| N747GE | |
|---|---|
N747GE with a GE90 jet engine at the Mojave Airport in during flight test of the world's largest jet engine.
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| General information | |
| Other name(s) |
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| Type | Boeing 747-121[Note 1] |
| Manufacturer | Boeing |
| Management | Pan Am General Electric |
| Registration |
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| History | |
| Manufactured | 1969 |
| First flight | March 3, 1970 |
| Last flight | January 25, 2017 |
| Preserved at | Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona |
| Fate | On display |
N747GE is a Boeing 747 aircraft that was used by General Electric (GE) as a testbed for several of the companies jet engines between 1991 and 2017, including the GE90 for the Boeing 777, at the time, the world’s largest jet engine.
Before being purchased by GE, the aircraft was owned by Pan Am and registered N744PA. It was named Clipper Star of the Union between 1970 and 1982 and Clipper Ocean Spray between 1982 and 1992.
The Boeing 747-121[Note 1] rolled off of Boeing's assembly line in 1969 as the 25th Boeing 747 constructed.[1] Originally registered as N744PA, the aircraft was delivered to Pan American World Airways (Pan Am). N744PA remained under ownership of Pan Am until 1991, when the airline declared bankruptcy on January 8, 1991.[2][3]
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.[2][1]
GE Aerospace purchased the aircraft after Pan Am’s bankruptcy to serve as an airborne laboratory, specifically for testing generations of newer jet engines from GE and its joint venture partners.[2]
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.[2]
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.[2]
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, General Electric CF34, Engine Alliance GP7200, CFM International LEAP, General Electric GEnx, and General Electric Passport.[2]
The final flight of the aircraft occurred January 25, 2017, where the aircraft departed from Victorville, California, and it landed at Tucson, Arizona where it was eventually donated to the Pima Air and Space MuseuminPima County, Arizona, where it currently resides on static display as a testament to aviation history.[2][4]
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Boeing 747 family
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