest in the ceiling area just aft of the FIRST SET (front) of doors, (aft of the cockpit) It's pretty much the same on a 747 EXCEPT, there are NO crew rest areas between the MAIN deck and the UPPER deck (hump). I can just imagine what kind of shenanigans will be happening "upstairs" on those long flights.
That's pretty incredible! From the outside, it doesn't look that big back there to be able to stand up. Sometimes I forget just how big this plane really is (last time I flew on a 744 was in 2000). Here's a pic of a L-1011. Lots of headroom above these women's heads. http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/8296/l1011airjamaicaoy5.jpg
Any reason you left out the 747-8 BBJ? You think that's justified, but not a 777? But in all seriousness, they're mainly used by corporations, not individuals, as Han Solo said earlier.
The same people that would opt for a 747 but looking for something a little smaller and more economical to run. The 777 has a lower seat cost per mile than the 747, fewer engines, lower maintenance but cruises nearly as fast and can fly the same distance.
Iraq has (had?) a 747 for the government. All I remember was that it was green. Japan has two 744s for the government/president/prime minister. One is a back up that follows. Of course the US has two 747s. One as the back up and it follows along as well, but I don't think all the time. Correct me if I'm wrong on that. Oman has a VIP 747-SP, but I think it's for sale in AZ right now. UAE has two VIP 747s. A 744 and a 747-SP. There's also one in Ohio I think. Belongs to some reverend. It's a 747-SP and only flies about 5 times a year. So that's 9 of 22 (supposedly). Not sure if the 747s you can charter are included in that. I think the ones owned by European, but I think they scrapped their 747s.
Here is a link to the Boeing Magazine, "Frontiers". http://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/ Some good articles on the 787 logistics and pictures. http://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/i_ca01.pdf There is also an article about the start-up of the 747 program and the plant being built around it AT THE SAME TIME the A/P was being built. http://www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/mainfeature.pdf These links maybe only be good for June 2007
Any ideas on how long the 787, 777, and 747 will be in service? Per the first link, the 747 has been around for 40 years. With the 747-8 coming out, how much longer do you think it will go? It will be incredible if they can squeeze out 60 more years to make it a round 100. 777 is still relatively new and of course 787 will be out in little bit.
Nobody can really know how long any plane will be around (look at the B-52!, 50 years or so). It all depends on whether technology eclipses the older planes by a big enough margin to make the older ones obsolete. Case in point, the 777 put the old 747 out of the passenger business more or less. It can haul almost as many people nearly as fast for the same distance (or farther) and do it for lower cost. The newer 747-8 series will bring it back to life because of the new technology incorporated in the design. Same with the B-52. The current ones flying are far more capable than the early ones. Thanks to the 747's high gross weight capabilities, high mach cruise, flip-up nose and reasonable cost per mile it still shines as a good freighter and will continue to do so until a reasonably priced, better performing aircraft becomes available. Many freight operations around the world are currently retiring older 747's used for package and container freight and replacing them with new 777 freighters. So you see, there is a continuing evolution of technology, demand, changing requirements and missions. Airbus is doing the same thing and offer their own designs to fill the niches they think need filling according to their business philosophies. The competition is healthy for the industry and spurs newer and better efforts by both companies. I really enjoy watching all of this it will be VERY interesting to see how it all pans out.
As of today the 787 is in the paint hangar. They rolled it out last night. Go here for photos, http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/3478111/
After the ceremony they will roll it back into final assembly and continue installation and testing of flight systems. At the same time they will outfit the plane with flight test equipment which will include thousands of stress and system sensors throughout the airplane. After many test flights they will install pallets of water barrels to simulate passenger load to help determine operational limits of the aircraft.
