The Boeing 777

Hey, Aviators 

Welcome back to another blog, today's blog will be all about the Boeing 777.

History of the Boeing 777

In the 1980s, Boeing was looking to bridge the gap between the Boeing 747 as well as the 767, they needed an aircraft to fit in the middle of that gap. in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the aviation industry started experiencing a rise in fuel costs which meant that airlines were shying away from purchasing four-engine aircraft such as the Airbus A340 and the Boeing 747. There was a demand for a plane to be developed that would be able to fly as far as the quad-engine aircraft but have 2 engines as twin-engine aircraft use less fuel, this is where the Boeing 777 came in. The 777 was developed between 1989 and 1990 and entered into service in 1994 with the first variant being the 777-200. Many variants of the type have been developed over the years such as the 777-200 long range, 777-200 extended range, the 777-300, the 777-300 extended range, the 777 freighters, and the most modern being the 777X. Each variant differs in terms of size, capacity, efficiency, and range, for the purpose of the blog, we will focus on the most popular of the variants the 777-300ER (Extended Range).

Specifications

The Boeing 777-300ER has a length of 73.9m and a wingspan of 64.8m. The aircraft has a height of 18.5m and a range of 13649km. Depending on the layout chosen by the airline, the aircraft can typically seat 396 passengers. The 777-300ER has a top speed of 945km/h. The 777-200LR (Long Range) variant was designed to travel long distances and holds the record for the longest flight ever recorded, the flight happened in 2005 and was from Hong Kong to London, the aircraft stayed airborne for 23 hours covering a distance of more than 21 000 km. A Boeing 777-300ER will cost an airline around $ 3 Million. As of 2018, 832 Boeing 777-300ERs had been delivered with the largest operator of the type being Emirates with a whopping 146 of the type in their fleet. This cost the airline an estimated cost of $4.3 Billion.

Powering the Boeing 777

An aircraft of this kind needs to have a very powerful engine to power it, this is where General Electric aerospace (GE) comes into the picture. The Boeing 777- 300ER is powered by the GE90-115BL, as of 2020, the GE90 was the largest and most powerful aircraft engine in the world. The engine paved the way for modern turbofan engine technology. The GE90 has a diameter of 3.5 m and produces 115 000 pounds of thrust that pushes the aircraft to its cruising altitude of 12 000 m in 25 minutes. The thrust produced by this engine is more than the thrust produced by the rocket used by the Apollo 11 crew for the first moon landing as that rocket only produced under 100 000 pounds of thrust.  

Future of the Boeing 777

Currently, Boeing is undergoing certification for the latest version of the 777, the 777x. In the face of fierce competition from airbus with the A350, Boeing developed this aircraft, it is the largest twin-engine aircraft in the world and aims to fill the gap in the market that will be left by the Airbus A380 when airlines eventually retire it due to rising fuel costs. The 777x has 2 variants the 777x -8 and -9, the 777x-9 is the larger of the 2 with a length of 76.72m, a wingspan of 71.75m, and a height of 19.68m. The engine that powers this new aircraft is officially the largest and most powerful engine in the world made by the same company that made the GE90, this engine is called the GE9X. The GE9X produced 134 000 pounds of thrust in testing and has a diameter of nearly 3.9m making it the same diameter as the passenger fuselage/cabin of the Boeing 737. An iconic feature of this aircraft is the folding wingtips that allow it to reduce its wingspan to fit into current parking bays at airports.

The wingtips fold up once the 777x has landed.

Well, Aviators, that's all for today, till next time, STAY FLYING HIGH.