Boeing Dreamlifter
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The Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) is a
wide-body A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy cabi ...
cargo aircraft A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of air cargo, cargo rather than passenger aircraft, passengers. Such aircraft usually ...
modified extensively from the
Boeing 747-400 The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, targeting ...
airliner. With a volume of it can hold three times that of a
747-400F The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, targetin ...
freighter.Hanson, Mary et al
"Boeing Selects EGAT for 747 Large Cargo Freighter Modifications"
Boeing Commercial Airplanes, February 18, 2005. Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
The outsized aircraft, known as the Dreamlifter, was designed to transport
Boeing 787 Dreamliner The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
parts between Italy, Japan, and the U.S., but has also flown medical supplies during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.


Development

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) is a division of The Boeing Company. It designs, assembles, markets, and sells jet airliners and business jets ( Boeing Business Jets), and also provides product-related maintenance and training to customers wor ...
announced on October 13, 2003, that, due to the length of time required by land and
marine shipping Maritime transport (or ocean transport) and hydraulic effluvial transport, or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used thro ...
, air transport will be the primary method of transporting parts for the assembly of the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
(then known as the ''7E7''). Boeing 787 parts were deemed too large for standard marine shipping containers as well as the Boeing 747-400F,
Antonov An-124 The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (; russian: Антонов Ан-124 Руслан, , Ruslan; NATO reporting name: Condor) is a large, strategic airlift, four-engined aircraft that was designed in the 1980s by the Antonov design bureau in the Ukrain ...
and
An-225 The Antonov An-225 Mriya ( uk, Антонов Ан-225 Мрія, lit=dream' or 'inspiration; NATO reporting name: Cossack) was a strategic airlift cargo aircraft designed and produced by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was or ...
. Initially, three used passenger 747-400 aircraft were to be converted into an outsize configuration in order to ferry sub-assemblies from Japan and Italy to
North Charleston, South Carolina North Charleston is the third-largest city in the U.S. state, state of South Carolina.City Planning Department (2008-07)City of North Charleston boundary map. City of North Charleston. Retrieved January 21, 2011. On June 12, 1972, the city of No ...
, and then to
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
state for final assembly, but a fourth was subsequently added to the program.Lunsford, J. Lynn
"Ugly in the Air: Boeing's New Plane Gets Gawks, Stares"
. ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', January 8, 2007.
The Large Cargo Freighter has a bulging fuselage similar in concept to the Super Guppy and the
Airbus Beluga The Airbus A300-600ST (Super Transporter), or Beluga, is a version of the standard A300-600 wide-body airliner modified to carry aircraft parts and outsize cargo. It received the official name of ''Super Transporter'' early on; however, the nam ...
and BelugaXL outsize cargo aircraft, which are also used for transporting wings and fuselage sections. The LCF conversion was partially designed by Boeing's Moscow bureau and Boeing Rocketdyne with the swing tail designed in partnership with Gamesa Aeronáutica of
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
. The cargo portion of the aircraft is unpressurized. Unlike the hydraulically supported nose section on a 747 Freighter, the tail is opened and closed by a modified shipping container handling truck, and locked to the rear fuselage with 21 electronic actuators. Modifications were carried out in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
by Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation, a joint venture of
Evergreen Group The Evergreen Group () is the Business group, organizational designation used by a Taiwan-based Conglomerate (company), conglomerate of shipping, transportation, and associated service companies. The Evergreen Group arose in 1975 from the divers ...
's
EVA Air EVA Airways Corporation (pronounced as three letters: ; ) (), of which "EVA" stands for Evergreen Airways, is a Taiwanese international airline based at Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei, Taiwan, operating passenger and dedicated carg ...
and
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
.Hanson, Mary
"Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter Rolls Out; Prepares for First Flight"
Boeing Commercial Airplanes, June 17, 2006. Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
Boeing reacquired the four 747-400s; one former
Air China Air China Limited () is the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China and one of the "Big Three" mainland Chinese airlines (alongside China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines). Air China's headquarters are in Shunyi District, ...
aircraft,"Boeing N747BC (Ex B-2464)—Airfleets"
''Airfleets.'' Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
two former
China Airlines China Airlines (CAL; ) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and one of its two major airlines along with EVA Air. It is headquartered in Taoyuan International Airport and operates over 1,400 flights weekly (inclu ...
aircraft,"Boeing N780BA (Ex B-162 B-18272)"
''Airfleets.''Retrieved: March 17, 2008.

''Airfleets.'' Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
and one former
Malaysia Airlines Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB; ms, Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad), formerly known as Malaysian Airline System (MAS; ), and branded as Malaysia Airlines, is the flag carrier airline of Malaysia and a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. (The ...
aircraft.Boeing N718BA (Ex 9M-MPA)"
''Airfleets''. Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
The first 747 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) was rolled out of the hangar at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport on August 17, 2006. It successfully completed its first test flight on September 9, 2006, from this airport.Hanson, Mary
"Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter Completes First Flight"
Boeing Commercial Airplanes, September 9, 2006. Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
The 787 Dreamliner parts are placed in the aircraft by the DBL-100 cargo loader, the world's longest cargo loader. In June 2006, the first DBL-100 cargo loader was completed.Hanson, Mary
"First Cargo Loader Completed for Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter"
Boeing Commercial Airplanes, June 12, 2006. Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
The 747 LCF's unusual appearance has drawn comparisons to the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and the
Hughes H-4 Hercules The Hughes H-4 Hercules (commonly known as the ''Spruce Goose''; registration NX37602) is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use duri ...
("Spruce Goose"). Due to its ungainly form—exacerbated in that the first airplane remained unpainted for some time, due to the need for immediate testing—Boeing Commercial Airplanes president Scott Carson jokingly apologized to 747 designer
Joe Sutter Joseph Frederick Sutter (March 21, 1921 – August 30, 2016) was an American engineer for the Boeing Airplane Company and manager of the design team for the Boeing 747 under Malcolm T. Stamper, the head of the 747 project. ''Air & Space/Smit ...
that he was "sorry for what we did to your plane."


Operational history


Flight testing

On September 16, 2006, N747BC arrived at
Boeing Field Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport , is a public airport owned and operated by King County, five miles south of downtown Seattle, Washington. The airport is sometimes referred to as KCIA (King County International Airpo ...
,
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
to complete the flight test program. Swing-tail testing was done at the Boeing factory in Everett."Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter Successfully Tests Swing Tail"
Boeing Commercial Airplanes, October 23, 2006. Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
The second airplane, N780BA, made its inaugural test flight on February 16, 2007. The third began modification in 2007.Hanson, Mary

Boeing Commercial Airplanes, April 17, 2006. Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
The first two LCFs entered service in 2007 to support the final assembly of the first 787s. Delivery times for the 787's wings, built in Japan, was reduced from around 30 days to just over eight hours with the Dreamlifter.
".
Archive
' Boeing Commercial Airplanes, April 23, 2007. Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
Evergreen International Airlines Evergreen International Airlines was a charter and cargo airline based in McMinnville, Oregon, United States. Wholly owned by Evergreen International Aviation, it had longstanding ties to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It operated co ...
(unrelated to EVA Air or EGAT), a U.S. air freight operator based in
McMinnville, Oregon McMinnville is the county seat of and largest city in Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. The city is named after McMinnville, Tennessee. As of the 2019 census, the city had a population estimate of 34,743. McMinnville is at the confluence of ...
, operated the LCF fleetHanson, Mary et al
"Evergreen International Airlines, Inc. to Operate Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighters"
Boeing Commercial Airplanes, December 15, 2007. Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
until August 2010. Then
Atlas Air Atlas Air, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, is a major American cargo airline, passenger charter airline, and aircraft lessor based in Purchase, New York. Atlas Air is the world's largest operator of the Boei ...
, which was awarded a nine-year contract for the operation of the aircraft in March 2010, took over LCF operation. Evergreen had achieved a 93% on flight schedule performance with the LCF, and sued Boeing for $175 million,Cohen, Aubrey.
Details from Boeing Dreamlifter lawsuit
". ''
Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...
'', April 2, 2010. Retrieved: September 30, 2012.
Harris, Andrew M.
Boeing Sued by 'Dreamlifter' Airline for $175 Million Over Transport Deal
". ''
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...
'', April 8, 2010. Retrieved: September 30, 2012.
which the court mostly dismissed.Judge: Evergreen trade secret claims against Boeing stand
". ''
Daily Herald (Arlington Heights) The ''Daily Herald'' is a daily newspaper based in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The newspaper is distributed in the northern, northwestern and western suburbs of Chicago. It is the namesake of the Daily Herald Media Group, a ...
'', June 14, 2010. Retrieved: September 30, 2012.
Coughenour, John C.
Case 2:10-cv-00568-JCC Document 22
" page 22. United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, June 9, 2010. Retrieved: September 30, 2012.


Into service

In December 2006, Boeing announced the 747 LCF would be named ''Dreamlifter'', a reference to the 787's name, Dreamliner. It unveiled a standard livery for the aircraft that included a logo reminiscent of the 787's Dreamliner logo."Boeing Reveals Livery, Name for 747 Large Cargo Freighters"
Boeing Commercial Airplanes, December 6, 2006. Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
Certification was initially planned for early 2007, but was pushed back to June 2007. The aircraft's
winglets Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...
were removed to resolve excess vibration and other handling characteristics prior to final certification. In the meantime, as part of the flight test program, LCF delivered major sections of the 787 from partner sites around the world to the Boeing factory in
Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...
for final assembly.Wallace, James
"Boeing Can't Soothe Jitters"
''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', Retrieved: March 17, 2008.
The 747 LCF was granted
FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
type certification on June 2, 2007. From its first flight in 2006 until certification in 2007, the Dreamlifter completed 437 hours of flight testing along with 639 hours of ground testing. Of the four 747 Dreamlifters Boeing acquired, three were complete and operational by June 2008, and the fourth became operational in February 2010. On July 1, 2020, a Dreamlifter arrived at
Salt Lake City International Airport Salt Lake City International Airport is a civil-military airport located about west of Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. The airport is the closest commercial airport for more than 2.5 million people and is within a 30-minu ...
, carrying 500,000 face masks to be used by Utah school children and teachers as part of the state's response to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. The flight was a joint effort between Boeing, Atlas Air, H.M. Cole, Cotopaxi,
Flexport Flexport Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on supply chain management and logistics, including order management, trade financing, insurance, freight forwarding and customs brokerage. The company is headquartered in San ...
,
UPS UPS or ups may refer to: Companies and organizations * United Parcel Service, an American shipping company ** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary ** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary * Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...
and the state of Utah.


Incidents

On November 20, 2013, Dreamlifter N780BA operated by
Atlas Air Atlas Air, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, is a major American cargo airline, passenger charter airline, and aircraft lessor based in Purchase, New York. Atlas Air is the world's largest operator of the Boei ...
inadvertently landed at
Colonel James Jabara Airport Colonel James Jabara Airport is a public airport located northeast of the central business district of Wichita, a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. It is named in honor of World War II and Korean War flying ace James Jabara, an ...
, a small
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
airport in
Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
. Its intended destination was
McConnell Air Force Base McConnell Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located four miles (6 km) southeast of the central business district of Wichita, a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States., effective 2007-12-20 The airbase was named in ...
, 9 miles (14 km) past Jabara Airport on the same heading. The aircraft was able to successfully take off again from Jabara's runway the following day and landed at McConnell without incident. On October 11, 2022, Dreamlifter N718BA operated by Atlas Air lost a wheel from its main landing gear while taking off from Taranto, Italy. The wheel bounced outside the airport perimeter and ended up in a vineyard. The plane continued on to
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
and made a safe landing.


Specifications

The 747 LCF main cargo compartment has a volume of and the maximum payload capacity is . Sources: ''Boeing 747-400 specifications'', ''Boeing 747 Airport Report'',"Boeing 747 Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning"
''Boeing''. Retrieved: September 14, 2011.
747 LCF fact sheet


See also


References

;Notes ;Bibliography *


External links



{{Outsized cargo aircraft 2000s United States cargo aircraft Aircraft first flown in 2006 Boeing 747 Quadjets