Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter
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The 747LCF is a modified Boeing 747 used exclusively for transporting aircraft parts to Boeing from suppliers all around the world.
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[edit] History
Boeing announced in October 2003 that due to the length of time of marine shipping, air transport will be the primary method of transporting parts for the 787. Three used Passenger 747-400 aircraft are to be converted into an outsize configuration, in order to ferry sub-assemblies to Everett, Washington for final assembly. It has a bulging fuselage like the Super Guppy or Airbus Beluga cargo planes used for transporting wings and fuselage sections. The Large Cargo Freighter can hold three times the volume of a 747-400F freighter[1]. The conversion, designed by Boeing's Moscow office, is carried out in Taiwan by a subsidiary of the Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation. Boeing has already acquired the three second-hand 747-400's: N747BC, serial number 904, which was formerly flown by Air Algerie, N780BA, serial number 778, which formerly belonged to China Airlines, and their sister aircraft which had previously borne the Taiwanese identifier of B-18271. It is much more economical for Boeing to buy used 747s and convert them than to construct these planes from scratch. The LCF is not a Boeing model and will not be sold to any customers or see any airliner operation. It will be exclusively used by Boeing. Another reason for modifying existing planes is the minimum regulation and flight testing required by authorities such as the FAA. If this was a Boeing original model, it would have to face years of development and testing such as the upcoming Boeing 747-8. The rules for modifying existing used airplanes are more lenient.
[edit] In Operation
The first 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) has been rolled out of the hangar at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in mid-August 2006. It successfully completed its first test flight on 2006-09-09 from this airport.[2] On 2006-09-16 N747BC arrived at Boeing Field, Seattle to complete the flight test program. Swing-tail testing was done at the Boeing factory in Everett, WA. The second airplane is being modified now and the third will begin modification in 2007. The first two LCFs will enter service in 2007 to support the final assembly of the first Dreamliners.
Delivery times for the 787's wings — built in Japan — will be reduced from around 30 days to one day with the 747 LCF. Evergreen International Airlines, which is unrelated to the Evergreen Group, will be the operator of the LCF fleet.
[edit] Specifications (747 Large Cargo Freighter)
This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.- Cargo Capacity by Volume: 65,000 cubic feet [3] (1,840 cubic meters)
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Airbus A380-800 |
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Boeing NLA |
[edit] Specifications (747 LCF Cargo "Loader")
The following specs are from a Boeing press release for the loader used with the 747 LCF.[4]
- Length: 118 ft., 1 inch (36 meters)
- Width: 27 feet, 6 inches (8.4 meters)
- Overall height in full "down" position: 13 ft., 9 inches (4.2 meters)
- Height of cargo deck in full "down" position: 5 ft., 10 inches (1.78 meters)
- Overall height in full "up" position: 33 ft., 1 inch (10 meters)
- Height of cargo deck in full "up" position: 25 ft., 4 inches (7.7 meters)
- Loader Weight Empty: 220,000 pounds (100 tons, 100,000 kilograms)
- Loader Weight Capacity: 150,000 pounds (68 tons, 68,000 kilograms)
- Maximum speed: Unknown
- Number of tires: 32
- Number of steerable axles: 16
- Number of steering modes: 6
- Swing-tail open/close time:
[edit] External links
- Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter Anouncement
- Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter workshare assignments
- Boeing selects EGAT for LCF modifications
- Boeing selects Stork Fokker for LCF modifications
- Evergreen Airlines becomes operator
- Evergreen Airlines becomes operator
- LCF takes shape
- Cargo Loader completed
- LCF Rollout
- Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation
- Photos of the Boeing 747 LCF
- Boeing 747 LCF first flight video
- 747 LCF arrives in Washington State USA
- The Pickle lands at Moses Lake
- Boeing 747 LCF swings its tail
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