The Boeing 777 is the most commonly used widebody airliner in the world. If you’ve flown to Europe or Asia from the United States in the past decade, there’s a good chance you’ve been onboard a 777. Here are 11 things you might not have known about this incredible airplane:
1) Boeing Triple-7s have a lot of flight time, amassing over 35 million hours since they first took to the skies in 1994.
2) At an average cruise speed of 560MPH, that’s enough time for a total of over19.6 BILLION MILES flown. That’s enough to make over 13 roundtrips from the Earth to Saturn.
3) In designing the 777 as its first fly-by-wire commercial aircraft, Boeing decided to retain conventional control yokes rather than change to sidestick controllers as used in many fly-by-wire fighter aircraft, as well Airbus airliners.
4) The 777 was the first commercial aircraft designed entirely by computer. How much work went into designing the Boeing 777? A lot – 1.847 trillions bytes worth of data to be exact.
5) Have you ever wondered where the crew goes to sleep? In 2003, Boeing introduced overhead crew rests as an option on the 777. Located above the main cabin and connected via staircases, the forward flight crew rest contains two seats and two bunks, while the aft cabin crew rest features multiple bunks.
6) The 777 Freighter (777F) is an all-cargo version of the 777-200LR. With a maximum payload of 226,000 lb (103,000 kg), cargo capacity is similar to the 243,000 lb (110,000 kg) of the 747-200F.
7) During takeoff, the 777’s engines push 2 million cubic feet of air per minute. That’s enough air to keep a human breathing for 44 days!
8) Each 777 engine is larger in diameter than the cabin of a Boeing 737 – by more than half a foot. With a 13 foot diameter, you could fit 6 seats across the inside of a 777 engine.
9) Over 50 airlines fly the 777.
10) The newest 777-300ER costs over $320 Million.
11) By April 2014, with cumulative sales surpassing those of the 747, the 777 became the best-selling wide-body airliner. At existing production rates, the aircraft is on track to become the most-delivered wide-body airliner by mid-2016.
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