The Boeing B747-800 or also known as 747-intercontinental is one of boeings latest aircrafts.Officially announced in 2005, the 747-8 is the third-generation Boeing 747 version, with lengthened fuselage, redesigned wings and improved efficiency.The aircraft will provide 467 seats in a 3 class configuration with an added range of 14,815 Km.
Boeing has also incorporated the technology incorporated in B787 s engines in the new B747-800.Boeing claims that the new jetliner will be quieter, produce lower emissions and acheive better fuel economy then any other aircraft in its class.This acording to boieng will be a significant improvement over the Airbus A380.The new 747 will feature better and more powerfull GEnx-2B67 engines with a maximum thrust of 66500 lbs or (296KN).The B747-800 incorporate same engine technology of that of the B787.Boeing has made a complete desgin ovehaul to the wing of the aircraft.The new wing will be thicker and deeper.The pressure distribution and bending moments will be different, with the new wing for the passenger version being planned to hold 64,225 US gal (243,120 L) of jet fuel, and the cargo aircraft 60,925 US gal (230,630 L). The new wing will have single-slotted outboard flaps and double-slotted inboard flaps.Raked wingtips, similar to the ones used on the 777-200LR, 777-300ER, and 787 models, are used on the new 747 variant instead of winglets used on the 747-400. These wingtip structures help reduce the wingtip vortices at the lateral edges of the wings, decreasing wake turbulence and drag, and thereby increasing fuel efficiency. Another effort to reduce weight is the introduction of fly-by-wire technology for the majority of the lateral controls.The new wing is the major technical change in 747-800 over the 747-400.
Boeing is still conducting test flights on this aircraft.The madien flight was on 8th Feburary2010.The B747-800 has already attracted many customers.Its seems that the Boeing B747-800 will be a very competetive against the Airbus A380 in the market.In these trying times of reccesion when airlines are struggling to stay in buissnes the B747-800 might be favoured over the A380 since it provides a very large(but less then A380) passenger capacity and a very good fuel economy.The need for very high capacity aircraft is being questioned now a days since passenger numbers are dropping and are not as much as before.In such times the airlines might prefer smaller more efficent aircraft then larger aircraft.This is the ideology which boeing had proposed a couple of years back , making smaller yet very efficent aircraft.The B747-800 will soon be entering service and we have yet to seen the influnce it produce in the airline industry .
