Boeing Dreamlifter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Dreamlifter

The Boeing 747 Dreamlifter, also known as the Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo
Freighter (LCF), is a wide-body cargo aircraft. At 65,000 cubic feet (1,840 m³)
the cargo hold was the largest in the world for an aircraft, until the Airbus
Beluga XL was released (2,615 m³). It can hold three times the volume of a
747-400F freighter. Cargo is placed in the aircraft by the world's longest cargo
loader. It is an extensively modified Boeing 747-400 that is used exclusively
for transporting Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft components to Boeing's assembly
plants from suppliers around the world.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes announced on October 13, 2003 that, due to the
length of time required by land and marine shipping, air transport will be the
primary method of transporting parts for the assembly of the Boeing 787
Dreamliner (then known as the 7E7). Boeing 787 parts were deemed too large for
standard marine shipping containers as well as the Boeing 747-400F, Antonov
An-124 and Antonov An-225. Initially, three used passenger 747-400 aircraft were
to be converted into an outsize configuration in order to ferry sub-assemblies
from Japan and Italy to North Charleston, South Carolina, and then to Washington
state for final assembly, but a fourth was subsequently added to the program.
The Large Cargo Freighter has a bulging fuselage similar in concept to the Super
Guppy and Airbus A300-600ST Beluga outsize cargo aircraft, which are also used
for transporting wings and fuselage sections.

The LCF conversion was partially designed by Boeing's Moscow bureau and Boeing
Rocketdyne with the swing tail designed in partnership with Gamesa Aeronáutica
of Spain. The cargo portion of the aircraft is unpressurized. Modifications
were carried out in Taiwan by Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation, a
joint venture of Evergreen Group's EVA Air and General Electric. Boeing has
acquired the four second-hand 747-400s; one former Air China aircraft, two
former China Airlines aircraft, and one former Malaysia Airlines aircraft.

The first 747 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) was rolled out of the hangar at Taipei
Taoyuan International Airport on August 17, 2006. It successfully completed its
first test flight on September 9, 2006 from this airport.

The 747 LCF's unusual appearance has drawn comparisons to the Oscar Mayer
Wienermobile and the Hughes H-4 Hercules ("Spruce Goose"). Due to its ungainly
form — exacerbated in that the first airplane remained unpainted for some time,
due to the need for immediate testing — Boeing Commercial Airplanes president
Scott Carson jokingly apologized to 747 designer Joe Sutter that he was "sorry
for what we did to your plane."


Role
Outsize cargo freight aircraft

Manufacturer
Boeing Commercial Airplanes
Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation

First flight
September 9, 2006

Introduction
2007

Status
In service

Primary user
Boeing Commercial Airplanes

Number built
4 (all conversions)

Program cost
$1 billion

Developed from
Boeing 747-400

On September 16, 2006, N747BC arrived at Boeing Field, Seattle to complete the
flight test program. Swing-tail testing was done at the Boeing factory in
Everett. The second airplane, N780BA, made its inaugural test flight on February
16, 2007. The third began modification in 2007. The first two LCFs entered
service in 2007 to support the final assembly of the first 787 Dreamliners.

Delivery times for the 787's wings, built in Japan, will be reduced from around
30 days to just over eight hours with the 747 LCF. Evergreen International
Airlines (unrelated to EVA Air or EGAT), a U.S. air freight operator based in
McMinnville, Oregon, operated the LCF fleet until August 2010. Then Atlas Air,
which was awarded a nine-year contract for the operation of the aircraft in
March 2010, took over LCF operation. Evergreen had achieved a 93% on flight
schedule performance with the LCF, and sued Boeing for $175 million, which the
court mostly dismissed.

In June 2006, the first DBL-100 cargo loader used for loading 787 parts into the
747 LCF was completed. In December 2006, Boeing announced the 747 LCF would be
named Dreamlifter, a reference to the 787's name, Dreamliner. It unveiled a
standard livery for the aircraft that included a logo reminiscent of the 787's
Dreamliner logo.

Certification was initially planned for early 2007, but was pushed back to June
2007. The aircraft's winglets were removed to resolve excess vibration and other
handling characteristics prior to final certification. In the meantime, as part
of the flight test program, LCF delivered major sections of the 787 from partner
sites around the world to the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington for final
assembly. The 747 LCF was granted FAA type certification on June 2, 2007. From
its first flight in 2006 until certification in 2007, the Dreamlifter completed
437 hours of flight testing along with 639 hours of ground testing.

Of the four 747 Dreamlifters Boeing acquired, three were complete and
operational by June 2008, and the fourth became operational in February 2010.

Incidents

On November 20, 2013, Dreamlifter N780BA operated by Atlas Air inadvertently
landed at Colonel James Jabara Airport, a small general aviation airport in
Wichita, Kansas. Its intended destination was McConnell Air Force Base, 9 miles
past Jabara Airport on the same heading. The aircraft was able to successfully
take off again from Jabara's 6100-foot runway the following day and landed at
McConnell without incident.


Model

747 Dreamlifter 747-400

Cockpit crew Two

Length 235 ft 2 in (71.68 m) 231 ft 10 in (70.6 m)
Wingspan 211 ft 5 in (64.4 m)

Height 70 ft 8 in (21.54 m) 63 ft 8 in (19.4 m)

Fuselage width 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m) 21 ft 4 in (6.50 m)

Operating Empty Weight 180,530 kg (398,000 lb) 179,015 kg (394,661 lb)

Maximum take-off weight 364,235 kg (803,001 lb) 396,890 kg (874,990 lb)

Cruising speed Mach 0.82 (474 kt, 878 km/h) Mach 0.85 (491 kt, 910 km/h)

Takeoff run at MTOW 9,199 ft (2,804 m) 9,902 ft (3,018 m)

Range fully loaded 4,200 nmi (4,800 mi; 7,800 km) 7,260 nmi (8,350 mi; 13,450
km)

Max. fuel capacity 52,609 U.S. gal (199,150 l) 57,285 U.S. gal (216,850 l)
Engine models (x 4) PW 4062 PW 4062
GE CF6-80C2B5F
RR RB211-524G/H
Engine thrust (per engine) 63,300 lbf (282 kN) PW 63,300 lbf (282 kN)
GE 62,100 lbf (276 kN)
RR 59,500 lbf (265 kN)



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