N747GE: Difference between revisions

}}

| flights = 19,251

| total_hours = 90,000

'''N747GE''' is a [[Boeing 747]] aircraft that was used by [[General Electric]] Aircraft Engines (now known as [[GE Aerospace]]) as a testbed for several of the companies jet engines between 1992 and 2017, including the [[GE90]] for the Boeing 777, at the time, the world’s largest jet engine.

The Boeing 747-121<ref group=Note name=Note01/> rolled off of Boeing's assembly line in 1969 as the 25th [[Boeing 747]] constructed.<ref name="Planespotters" /> Originally registered as N744PA, the aircraft was delivered to Pan American World Airways ([[Pan Am]]). N744PA remained under the ownership of Pan Am until 1991, when the airline declared bankruptcy on January 8, 1991.<ref name="GE Aerospace">{{Cite press release |title=Time Flies: GE's Original Flying Testbed Jets Off Into History |url=https://www.ge.com/news/reports/time-flies-ges-original-flying-testbed-jets-off-history |language=en |access-date=February 18, 2024 |website=[[GE Aerospace]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gkYtAQAAMAAJ |title=Airways: A Global Review of Commercial Flight |date=2009 |publisher=Airways International, Incorporated |page=5 |language=en |access-date=February 20, 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Ge-747-N747GE-020404-01.jpg|thumb|N747GE with [[CFM International CFM56|CFM56]] engine on the #2 pylon at the [[Mojave Airport]] in 2002.]]

General Electric Aircraft Engines (now known as [[GE Aerospace]]) purchased the aircraft after Pan Am’s bankruptcy to serve as an airborne laboratory, specifically for testing jet engines from GE and its joint venture partners.<ref name="GE Aerospace" /> The aircraft received several modifications, including removing seats, strengthening the left wing and tail for flight testing and installing data systems.<ref name="SP's AirBuz" /> Ironically, the aircraft was powered with [[Pratt & Whitney JT9D]] engines instead of the [[General Electric CF6]]. The company said at the time, there were no GE-powered 747s economically available for purchase.<ref name="GE Aerospace" />

Using a four-engine aircraft allowed GE to swap out the engine on the #2 pylon for an engine under test. The company could then measure fuel burn and engine performance while also subjecting the test engine to difficult conditions such as a high angle of attack during aircraft stalls, zero-G operations, large sideslips and sustained flight in icing conditions. The aircraft first began flight testing out of [[Mojave Airport]] in California. In 2003, GE's flight test operations moved into a new hangar at the nearby [[Victorville Airport]].<ref name="GE Aerospace" />

They used a total of eleven engine models and a total of thirty-nine different kinds of engine builds, beginning with the massive [[General Electric GE90]] for the Boeing 777. Other notable tests include the [[CFM International CFM56]] and it's successor the [[CFM International LEAP]] for narrow-bodies, the [[Engine Alliance GP7000]] for the [[Airbus A380]], the [[General Electric GEnx]] for the [[Boeing 787 Dreamliner]] and [[Boeing 747-8|747-8]], the [[General Electric CF34]] for regional jets and the [[General Electric Passport]] for business jets.<ref name="GE Aerospace" />

GE acquired another testbed aircraft in 2010, a newer 747-400. Facing growing maintenance costs, difficulty obtaining parts and a lack of modern navigation systems, GE made the decision to retire the aircraft. The aircraft made its last test flight with a GEnx engine under evaluation on January 25, 2017.<ref name="GE Aerospace" /><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P2jhGhIte4 |title=Farewell to the Queen of the Skies: The last flight of GE's 747-100 flying test bed |date=August 17, 2017 |type=Video production |language=en-US |publisher=[[GE Aerospace]]}}</ref>

The final flight of the aircraft occurred on November 15, 2018, when the aircraft departed from GE's test center Victorville and landed at [[Davis–Monthan Air Force Base]], to be donated to the [[Pima Air & Space Museum]], where it has been placed on display.<ref name="GE Aerospace" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=November 20, 2018 |title=GE Aviation donates 747-100 testbed to museum |url=https://australianaviation.com.au/2018/11/ge-aviation-donates-747-100-testbed-to-museum/ |access-date=February 18, 2024 |website=[[Australian Aviation]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

Throughout its life, the aircraft flew approximately 90,000 hours and 19,251 cycles, including 3,916 hours testing various engines.<ref name="SP's AirBuz">{{Cite magazine |year=2018 |title=GE Retires Its Boeing 747-100 Flying Test Bed |url=https://www.spsairbuz.com/story/?id=856&h=GE-Retires-Its-Boeing-747-100-Flying-Test-Bed |access-date=2024-02-24 |magazine=SP's AirBuz |language=en |publication-place=New Delhi, India |issue=6}}</ref><ref name="GE Aerospace" />