by "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
Published 06/19/2017 at 18:34
by "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
Published 06/19/2017 at 18:34
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STARS: 1
Back in the mid ‘70s I had my first commercial airline flight on a local carrier, Air California, from SNA to SJC to visit my grandparents. It was on a 737-200, a simple, but not terribly successful 100 seat short-range airliner that seemed ideal for intra-California flying.
Today I read about the launch of the latest version of this venerable aircraft, the MAX10. 230 seats, 3215 mile range (probably more with extra tanks in the belly) and I’m sure many other specs that would have seemed impossible just a few short years ago. Back then you’d need a much larger aircraft like a DC-8, L-1011 or DC-10 to have similar capacity and range. Who would have thought that 40 years later that humble little 737 would be capable of such feats. Amazing.
"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
06/19/2017 at 18:39, STARS: 2
Anything is possible when you give passengers 5" of legroom.
"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich)
06/19/2017 at 18:43, STARS: 1
I think they definitely cram more people in per square foot these days, but (from my limited understanding) they have also lengthened the bodies of a number of aircraft. Longer body, more space for people. I’d be curious if someone could dig up the stats on the length of the 737 over time.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
06/19/2017 at 18:45, STARS: 3
The pace of aviation evolution is truly astonishing. Orville Wright died about a month after Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier—from first flight to supersonic in the span of one man’s life. Boeing is getting some flak for not producing a clean-sheet airliner (though the 797 is in the works ), choosing instead to continue stretching and updating the venerable 737. My guess is that they are banking on commonality, especially considering that the 737 is the best-selling airliner in history, and there are many fleets out there that would rather upgrade rather than invest in an entirely new airliner.
ICYMI:
http://oppositelock.kinja.com/boeing-787-18-and-737-max-flying-together-1796219415
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
06/19/2017 at 18:49, STARS: 3
Check out the increase in wingspan, too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737#Specifications
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
06/19/2017 at 18:54, STARS: 2
Wikipedia says the -100 was 94' long, and the MAX goes up to 138 feet. That’s a pretty big difference.
In reality, though, the newer 737's are drastically different airplanes - there isn’t a whole lot that hasn’t been redesigned on that aircraft over the years. The wing, for example, was completely redesigned with the -600/-700/-800 series intro.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
06/19/2017 at 18:54, STARS: 0
They are cramming. I get on one of American’s refurbished planes these days, and it’s clear they have decreased the leg room to fit in an extra couple of rows. The people want to pay steerage prices, and they’re getting steerage accommodations.
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
06/19/2017 at 18:57, STARS: 1
That cruise speed difference is big, too - - the older 737's were some of the slowest commercial jets around. Not true any more.
"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
06/19/2017 at 20:18, STARS: 0
-200 not terribly successful? It kinda had something to do with Southwest Airlines and their fantastic run until they bought -300/-500's. In fact, you can still see many of them running as either cargo/charter or outside the US in airline capacity with lesser developed navigation systems.
"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
06/19/2017 at 20:23, STARS: 1
The MAX series is the last iteration. They added more nose gear length to help the larger engines lower lip clear the ground by the minimum amount. They have many more efficient updates but overall, they can’t do anything else to extend the life of this thing more than 20 years or so.
The -900 is already disliked by the United crews who have to fly approaches at ridiculous speeds because of the tailstrike angle. And then they’re trying to slow down from 160 knots when they land. Lots of runway all the time every time.
The 757 does the job of the MAX-10. Give that the geared engines and high-pressure hydraulics with a new wing and we have a winner.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
06/19/2017 at 21:41, STARS: 0
We’re talking about the early to mid 1970s here, and at the time the 737 was a loser in comparison to the DC-9 series sales-wise. In just a few short years things changed dramatically.