Today, the 747 is regarded by as being one of the most iconic airliners ever built. This is mostly thanks to the Boeing 747-200, which was the most successful 747 variant until the introduction of the 747-400 over 15 years later!
When the 747-200 was introduced by Boeing in 1971, it was the largest passenger jet of its time. It beat its predecessor, the Boeing 747-100, by a matter of meters.
Chances are, that if you flew on the 747 on a transpacific route in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, you flew on the Boeing 747-200!
Pre-Boeing 747-200
In 1952, British aircraft manufacturer de Havilland created the first jet airliner, the DH106 Comet. Over the rest of the decade, other jet airliners would be introduced, such as the 707, DC-8 and CV-880/990 among others.
By the mid-1960’s, most airlines had jet airliners, causing most airfields to be full of them. With this, Pan Am CEO, Juan Trippe, commissioned Boeing to create a jet airliner with two-and-a-half times the capacity of the 707/DC-8.
This resulted in the famed 747-100, which first entered service in September 1970.
In essence, the -100 served as a proof of concept for the airline industry. If it was successful, it would be bought by the rest. If it failed, it would be consigned to the pages of history forever. As you probably know, it was the former.
Whilst many airlines jumped at the opportunity to buy what was then, the largest passenger jet on the planet, some airlines wanted something better. It had to be bigger, and it had to fly farther.
You see, the 747-100 was large, both by contemporary and modern standards. But its range was lacking to say the least. The jet was designed to fly transatlantic routes, such as New York-London and New York-Paris.
Some airlines, however, wanted to fly even farther. Some wanted to fly it from the midwest to places in Asia, flying over the Pacific, which wasn’t possible at the time. Others simply wanted to fly to West Germany from New York.
Development
Boeing heard this, and decided to get right on it. Bill Allen, then-President of Boeing sat down with representatives with a number of major world airlines, including Northwest, KLM and Qantas (among others!)
Here, two factions formed. One faction merely wanted a 747-100 with a heavily extended range. However, the other faction wanted the top deck of the 747 stretched, with an extended range.
Boeing decided to do both. The initial 747-200s would be -100s with an extended range, whilst Boeing would introduce a variant of the -200, called the -200B, which would also have a longer top deck.
To do this, Boeing called in Joe Sutter (who’d led the design of the original 747-100!) to lead the design effort for the Boeing 747-200. Most of the 747-200’s design team, was mostly made up of the 747-100’s design team.
Primarily, Boeing dealt with giving the -200 a better range than the -100. To do this, the -200 was given newer variants of the -100’s engines. These engines were more powerful and fuel efficient, thus giving the -200 a longer range.
On top of this, Boeing would also work on lengthening the top deck. This was accomplished through adding extra weight in the back (in order to keep the aircraft level in flight).
The first 747-200 would roll of the assembly line on September 30 1970, before having its first flight, only the next day.
Service History
Almost immediately following the 747-200’s first flight, the jet would soon enter service with KLM in January 1971. From here, the type would go on to have one of the most incredible service lives of any jet to date!
Passenger
Following its introduction with KLM, the Boeing 747-200 would be delivered to a number of other airlines. Among them would be Northwest, Swissair, Qantas, Japan Airlines and SAS.
Here, these airlines would immediately put the 747-200 to work on the longer haul routes, that the 747-100 could not. Other airlines would place the jet on routes that other airlines used the 747-100 on.
For many of these airlines, it allowed them to lower prices and increase the number of people they could transport, whilst still maintain the same, or, more often, better profit margins!
Due to this, it was a lot more present at larger international airports, than the 747-100 ever was!
Alas, it wouldn’t last. By the early 1990’s, many airlines had acquired the much larger (and more fuel efficient!) 747-300 and 747-400. With this, many of airlines no longer needed the old and small Boeing 747-200.
Due to this, many airlines began to retire the airliner, either storing it or selling their -200 fleets to smaller, foreign airlines. By the mid-1990’s, no Western passenger airline was operating the 747-200 in any capacity.
Eventually, the 747-200 got too old for these smaller airlines to operate, and they too began to retire them. The last commercial flight of the 747-200 happened in May 2016, with Iran Air.
Cargo
In the mid-1970’s, cargo airlines became all the rage. Aircraft technology had progressed enough to make the long haul transportation of cargo, not only profitable, but also a viable business.
Whilst the majority of these early long haul, cargo airlines were only small operations, they soon inspired major airlines to get into the business to. With this, major airlines would establish their own cargo subsidiaries.
The 747 was the largest airliner of its day. It had also been designed to become a cargo aircraft once supersonic airliners had been introduced. This combination saw the 747-200 become a rather efficient cargo aircraft.
Boeing would introduce a specifically designed cargo variant, the 747-200F, in 1972, where it would enter into service with Lufthansa Cargo. Over the course of the 1970’s and 1980’s, the 747-200F would become a staple of the cargo industry.
When the 747-200 was retired from cargo service, a number of them were purchased by smaller cargo airlines. Here, they were converted into freighters, and placed on the highest demand, long haul routes.
Sadly, however, the introduction of the larger 747-300F, 747-400F and 747-8F, have made the 747-200 too old to operate. As a result, all but five of them have been retired from active cargo flights.
Air Force One
In the mid-1980’s, the Reagan Administration began to look for a replacement for the ageing VC-137s, then-serving as Air Force One. With this, they began to solicit designs from major aircraft manufacturers.
Primarily, the contest was between the DC-10 and Boeing 747-200 (and the L-1011 in the early days). However, the 747-200’s extraordinary size and longer range was more appealing to the then-President.
With this, the USAF then placed an order for two 747-200s with an executive configuration, in 1985. These jets would be designated as the VC-25A by the USAF. Boeing would also give the jet some of the best security measures available!
Boeing would finish building the airframes in late 1986. Both jets would first fly in early 1986. The jets would then spend the next three years receiving a number of high-tech upgrades, many of which are still present today!
The VC-25As were entered into service in August 1990, with Reagan’s successor, George H. W. Bush. The jet have served with every president since Bush, to date.
During the Trump Administration, however, the VC-25A has served more commonly as Air Force Two, carrying the vice-president. This is because Trump preferred the 757-derived C-32, which was more like his own jet.
Due to the VC-25A’s age, Trump would also look at replacing the VC-25A with a newer jet. The jet he chose was the 747-8, which is currently under development as the VC-25B, scheduled to enter service in 2025.
AACP
During the Cold War, there was a belief that, if nuclear war ever broke out, the President would be most effective if he was in the air. However, the aircraft he was in would naturally be a target for nuclear attacks.
This idea birthed the Boeing EC-135J, which could be used to transport high-ranking US officials if the need ever arose. Here, they’d be able to lead the country in the wake of a nuclear attack by the USSR.
By the early-to-mid 1970’s, nuclear warhead technology had progressed dramatically. Naturally, the USAF tried to modify its EC-135Js accordingly, but there were fears about how effective they would be.
Not willing to risk it, the USAF began to search for an aircraft that the President and his cabinet could use. The aircraft they chose was the Boeing 747-200, due to its large size, which would make future upgrades easier.
The USAF would purchase four 747-200s from Boeing, which Raytheon would modify extensively, in order to protect the president from potential nuclear attacks. These aircraft have been designated as the Boeing E-4.
The first of these E-4s would enter into service in 1974, with the rest following shortly after. The jets remain in service as of the time of writing.
Firefighting
In 2006, Evergreen International Aviation acquired two old Boeing 747s, one Boeing 747-100 and one Boeing 747-200. They did this with the intention of converting them into aerial firefighting aircraft.
This was mostly due to the 747’s immense size – if it could be converted properly, the jets could carry up to 20,000 gallons (76,000 liters) of firefighting chemicals each.
Evergreen would spend three years modifying and certifying both jets for this purpose. However, the company filed for bankruptcy due to the Great Recession, and was forced to ground the 747-200, before selling it in 2013.
Due to this, the jet never entered service as it was expected. Since 2013, the jet has been sat in an aircraft graveyard, waiting for someone to give it a second chance…
Museum
Similarly to other decommissioned jetliners, a number of 747-200s have been added to museum collections. As of the time of writing, a total of four 747-200s are on display in museums around the world.
To date, one is currently on display at Rand Airport’s aviation museum, in South Africa. Here, it is a static display, alongside the museum’s 747SP.
Another is on display in Germany. This is a former Lufthansa 747, which is now accessible to the museum’s visitors, who have to climb some stairs to reach it. Due to this, you can get off the jet by going down a slide!)
Yet another one is on display at the Aviodrome in The Netherlands. The jet is a former KLM Boeing 747-200, and currently serves as a static display, which you can actually go inside of.
The final 747-200 museum display is in Queensland, Australia. Here, this jet was previously used by Qantas, before becoming a static display at Qantas’ Founders Outback Museum.
Weirdly, a former Pan Am 747-200 currently serves as a hotel, in Sweden. This is known as the Jumbo Stay, with the entire hotel being inside the 747-200! Naturally, it is quite popular in the avgeek community.
Private Jet
Having seen that the 747-200 was good enough to be used as Air Force One, a number of corporations acquired the -200 to be used as their corporate jet.
In this capacity, the 747-200 would be used to transport the company’s CEO and other high level executives, usually on business trips. Here, they can relax or work together whilst they’re flying to their destination.
Often, this was on long haul routes, where it made the most sense. The company have have had smaller jets, which it could use on shorter routes, or charter them to save money.
Today, most of these jets have been retired. In their place, many of these corporations have acquired newer and more fuel efficient Boeing Business Jets and/or Airbus Corporate Jets.
If you so desired (and had the money to!), you can actually charter your own corporate Boeing 747-200. However, this is naturally quite pricey, so usually isn’t done as a vanity thing.
Specifications
Due to the fact that the 747-200 was designed from the 747-100, the two jets naturally have a lot of the same specs. However, the -200 was designed to carry more passengers, hence its augmented specs.
The -200 would also be serve as the basis for its successor, the incredibly unsuccessful 747-300. Due to this, the -200 also shares a lot in common with the -300 too…
| Specifications | Boeing 747-200B |
|---|---|
| Length | 231 ft 10 in (70.7 m) |
| Wingspan | 195 ft 8 in (59.6 m) |
| Height | 63 ft 4 in (19.3 m) |
| Crew | 3 |
| Passengers | 366 – 550 |
| Cruise Speed | Mach 0.8 (907 km/h; 564 mph; 490 kn) |
| Range | 12,150 km (7,550 mi; 6,560 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 45,100 ft (13,700 m) |
| MTOW | 833,000 lb (377,800 kg) |
Why Was The Boeing 747-200 so Successful?
By pretty much every metric, the Boeing 747-200 was a resounding success. In total, Boeing sold 393 -200s, almost double the amount of -100s Boeing sold (at a respectable 205).
For the most part, the 747-200 was so successful because it was exactly what airlines wanted.
You see, the -100 was what some airlines wanted. These airlines simply wanted a jet that was larger than the other jets of the era. This way, they could cram more passengers on high demand route, and make more money.
With the -200, however, it was about the routes the 747 could fly on. The -100 was great on Atlantic routes, but not so much on the highest demand Pacific routes. The -200 fixed this issue.
For others, it was about how many people they could transport. Yes, the -100 was the largest airliner of its time, but its upper deck – where the first class lounge is – was incredibly small. Lengthening that would be a money-maker for the airline!
The fact that the airline could use these larger 747s on longer-haul routes was merely an added bonus.
On top of this, the -200 was only mildly more expensive than the -100. In 1976, the cost of a brand new -100 was $32.67 million (today $150 million), whilst a brand new -200 cost around $39 million (today $165.5 million).
Due to the aforementioned reasons, the Boeing 747-200 was appealing to a large number of airlines, who often bought the 747-200 instead of the 747-100.
How Safe Was The Boeing 747-200?
In recent years, Boeing aircraft have gotten a reputation for being very dangerous aircraft, mostly due to the recent 737 MAX debacle. Regardless, the 747 family as a whole, still has a reputation for being extremely safe.
Surprisingly, the Boeing 747-200 lives up to that reputation, with that being said, it is one of the more dangerous jets in the 747 family, but not by much.
In total, Boeing built 393 747-200s, including specially designed derivatives. Of those 393 747-200s Boeing built, only 17 of them were ever involved in any form of aviation-related incident.
To put it another way, only 0.4% of the 747-200s ever built, have been involved in an aviation accident of any kind.
Sadly, these 17 incidents resulted in a number of hull losses, which in turn, resulted in a total of 1399 fatalities.
Most of these hull loses were caused by metal fatigue. This was often on the oldest Boeing 747-200s, which had not been properly maintained by the airline. Eventually, the metal got too fatigued and broke apart mid-flight.
This in turn, caused the aircraft to crash, thus killing many or all of those onboard.
Prior to the creation of the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), a number of 747-200s were also the victims of indiscriminate hijackings, which often led to fatalities. Since the creation of the FAMS, no 747-200 has been hijacked.
Legacy
Due to the Boeing 747-200’s immense success, it has left an especially large impact on the industry as a whole. Whilst much of this has faded over the last 30 years or so, a lot of this has remained, some of which we can still see today!
Boeing
Boeing sank billions of dollars in today’s money to develop the 747. This was an extremely risky move, given the fact that Boeing was on edge of financial collapse in the late 1960’s.
The 747-100 was successful, not only recuperating the initial development cost, but also shoring up Boeing financially. Boeing would use this money to fund the development of the 747-200.
With this, the 747-200 didn’t really owe Boeing that much from a financial point of view. However, the Boeing 747-200 passed all expectations, and made Boeing trillions in today’s money.
Using this money, Boeing would fund a number of new developments. Most of these were in their non-commercial airliner divisions, however, some of this money was used to fund the development of what would become the 737-300.
Boeing 747-200
Today, it is becoming too expensive for airlines to operate the 747-200. Indeed, in recent years, most cargo airlines have retired their 747-200s, even in the third world, where it’s cheaper to operate them.
As of the time of writing, there are only five 747-200s still flying, all of which are cargo aircraft. With that being said, there are two 747-200 derivatives that are still flying in the West.
These are the two VC-25As, used as Air Force One.
Today, most of those retired 747-200s are in storage. With this, most of them are in the various aircraft graveyards, scattered around the world. Here, they sit waiting for someone to give them a second life, either as an airliner or private jet.
Sadly, many of these aircraft graveyards have began to reach full capacity in recent years. With this, many Boeing 747-200s have been deliberately destroyed, with the wreckage being sold for scrap.
Future Aircraft
Most notably, the 747-200 would serve as the basis for its successor, the 747-300. Here, the upper deck was stretched once again, which allowed airlines to add more first class seats, and thus, make more profit.
In turn, the 747-300 would serve as the basis for the wildly successful 747-400, which would go on to become the bestselling 747 variant to date. In turn, the 747-400 would be developed into the 747-8, the largest 747 to date.
The introduction of the 747-200 would see Boeing commission Pratt & Whitney to create a more powerful variant of the JT9D engine. In turn, Pratt & Whitney would develop the JT9D-7, which would power the 747-200.
Pratt & Whitney would subsequently redevelop the engines for the 747-300, 767, A300, A310 and DC-10. These subsequent engines would build mostly on the work P&W did on the JT9D-7, primarily for the 747-200.
What do you think of the Boeing 747-200? Have you ever flown on it? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Bernal Saborio via Flickr.