Design Moment How the Boeing 747 revolutionised travel.

Thinking big led to an iconic design that democratised international air travel in the ’60s, writes Chris Pearson.

Two executives were salmon-fishing in Alaska in 1965. One was Bill Allen, head of Boeing, the other was Juan Trippe, Pan Am founder and Boeing’s biggest customer. While tossing a line, Trippe told his friend he envisioned an aircraft twice the size of anything flying, an ocean liner in the sky that would carry more than 400 passengers and cover vast distances.

“If you build it, I’ll buy it,” Trippe said.

“If you buy it, I’ll build it,” Allen retorted.

Back in Seattle, Allen ordered a new plant for assembling the giant aircraft, which was given the model name ‘747’. He’d imagined a double-decker but his engineers favoured a more aerodynamic wide-body design. Boeing was developing supersonic craft at the time and saw the 747 as a stopgap that could be converted to a freighter when the newer technology conquered the skies. So, the cockpit was raised to fit in a cargo door and the upper deck extended to form the now-familiar ‘hump’, which reduced drag and accommodated a first-class lounge. Unbeknown to its designers, this behemoth was en route to becoming the world’s most iconic aircraft, nicknamed the ‘Jumbo Jet’.

The project was fast-tracked, with a prototype ready in 1968 and test flights the following year. True to his word, Trippe ordered 25 jets worth US$525 million, the equivalent of about US$3.9 billion today.

In January 1970, the 747 embarked on its maiden commercial flight with Pan Am, between New York’s JFK airport and London’s Heathrow. Qantas took delivery of its first Jumbo in 1971 and began flying it on the Kangaroo Route from Sydney to London, then a rite of passage for young Australians.

While the planes grew bigger, the planet grew smaller. “It led to an explosion of air travel,” says Tom Harwood, curator of the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach, Queensland. “Its predecessor, the 707, took 150 passengers; this took 400, and more bottoms on seats brought airfares down.” In 1965, adds Harwood, it cost 22 weeks of the average wage to fly from Sydney to London; by 1985, it was five weeks. As well as slashing fares, the plane also cut down flying times. While not much faster than the 707, its range was greater. “Instead of four hops between Sydney and London, the 747 in its later incarnations needed just two.”

As a result, air travel became much more accessible. “Previously, it was suits and ties, but with the 747, flying became youthfocused,” says Harwood. “This was the Aussie escape machine, an opportunity to discover the world.” For airlines, it was a status symbol. “You looked old-fashioned if you didn’t have one in your fleet.”

In 1989, the first of the second-generation Qantas 747-400 series, aptly dubbed Longreach, touched down in Sydney after a nonstop flight from London. Covering 17,000km in just over 20 hours, it set a world distance record for commercial aircraft. In 2015, this plane was retired to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society in Albion Park, NSW, having transported more than four million passengers. Its final flight, ironically, was its shortest – just 12 minutes.

WHAT IT MEANS TO US

More than 1500 747s have been built, transporting millions. Many Australians first ventured overseas on one, often on the pilgrimage to London or a budget holiday. From 1979 to 1985, Qantas exclusively flew 747s. The Jumbo ruled the skies until the Airbus A380 began to usurp its position in 2007. Boeing’s third-generation 747-8 series hasn’t had the same impact as earlier models, in part because the old hub-and-spoke model – flying between continents on larger planes and continuing in smaller craft – has been replaced in many cases by point-to-point flying with more fuel-efficient, medium-size planes. For now, the 747 continues to fly high, defying gravity and sceptics for nearly half a century.