Aero-TV: Boeings 747-8 First Flight - New Freighter Takes to the Skies

[philippeschouten]

where is the bag on the tail of the plane for?

[1kris007]

@philippeschouten it records the speed of the aircraft. Since its still in testing it serves as a back up, in case the aircraft systems fail, they can still know their speed. Also used to verify that the aircraft instruments are indeed correct.

[ja60370]

@philippeschouten so they dont wreck the brand new aircraft, if they hit tail strike

[inspirebowl]

what are chase planes for?

[aerotvnetwork]

The chase planes were T-33s... they are the standard for 'low-speed' chase ops. They use T-38s for high-speed work.

[bellyholder]

Nice. I wonder what the escort acft is; looks like a T-33.

[N137LA]

You would be right, it is a Lockheed T-33.

[damian2dc]

Boeing could hav done more changes on this design!! Beautifull plane but not spectacular

[TomHnz]

Why change a successful formula?

[eskercurve]

Fuel efficiency and cost / lb. The 747-400 is fantastic, no doubt about it, but Boeing has dramatically improved fuel efficiency, I've heard from some sources something like 15-30% improvement!

[TomHnz]

I realise the improvements on the design has made the aircraft a lot more efficient. I was trying to say that it doesn't need a load of aesthetic changes to achieve these figures.

I think damian2dc was expecting a dramatically different aircraft, which simply isn't needed in this case.

[bradmc10]

the 747 looks like a 747-200 they should have put wigtips on it these wigs dont flex like the 787

[CaptEm1]

@bradmc10 Those raked wingtips improve fuel efficiency, climb performance and shorten the takeoff field length. In testing by Boeing and NASA, raked wingtips have been shown to reduce drag by as much as 5.5%, as opposed to improvements of 3.5% to 4.5% from conventional winglets.

[bradmc10]

@CaptEm1 yeah im aware of what the raked wingtips do but i would have rather it be more rakes like the a350xwb and the 737-8 would have made the 747 look so good and the 5.5 you said would be if they 747 had no wing tips at all from changing from say the old wingtip to the new raked wingtips save around 1 to 2 they have just done this with the a320 they are putting raked wing tips on that plane as well thanks for the feed back