American Airlines - Boeing 707-123 Wallpapers
American Airlines - Boeing 707-123 Wallpapers for your desktop, free to download
American Airlines - Boeing 707-123 Wallpapers for your desktop, free to download
American Airlines - Boeing 707-123 [br]The Boeing 707 is a four engined commercial passenger jet aircraft developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Although it was not the first commercial jet airliner in service (that distinction belongs to the De Havilland Comet), it was the first to be commercially successful, and is credited by many as ushering in the "Jet Age", as well as being the first of Boeing's 7x7 range of airliners. The 707 was based on a prototype Boeing aircraft known as the Boeing 367-80. The "Dash 80," as it was called within Boeing, cost $16 million to develop and took less than two years from project launch in 1952 to rollout on May 14, 1954. The prototype was the basis for both the KC-135, an air tanker used by the United States Air Force, and the 707. To enable the fitting of six-abreast seats, the 707's fuselage was widened by 6 inches (150 mm) compared to the original 367-80. Pan Am was the first airline to operate the 707; the aircraft's first commercial flight was from New York to Paris on October 26, 1958. American Airlines operated the first transcontinental 707 flight on January 25, 1959. Many other airlines followed, and the 707 quickly became the most popular jetliner of its time, edging out its main competitor, the Douglas DC-8. As the 1960s drew to a close, the exponential growth in air travel led to the 707 being a victim of its own success. It had become obvious that the 707 was now too small to handle the passenger densities on the routes for which it was designed. Stretching the fuselage was not a viable option because the 707's limited ground clearance made the installation of a larger undercarriage almost impossible. Boeing's answer to the problem was the first twin aisle airliner - the 747. The 707's first-generation engine technology was also rapidly becoming obsolete in the areas of noise and fuel economy. Production of the passenger 707 ended in 1978 (the 767 acted as its partial replacement). In total, 1,010 707s were built for civil use. The military versions remained in production until 1991. [br]Traces of the 707 are still in many of Boeing's current products, most notably the 737, which uses a modified version of the 707's fuselage. In fact, if the 707 were still in production it would have probably evolved into what is now the 737-900, which is arguably a modernized 707 with two Turbofan high bypass ratio engines replacing the original four Turbojet engines. Interestingly the Chinese government sponsored development of the Shanghai Y-10 during the 1970s, which was a near carbon-copy of the 707. [br]General characteristics: [br]Wingspan: 130' 10"; Length: 144' 6"; Height: 41' 7"; Weight: 122,533 lb. (empty); Engines: four 13,500 lb. thrust P & W; Number of passengers: 181 [br]Performance: Cruising speed: 600 mph; Max.Altitude: 41,000 feet; Range: 3000 miles. [br]