The story of the legendary Boeing 747

Joe satat, chief designer of Boeing 747, told us the whole process from project initiation, development, test flight to delivery of Boeing 747.
Born in Seattle in 1921 and graduated from the University of Washington in 1943. Bachelor's degree in aviation engineering. In 1946, I joined Boeing and participated in the design of the Boeing 707 and other early jet aircraft. In March 1966, Boeing officially announced the launch of the Boeing 747 project. In September 30, 1968, the plane was deprecated, and in February 9, 1969, the Boeing 747 was the first flight. Since 1970, Boeing has delivered more than 1370 planes, transporting 3.5 billion passengers worldwide, and 747 are also the backbone models of the global cargo fleet. The transportation volume accounts for more than half of all air cargo in the world.

Feeling 1: Pay attention to security during design. At that time, the jet aircraft was usually equipped with two hydraulic systems, namely a main hydraulic system and a backup hydraulic system, while the satat decided to equip 747 with four separate hydraulic systems, the security of civil aviation has been upgraded to a new level of higher and more stable.
The next shocking accident proves the wisdom of this decision. On February 23, A-Pan American airline hit the approaching light at the end of the runway. This results in a large slit of the entire machine abdomen, two main landing gears stripped, and three of the four hydraulic systems being cut off. However, the crew was surprised to find that they were still in the air and the plane was still controllable. They dumped the fuel on the water, used the remaining wheel for an emergency landing, and achieved success. 747 equipped with 4th hydraulic systems saved the lives of many people in the accident.
Later, satat participated in the "Challenger" space shuttle crash investigation and put forward significant improvements to their security mechanisms.

Feeling 2: satat and production director are the only two people who have participated in the 747 project. The rest did not participate in the whole process from the president of Boeing to 4500 engineers. The success of 747 is closely related to the insights, integrity, courage, and perseverance of the General Designer.

3. company decision-making. At that time, Boeing was already developing 737 follow-up products, providing the Air Force with a supersonic cargo plane to help nasa launch a moon landing rocket. At this time, a large jet aircraft was launched, and even the engine was not developed yet. The scale and cost of several projects have all climbed. It pushed Boeing to the verge of bankruptcy. Insolvent. No bank will lend Boeing any more money. Boeing cut off the supersonic cargo plane project, fully supported the 747 project, and finally insisted on aircraft delivery. It had weathered the storm and ushered in brilliant.

Impression 4: project scale. 66 years ago, at that time, the drawings were still hand-drawn, and there were no management software such as OA and ERP. The demand is also changing, and the aircraft weight is one litre and then higher. I cannot imagine how they operate the entire project.

Feeling 5: Boeing also has problems with big companies. Bureaucracy, political struggles, performances, interest groups, etc. As a result, satat always has the risk of being replaced or expelled.

Feeling 6: complexity and diversity. Civil aircraft are not produced in batches, and almost customized for each rack. To be passenger or freight. Some airlines offer fewer customers, while others offer fewer customers. 747 is an intercontinental plane that runs long distances. Some airlines use short distances and take off flights many times a day. All of these require custom development.