| Commercial aircraft are the result of the airline | | | | been crucial, but the type's twin-engine economy |
| requirements which shape them, attempting to | | | | would render them more profitable. |
| fulfill, as completely and cost-effectively as | | | | The stretched version, sharing the same pilot |
| possible, the particular combination of mission | | | | type rating as the baseline aircraft, would result in |
| goals. For airliner-type aircraft, these include two | | | | a 777 family, meeting several range and capacity |
| primary parameters: payload, comprised of | | | | needs. |
| passengers, baggage, cargo, and mail, and range, | | | | Officially announced at the 1995 Paris Air Show |
| which enables a carrier to offer nonstop service | | | | after receiving 31 orders from Cathay Pacific, |
| between specific city pairs. | | | | Korean Air, Thai Airways International, and ANA, |
| Aircraft configurations are, in essence, design | | | | the elongated variant, designated 777-300, had |
| solutions to intended operating missions and hence | | | | featured a ten-frame forward and nine-frame aft |
| vary according to fuselage length and width; | | | | fuselage insertion, to ensure an optimum balance |
| wingspan, planform, and sweepback; engine type, | | | | and center of gravity and to continue to obtain |
| thrust, and mounting; and horizontal and vertical | | | | required take off rotation angles with the existing |
| tail location and size. | | | | 777-200 undercarriage, increasing its maximum, |
| The 777 traces its origins to 1986 when Boeing | | | | single-class passenger capacity to 550. In order to |
| had first determined the need for a widebody | | | | be able to demonstrate evacuation speed with |
| design sandwiched, in capacity, between its | | | | this number, two type A overwing exit doors had |
| existing 767-300 and 747-400 to replace the | | | | been inserted. Fuselage section, inboard wing, and |
| McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 and Lockheed L-1011 | | | | nose and main gear strengthening had catered to |
| trijets. Although initial configurations, all designed | | | | the increased structural weight, while a tailskid had |
| 767-X, had closely resembled its predecessor 767 | | | | protected the fuselage underside from excessive |
| with a larger capacity and winglets, it had quickly | | | | take off angles. |
| become apparent that an all-new design, the | | | | Because of the unprecedentedly long wheelbase, |
| seventh in the Boeing Commercial Airplane | | | | a belly- and horizontal stabilizer-mounted "ground |
| Company line, would be needed after a last-ditch | | | | maneuvering camera system," or "GMCS," had |
| iteration had featured a winglet-equipped 767 with | | | | provided electronic images to cockpit crew to |
| a 757 fuselage graphed on to its aft section, | | | | facilitate taxiing and turning. |
| producing a semi-double decker. Aside from the | | | | The 777-300, with a 242.4-foot overall length, but |
| aerodynamic drag considerations, the existing | | | | the same 199.11-foot wingspan, had first flown on |
| underfloor baggage, cargo, and mail volume would | | | | October 16, 1997 with 82,800-thrust-pound Rolls |
| have been inadequate for its projected capacity. | | | | Royce Trent 892 engines, its test pilots reporting |
| Because of increasingly more reliable and higher | | | | taxiing differences which had been augmented by |
| capacity turbofans, the new aircraft could, like the | | | | its ground maneuvering camera system, but |
| 767, be configured round two of them. | | | | inflight characteristics which had been virtually the |
| Boeing Board of Director authority to offer the | | | | same as those of the -200 after its nearly |
| new design, still designated 767-X, had been | | | | four-hour inaugural flight. |
| granted on December 8, 1989 for an aircraft | | | | The 777-300's certification program, which had |
| which had been 16 feet longer, 41 inches wider, | | | | involved five aircraft and 1,500 hours, had focused |
| and had sported a 14-foot greater wingspan than | | | | on the differences between the two versions. |
| its predecessor, but initial feedback from All | | | | The type, inaugurated into service with Cathay |
| Nippon, American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, | | | | Pacific on May 27, 1998, had eventually been |
| Delta, Japan Air Lines, Qantas, and United had | | | | powered by the 98,000 thrust-pound Pratt and |
| indicated that Boeing had not been innovative | | | | Whitney 4098, the 90,000 thrust-pound Rolls |
| enough: they had all sought a still larger aircraft | | | | Royce Trent 892, and the 93,700 thrust-pound |
| with state-of-the-art technology, such as | | | | General Electric 90-94B turbofan, and had a |
| fly-by-wire flight controls, and extended-range | | | | 660,000-pound maximum take off weight. Its |
| twin-engine operational capability. | | | | wing and fuselage center section fuel capacity of |
| A further iteration, with a 20.3-foot wide, circular | | | | 45,220 US gallons had provided a typical, |
| fuselage cross section, had resulted in a 747-like, | | | | mixed-class range of 6,000 nautical miles, and the |
| twin-aisled passenger cabin, and its 199.11-foot, | | | | variant had become the first serious contender to |
| supercritical wing, with a 31.6-degree sweepback, | | | | Boeing's own 747 in capacity. |
| had been able to meet design goal cruise speeds, | | | | The -100 series 777, hitherto missing from the |
| yet meet American Airliners' DC-10-size gate | | | | basic family and strongly supported by American |
| compatibility requirements with innovative, foldable | | | | Airlines, had been reserved for a smaller-capacity, |
| wingtips. It would be the world's largest twin-jet, | | | | ultra long-range version with a foreshortened |
| of narrow or widebody dimensions, ever to be | | | | fuselage which could connect any two points on |
| produced. Because of its relatively late design | | | | the globe. Because the engine manufacturers had |
| phase, it would equally offer the widest cabin | | | | been reluctant to develop a powerplant with a |
| among its competition. | | | | thrust capability higher than that employed by the |
| When United Airlines had placed its $3.5 billion | | | | 777-200ER, the fuselage shrink could still use |
| launch order for 34 firm and 34 options on | | | | existing engines, trading structural weight for |
| October 15, 1990 to replace its DC-10s, it had | | | | fuel-producing range. |
| launched both Boeing's seventh pure-jet design | | | | As initially envisioned, a 777-100X, with a ten- to |
| and a collaborative partnership with the | | | | 12-frame decrease for a three-class complement |
| manufacturer to produce an airframe of the | | | | of about 250, would have resulted in higher |
| highest quality. | | | | operating costs, since fewer passengers and less |
| The aircraft which had subsequently rolled out | | | | cargo would have reduced the aircraft's overall |
| three and a half years later on April 9, 1994, | | | | revenue potential, although the desired range |
| designated WA001, had been the first to have | | | | would have been achieved. Key to such a design |
| been digitally designed with three-dimensional | | | | had therefore been use of at least the existing |
| computer graphics, and had exceeded its original | | | | -200 length fuselage. |
| design goal of reducing change, error, or rework | | | | The resultant version, the 777-200X, would store |
| by 50 percent. Indeed, the aircraft's first | | | | fuel in tanks beyond the never-used wing hinge |
| alignment had been off by a mere.023 of an inch. | | | | and, with a 298-passenger, three-class capacity, |
| The airliner, the Boeing 777, had also been the | | | | would emerge as the world's longest-range |
| first to have been designed round its fuselage. In | | | | commercial aircraft capable of flying 8,600 nautical |
| order to provide the carriers' requests for large | | | | miles. A comparable stretched-fuselage, |
| capacity, Boeing had, for the first time, deviated | | | | 355-passenger 777-300X would offer a |
| from its traditional ovoid fuselage cross section, | | | | 6,600-nautical mile range. |
| employing one with a perfectly circular | | | | Although Malaysia Airlines had signed a |
| circumference, which had provided sufficient | | | | memorandum of understanding for 15 -200Xs and |
| internal width and volume for 747-like, ten-abreast | | | | Thai Airways International had also expressed |
| coach seating. and had resulted in a simpler, lighter, | | | | strong interest, many Asian carriers had found |
| and cheaper structure. Internal seating options had | | | | the design's range to have still been deficient, |
| provided for twin-aisle configurations varying | | | | since it could not offer their desired Pacific-US |
| between six and ten abreast, in a variety of | | | | West Coast capability. |
| classes and densities, for a maximum capacity of | | | | Battling strong competition from Airbus with it's |
| 440, while flexibility zones had permitted rapid | | | | A-340-500, which Singapore Airlines itself had |
| galley and lavatory reconfiguration, according to | | | | ordered in May of 1998, Boeing could only achieve |
| airline need. | | | | the desired range with an expanded wing, more |
| Unlike the preceding 767, the 777 had once again | | | | capable engines, and higher gross weights. |
| been able to accommodate the standard LD-3 | | | | Six-foot, five-inch wingtip extensions, sporting |
| containers on its lower deck, storing 18 (or six | | | | drag-reducing, raked wingtips, had extended the |
| pallets) in its forward hold and 14 in its aft hold. | | | | span and wingbox, and had increased integral fuel |
| A supercritical airfoil, with a 199.11-foot span, a | | | | capacity, while a new, 750,000-pound gross |
| 31.30-degree sweepback at its quarter chord, and | | | | weight had required considerable structural |
| an 8.68 aspect ratio, had optimized its take off | | | | reinforcement of the fuselage and the vertical and |
| and payload-range capability, yet had equally | | | | horizontal tail. The engine nacelles had been |
| ensured high-altitude operation and low-speed | | | | revised. The main landing gear had incorporated |
| handling. Aft wing camber had resulted in | | | | new wheels, brakes, and tires, and had semi-lever |
| considerably rear lift generation, while | | | | capability on the stretched version in order to |
| double-slotted inboard and single-slotted outboard | | | | augment rotation angles. |
| trailing edge flaps had augmented low-speed lift. | | | | Internally, repositioned air conditioning ducts and |
| The outer 21.3 feet of each, wing, connected to a | | | | parts of the secondary support structure had |
| hydraulically-actuated hinge, had facilitated gate | | | | permitted installation of crew rest compartments |
| compatibility on the ground, although American | | | | configured with two to nine beds in the fuselage's |
| Airlines, for which it had been designed, had, in the | | | | crown above the passenger overhead storage |
| event, never chosen this option, nor had any of | | | | compartments, facilitating 19-hour inflight duty |
| the other carriers. | | | | times. Similar crown galley provision had increased |
| Unlike that of the 767's conical-shaped tail cone, | | | | main deck seating by four and lower deck |
| the 777 had introduced a drag-reducing, | | | | container capacity by four on the shorter-fuselage |
| blade-shaped one, facilitated by the auxiliary | | | | version, and seven and six, respectively, on the |
| power unit's side-facing exhaust. | | | | longer fuselage variant. |
| Employing the largest percentage of composite | | | | Because of competition from the A-340-500, the |
| material construction of any previous Boeing | | | | latter would be developed first. |
| design, particularly in the fixed wing leading edges, | | | | Officially announcing the program on February 29, |
| the wing root fairings, the spoiler panels, the wing | | | | 2000, Boeing had launched the world's largest, |
| trailing edge surfaces, the vertical fin, the engine | | | | longest-range, and most powerful twin-jet in the |
| nacelles, and the main undercarriage doors, the | | | | form of the 777-200LR "Longer Range" Worldliner |
| aircraft had featured a 2,600-pound weight | | | | and the 777-300ER "Extended Range." The latter, |
| reduction because of it. | | | | first flying on February 23, 2003, had featured |
| Its two high bypass ratio turbofans had been the | | | | 115,300 thrust-pound General Electric GE90-115B |
| most powerful and reliable ever to have been | | | | turbofans, a 212.7-foot wingspan, a 775,000-pound |
| designed for a commercial airliner, their 123-inch | | | | gross weight, a 47,800 US gallon fuel capacity, |
| diameter equal to that of a 737 fuselage which | | | | and a 7,930-nautical mile range, and had entered |
| accommodates six-abreast coach seating. | | | | service with Air France the following May. The |
| Featuring all-composite, wide chord fan blades, | | | | 777-200LR, which had not first flown until March |
| they swallowed two million cubic feet of air per | | | | 8, 2005, had retained the -200's overall length and |
| minute and had initial potential for 100,000 pounds | | | | the -300ER's expanded wingspan, but with three |
| of thrust. | | | | optional, aft cargo hold fuel tanks, had a 53,515 |
| Its 14-wheeled, tricycle undercarriage had included | | | | US gallon capacity, giving it a 9,380-nautical mile |
| a twin-wheeled, steerable nose unit and two | | | | range with 110,100 thrust-pound GE90-110B1 |
| six-wheeled main gear units which had obviated | | | | engines. After an 886-hour test program, which |
| the need for a third, DC-10-30-like strut and had | | | | had entailed two aircraft, 318 ground hours, and |
| featured an aft-axle, hydraulically-controlled | | | | 328 cycles, the variant had entered service with |
| steering system which had operated in alignment | | | | Pakistan International one year later on March 3, |
| with the nose wheel. | | | | 2006. |
| The first Boeing design to replace the | | | | Boeing had thus been able to offer a complete |
| older-technology cable-and-pulley flight control | | | | family of medium-, long-, and ultra long-range |
| system with fly-by-wire electronic signaling, the | | | | passenger aircraft with two baseline capacities. |
| aircraft had no longer been maneuvered by | | | | The type had quickly recorded several milestones. |
| means of directly-linked pilot input commands. | | | | After five years of service with 280 aircraft, the |
| Instead, computers had "translated" those | | | | Boeing 777 had exceeded ten million hours and |
| commands into flight control-moving signals. | | | | had flown more than 100,000 extended twin |
| First flying on June 12, 1994 from Everett, | | | | operations, mostly over the Atlantic. Because |
| Washington, the Boeing 777, powered by Pratt | | | | United had been the launch customer, it had |
| and Whitney 4084 engines and shadowed by a | | | | logged more 777 hours than any other carrier. |
| T-38 chase plane, had completed a successful | | | | Lauda Air had recorded the type's highest daily |
| three-hour, 48-minute flight, and had sparked the | | | | aircraft utilization rate, of 14.92 hours, on the |
| type's two-year, nine-aircraft test program which | | | | Austria-Australia route. |
| had entailed three engine types, 6,700 airborne | | | | As the fastest-selling twin-aisle commercial airliner, |
| hours, and 4,800 flight cycles. Simultaneously | | | | it had notched up 500 deliveries by 2004. |
| certified by the FAA and the JAA on April 19, | | | | Its range capability had often resulted in many of |
| 1995, it had been the first commercial aircraft | | | | these milestones. On April 7, 1997, for example, it |
| ever to have earned extended twin-engine | | | | had attained an eastbound global circumnavigation |
| operations of 180 minutes with the Pratt and | | | | record of 41 hours, 59 minutes with a single |
| Whitney engine from the first day of service | | | | intermediate stop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, |
| entry, which had occurred two months later with | | | | before landing at Boeing Field. Flying 10,823 nautical |
| United from London-Heathrow to | | | | miles, it had set the "Great Circle Distance without |
| Washington-Dulles. | | | | Landing" record, and averaging 553 mph, it had |
| The basic design's inherent flexibility, coupled with | | | | also earned the "Speed Around the World, |
| use of the previously dry center section fuel tank | | | | Eastbound" record. And on November 10, 2005, |
| and successively higher-thrust engines, had | | | | the 777-200LR had captured the world distance |
| optimized the type for increasingly larger route | | | | record of 11,664 nautical miles in 22 hours, 42 |
| sectors, resulting in the initial A variant, a | | | | minutes, a distance more than half way round the |
| subsequent B version, and a final increased gross | | | | world. |
| weight, or 777-200IGW, model, before the type | | | | As a 747 replacement, the 777-300 had flown |
| had been collectively designated -200ER, for | | | | the same number of passengers on one-third the |
| "extended range." Utilizing fuselage, wing, tailplane, | | | | fuel and had required 40 percent less |
| engine pylon, and undercarriage structural | | | | maintenance. |
| strengthening, the aircraft, with a 14,220 US gallon | | | | The final version, a freighter devoid of either |
| fuel increase and a higher, 656,000-pound gross | | | | external passenger windows or internal amenities, |
| weight, had offered a 7,700-nautical mile range, | | | | had resulted from carrier need for a long-range, |
| but had otherwise been dimensionally identical to | | | | high-capacity, all-cargo aircraft and had been |
| its -200 predecessor. First flying on October 7, | | | | launched on May 24, 2005 when Air France had |
| 1996 with General Electric GE90 engines, it had | | | | placed an initial order. Based upon the 777-200LR |
| been certified the following January and had | | | | Worldliner, it had been powered by 110,100 |
| entered service with British Airways on February | | | | thrust-pound GE90-110B1L turbofans. With a |
| 9. | | | | maximum fuel capacity of 47,890 US gallons, the |
| Airline need dictating higher capacity, coupled with | | | | 766,000-pound aircraft had a 4,886-nautical mile |
| the basic airframe's inherent stretchability, had | | | | range. Its 226,000-pound payload capability could |
| resulted in the first dimensional modification and | | | | be carried in an inner-fuselage, 23,051-cubic foot |
| had followed the trend of previous Boeing | | | | volume: of the 18,301 cubic feet on the main |
| jetliners, which had all been designed with the | | | | deck, it could accommodate 27 96-inch pallets and |
| same growth capability. | | | | of the 4,150 cubic feet on the lower deck, it could |
| The version, targeted as an early 747-100 and | | | | carry ten 96-inch pallets. Another 600 cubic feet |
| -200B replacement, would offer similar passenger | | | | of cargo could be carried in the bulk |
| capacities as these quad-engined wide bodies, but | | | | compartment. |
| with far greater fuel efficiency, lower seat-mile | | | | Having notched up some 1,000 sales of all |
| costs, and advanced technology. | | | | versions in the 13-year period between 1995 and |
| Cathay Pacific had, coincidentally, identified the | | | | 2008, the versatile widebody, twin-engined Boeing |
| need for a very high capacity widebody on its | | | | 777 seemed poised to carry passengers and |
| intra-Asian routes where range capability had not | | | | cargo well into the 21st century. |