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N747GE Clipper Star of the Union Clipper Ocean Spray N744PA | |
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N747GE with the GE90-115 jet engine on the #2 pylon at Mojave AirportinMojave, California during flight test of the world's largest jet engine.
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General information | |
Other name(s) | Pan Am:
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Type | Boeing 747-121 |
Manufacturer | Boeing |
Management | Pan Am General Electric |
Registration | N744PA (Pan Am) N747GE (General Electric) |
History | |
Manufactured | 1969 |
First flight | March 3, 1970 |
Last flight | January 25, 2017 |
Preserved at | Pima Air and Space Museum |
Fate | On static display |
N747GE (named Clipper Star of the Union (between 1970 and 1982) and Clipper Ocean Spray (between 1982 and 1992) by Pan Am) is an ex-Pan Am Boeing 747-121 testbed aircraft that was used by General Electric (GE) for various purposes.
Originally operated by Pan American World Airways (Pan Am), N747GE was the last operating model of the first variant of the Boeing 747 airliner.
The Boeing 747-121 had rolled off of Boeing's assembly line in 1969 as the 16th Boeing 747 ever constructed and was operated by Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) until the bankruptcy of Pan Am on January 8, 1991.[1]
The aircraft was first named Clipper Star of the Union when delivered to Pan Am in 1970 and operated with that name until 1982 when it was renamed to Clipper Ocean Spray. and it kept that name until 1991 following the bankruptcy of Pan Am on January 8, 1991.[1][2]
N747GE had served for General Electric (GE) as an airborne laboratory, specifically for testing generations of newer jet engines by General Electric. It was known to be the very last operating model of the 747-100 series. The testbed was crucial in terms of vetting and certifying. They used a total of eleven engine models and a total of thirty-nine different kinds of engine builds, including the General Electric GE90 and the General Electric GEnx jet engines for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Boeing 747-8.[1]
The final flight of the aircraft had had occurred January 25, 2017, where the aircraft departed from Victorville, California, and arrived at its new home at the Pima Air and Space MuseuminTucson, Arizona, where it currently resides on static display as a testament to aviation history.[1][3]