"Boeing-707" - passenger aircraft: review, description, characteristics, history of creation and layout of the cabin

To date, Boeing Corporation is a trendsetter in the US aviation industry and one of the world's leading manufacturers of air technology. At one time it was this company that invented the famous "Boeing-707" airplane, thanks to which international air transportation became very popular.

How did Boeing appear?

Boeing was established in the early twentieth century by William Boeing. Initially, the company produced training aircraft and liners for mail delivery. Also, this company was engaged in the creation of various military equipment: bombers, torpedo bombers, fighters.

In 1930, one of the first high-speed planes, called Monomail, was launched, which was used to deliver mail. Later on, the company's developers created the first passenger airliner Boeing-247. Since that moment, Boeing has become a leading manufacturer in civil aircraft construction.

In 1954, the company launched the world's first jet passenger plane Boeing 707. The description, history and characteristics of this aircraft will be discussed in detail below. On the basis of this liner, a line of passenger airplanes will subsequently be issued, which includes Boeing-737, Boeing-747, Boeing-757 and Boeing-767. These models have become leaders in the civil aircraft industry. The total number of cars produced exceeded 6.5 thousand units.

History of the creation of a flying machine

The history of the creation of the liner "Boeing-707" from the very beginning was adventurous. The company-manufacturer decided to invest in its design and creation of more than 16 million dollars, because it was about developing a unique copy of a new generation passenger plane, which was supposed to have a turbojet engine. Due to the high degree of secrecy of this car, she was given the codename "Model 367-80". Among the employees of Boeing, the project was known as Dash 80. And only the top management of the company knew that the future name of the new airliner was Boeing 707.

The plane "Boeing-707" was presented to the public on May 14, 1954. The new aircraft was created on the basis of two models of liners: civil piston Model 377 and military Model KC-97. In its aerodynamic properties, the Boeing-707 model was close to the B-47 Stratojet military jet aircraft, created in 1950.

The first pilot flight was made by the new passenger airliner on July 15, 1954, and on October 13, 1955 the largest air carrier, Pan American, concluded a contract with Boeing for the production of six Boeing 707-120 aircraft, the description and characteristics of which Are given below.

Description of the model "Boeing-707-120"

In the fifties of the twentieth century, passenger aircraft construction began to develop rapidly. In this regard, Boeing acquired a serious rival - the corporation McDonnell Douglas, which was engaged in the development of the jet liner Douglas DC-8. This fact influenced the design process of the Boeing 707 aircraft and made some adjustments. The final result of the development process was called "Boeing-707-120".

From the original model of the aircraft, it was distinguished by the dimensions of the section and the length of the fuselage. These parameters have become larger. Thanks to such technical solutions, designers were able to increase the number of seats in one row and, correspondingly, the number of passenger seats. Also on the airliner were installed new engines, which allowed to make a longer flight range. Now this figure was 5 thousand kilometers.

Regular flights of this "Boeing" model began in August 1958.

Specifications of Boeing-707-120

The length of this aircraft is 44.07 m, height - 12.93 m. The weight of the empty machine reaches 55.58 tons.

The wing of the airliner is characterized by the following indicators: its range is 39.9 m, and the area is 226.3 m ².

The cruising speed of this Boeing model is 1000 km / h. The maximum altitude of the flight is 11.9 km.

The crew of Boeing-707-120 consists of three people.

The number of passenger seats is from 110 to 179, depending on the class.

Description of "Boeing-707-138"

The passenger airliner "Boeing-707-138" was built on the special order of the Australian airline Qantas. The engineers of Boeing were tasked with developing a special version of the 707-120 aircraft, which would be able to carry out ultra-long flights.

The end result of the work was the creation of a passenger liner with a fuselage shortened in the tail part. Additionally, the payload was reduced and another fuel tank was installed. This model of the Boeing 707 was released in limited quantities - only 7 units.

Description of "Boeing-707-320"

At the end of 1955, the engineering staff of Boeing began work on the creation of a passenger airplane that could carry out intercontinental flights. The new airliner was named Boeing-707-320. Its fuselage was enlarged, due to which the length of the aircraft became larger in comparison with the model 707-120. The fuel tank of the liner has become more spacious. The wing span also increased. The machine was equipped with high-power engines. The new "Boeing-707-320" aircraft was the most popular among its class.

Specifications of Boeing-707-320

The length of this airliner is 46.61 m, height - 12.93 m. The weight of the empty aircraft reaches 65.4 tonnes.

The wing of the aircraft is characterized by the following indicators: its range is 44.42 m, and the area - 283 m ².

The cruising speed of this Boeing model is 920 km / h. The maximum altitude of the flight is 11.9 km.

The crew of "Boeing-707-320" consists of three people.

The number of passenger seats is from 147 to 189, depending on the class.

"Boeing-707": layout of the passenger compartment, seats and passenger reviews

Let's look at what this liner is from within. The photo below shows a typical plan for the location of the seats and auxiliary premises for the Boeing 707 aircraft.

The layout of the cabin of this liner contains the following notation:

• B - buffet;
• C - wardrobe;
• G - kitchen;
• L - toilet;
• LC - compartment for hand luggage;
• M - movie screen;
• S is a warehouse.

The gray color in the picture indicates the cockpit of the Boeing 707 aircraft.

The passenger cabin contains 151 passenger seats, 16 of which are located in the first class (yellow and orange zones in the photo), and 135 more in the second (blue and green area).

In the aircraft interior layout, the non-smoking areas are marked in yellow and blue. These include the ranks from the first to the second and from the fifth to the eighteenth. Areas for smokers are highlighted in orange and green. These are the ranks from the third to the fourth and from the nineteenth to the twenty-eighth.

Reviews of passengers of the Boeing-707 are positive, despite the fact that such a car has long been withdrawn from production. This airliner on the quality of flights can successfully compete with many modern aircraft.

Other modifications of "Boeing-707"

In addition to the passenger version of this aircraft, Boeing also produced other modifications for various purposes.

For example, based on this model, the world's first airplane-tanker KS-135 was created, which was used by the air forces of various countries. This liner for several decades served in the designated units of the United States, France, Turkey and other states.

Another modification of the "Boeing-707" was a long-range radar detection aircraft called E-3 AWACS. This airliner was created specifically for the US Air Force and carried out work on the detection of enemy aircraft by scanning the space in an inclined-return way.

Also on the basis of the Boeing 707 was built a special-purpose aircraft VC-137, which was board number 1 and was used to transport US presidents. Light saw only two such liner. At the moment they are both in the US Air Force Museum.

Based on the "Boeing-707" aircraft, a number of military transport modifications of such an airliner were created. All these machines, despite their considerable age, are now successfully coping with the tasks assigned to them.

Boeing 707 John Travolta

The famous actor John Travolta is the owner of "Boeing-707". A photo of a happy pilot with his airliner can be seen below.

The plane John Travolta fell in love at a young age. Even then he liked to book tickets for his family members. The first flight of John brought him a lot of impressions. After that, Travolta spent some time in the city of aviators, in which the central street was replaced by an airstrip.

In 2003, the actor built his own house in the form of an airport. Next to the structure is an airstrip with a length of 700 meters. It is built for personal travolta aircraft. The actor's favorite is Boeing 707, which is named after the children of John: Jett Clipper Ella. Inside the airliner there are three living rooms, several bedrooms, an office. This plane became the property of the actor in 2002, and Travolta is not going to part with his "Boeing", at least in the near future.

The most mysterious air crash "Boeing-707"

Despite the fact that the airplane model was very successful, the catastrophe with her participation still happened. During the entire operation of such airliners, the crash suffered 194 machines of various modifications. The most mysterious of all these tragic stories remains the one that occurred on September 2, 1983. It was then that the Boeing 707, owned by Korean Air Lines from South Korea, was shot down over the territory of the USSR by a SU-15 fighter under the control of a Soviet pilot.

According to the official version, the airliner violated the USSR airspace and flew over important classified military targets. The crew of Boeing refused to fulfill the command to land the aircraft at the nearest airfield, as a result of which the ship was shot down and crashed in the southwestern part of Sakhalin Island. As a result of the accident, all passengers and crew members were killed. On board there were also political figures of the USA. As a result of this incident, an international scandal broke out. To this day, the true reason for the death of the Boeing-707 on 2.09.1983, remains unclear.

Completion of the Boeing-707 era

By the early 1970s, the airliner had stopped coping with the increased number of passengers by that time. The engineers of the firm could not further extend the fuselage for technical reasons. The work on modernization has become economically unjustified. After all, to solve this problem, it would be necessary to create new engines, increase distances between the chassis of the aircraft and make other design changes. In addition, the Boeing 707 was physically obsolete, too noisy and uneconomical in terms of fuel. Improve the aircraft did not work. So, it was necessary to invent a worthy replacement. So there was a new airliner "Boeing-747", which accommodated more passengers and made flights to longer distances.

By the mid-1970s, the desire to acquire such a device revealed fewer companies. Air carriers of Europe and the United States gradually began to withdraw from the use of this model. The main states that still operated such a plane were the developing countries of Asia, Africa and South America. In 1978, the serial production of Boeing-707 was completed, and in 1983, its last regular flight to the United States took place.

By the late 1990s, such an aircraft was used in Africa and South America. His main task was cargo transportation. As of the beginning of 2010, 155 Boeing 707s were in operation in the world. These were mostly military modifications. In our time, the only air carrier that uses such a passenger plane, remains the Iranian company Saha Air.

Conclusion

Boeing 707 - passenger aircraft with four jet engines. In 1954, this airliner was the first to commence intercontinental flights. This model of "Boeing" was the most successful among other modifications of the aircraft of that time. It quickly gained popularity. However, by the beginning of the seventies of the twentieth century, the Boeing 707 was the victim of its success. He no longer cope with the tasks assigned to him to transport a sufficient number of passengers for long distances. Modernize this airliner was economically unprofitable, so it was replaced by new models of "Boeing".