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Aviation History
1968
1968-1 - 0017.PDF
924 AIR TRANSPORT. HIGHER-PAYLOAD 747 AIRFRAME weight reduction, structural improvements and more powerful engines have made possible higher payloads for the newly announced Boeing 747B versions. The 747B will use 47,0001b-thrust Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7W turbofans from January 1972, although the first few aircraft of this type, to be delivered in 1971, will be powered by JT9D-3W engines of 45,0001b thrust Some later versions of the early production 710,0001b 747s will also have -3W engines, which can be retrospectively modified to *7W performance standards. Airlines which have already ordered Boeing 747s may possibly be able to have them switched to 747Bs, but this will depend very much on the timing of the order and request to change. The new longer-range 747B will have the same dimensions as the present 747 but the gross weight will be 775,0001b. Fuel capacity has been raised by some 2,000 US gal. Previous growth anticipated would have taken the 747 to a gross weight of only 733,0001b. The 747B will become available for delivery during the first six months of 1971, at a price approximately $1 million (£417,000) more than that quoted for the standard 747. It will have mechanised cargo-handling systems on both the upper (main) decks and in the lower holds. The nose will swing up to allow pallets, or 8ft by 8ft containers, in lengths up to 40ft to be loaded straight in on the motorised roller system. It should be possible, with two operators, to load and unload a 747B in half an hour. With contoured containers on the lower deck and pallets on the upper deck, Boeing says the 747B will carry about 260,0001b of payload a distance of 3,100 statute miles. Even under adverse headwind conditions it will carry more than 200,0001b net payload on the 3,920-mile London-New York sector. Direct operating costs at structural-limit payloads are expected to be 32 per cent lower than those of the Boeing 707. The convertible 747B with special equipment and greater FLIGHT International, 5 December (968 versatility will carry 180,0001b of payload—which is still better than that offered for earlier 747 convertible aircraft. As a passenger aircraft, the 747B convertible will be able to carry 374 passengers and baggage 6,350 miles, or it will carry the full passenger and baggage load, plus 40,0001b of cargo, on the 5,200-mile Rome to New York sector under adverse wind conditions. Despite the higher weight the 747B will retain the take-off and cruising performance of the 710,0001b model. TRAVEL TRUST SIGNS WITH DAN-AIR THE European inclusive-tour programme of Mr Harold Bamberg's Travel Trust group of tour operators has been awarded to Dan-Air, following the demise of British Eagle, which was to have been responsible for the flights. Dan-Air has contracted to complete the 1969 programme with Comets, and is signing a three-year time-charter agreement with Travel Trust for die years 1970-72, under which it will provide Comets and other more modern equipment, possibly One-Elevens. The value of the contract to the airline is £6-7 million. The Travel Trust group includes Lunn-Poly and Everyman. Mr Bamberg has been negotiating for the sale of the group with, among others, the Government-owned Transport Holding Company, which also owns Thomas Cook; an announcement about a sale was believed to be imminent as Flight went to press. The fact that Travel Trust did not contract with BEA, or with Cambrian or BKS, both of them BEA subsidiaries, raised some speculation that a buyer other than Transport Holding Company might be involved. The practical benefit to Travel Trust customers is that all tours are to be flown by jet; originally, 90 per cent of the Everyman programme would have been flown with British Eagle Britannias. More important to the public is the fact that prices will be maintained according to the published pro grammes, and schedules will be very little altered. BEA was one of the many airlines vying to take* over the Travel Trust programme, and the final choice was between Dan-Air and the corporation. A major problem of the realloca tion of the IT programme was the very favourable charter rates which Travel Trust had been obtaining with its associated The japan Air Lines' DC-8-62 being lifted out of the water and mud of San Francisco Boy, after its ditching on November 22, by four water- borne cranes before being taken on barges to San Francisco Airport and towed on its own undercarriage to the United Air Lines main tenance base. It may be flying again in six months. See story on opposite page
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