Template:POTW/2019-18

This week sees the 31st anniversary of the first flight of the Boeing 747-400 (29 April 1988). Boeing test pilots James C. Loesch and Kenneth Higgins took the new Boeing 747-400, serial number 23719, registration N401PW, for its first flight from Paine Field, landing at Boeing Field 2 hours 29 minutes later. The 747-400 was a major development of the 747 series. It had many structural and electronics improvements over the earlier models, which had debuted 18 years earlier. New systems, such as a “glass cockpit”, flight management computers, and new engines allowed it to be flown with a crew of just two pilots, and the position of Flight Engineer became unnecessary. Read more... | Archive