Boeing 747 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pan Am

The 747-100, which was the first model to see service, could carry 366 passengers in a three-class configuration or 452 passengers in a two-class configuration. The original powerplants for the aircraft were four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7A engines which each produced 46,500 pounds (20,925 kg) thrust. Engines from General Electric and Rolls-Royce were used on later aircraft.

Pan Am was very influential in the design and development of the 747. The airline wanted an aircraft that could carry more people than the Boeing 707 to help reduce worsening congestion at major airports. The first commercial 747, known as Clipper Victor, flew from New York to London. It was destroyed in the horrific Tenerife airport disaster in 1977.

Answer: True

The first three generations of 747 (the -100, -200, and -300) each had a wingspan of 195 ft 8 in (59.6m). The 747-400's wingspan is even greater, at 211 ft 5 in (64.4m). In comparison, each space shuttle orbiter measured just 122 ft (37.19m) in length.

Answer: Terrorist bomb on the ground

Pan Am Flight 93, bound for New York, was hijacked just moments after departing from Amsterdam. Two men forced the crew to fly to Beirut, Lebanon, where seven more people boarded the plane. Once the plane was on the ground in Cairo, Egypt, all passengers were evacuated from the aircraft moments before the 747 was blown up. There were no fatalities as a result of this act.

Answer: Nairobi, Kenya

A stall attributed to operator error caused Lufthansa Flight 540 to crash during takeoff from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. Fifty-nine people were killed in the crash.

Answer: VC-25

Replacing the VC-137, a modified Boeing 707, in the role of transporting the President of the United States, the VC-25s can be best described as self-contained cities in flight. The aircraft have numerous amenities, including secure and non-secure communications links, medical facilities, living and working quarters, and countermeasures against aerial attack.

The 89th Airlift Wing of the US Air Force's Air Mobility Command, based at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, maintain and operate the aircraft.

Answer: American

N905NA, a modified 747-100, was used as the drop vehicle for the space shuttle Enterprise's approach and landing test flights at Edwards Air Force Base in California in the 1970s. The aircraft sported American's traditional red, white and blue livery until the 1980s, when it was replaced by a NASA livery of white and blue.

A second Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, N911NA, which originally belonged to Japan Airlines, first flew in 1991.

Answer: 567 mph (913 kmh)

Boeing had good reason to be proud of its ultra-modern 747-400. First entering commercial service with Northwest Airlines in 1989, the 747-400 cruised at 0.85 Mach, or 85 percent of the speed of sound, at its regular cruising altitude. Three different powerplants were used with this 747 model, the most powerful being the Pratt & Whitney PW4062, which generated 63,300 pounds (28,712 kg) thrust each.

Answer: Kneecap

The E-4 was officially known at one time as the National Emergency Airborne Command Post. Although not exactly an acronym, the letters were combined to pronounce "kneecap" - making that the aircraft's unofficial nickname. Until the delivery of the VC-25, the E-4 was primarily charged with carrying the president and other government members aloft during an attack or other national emergency.

The E-4 could also replace both the Air Force's EC-135 and the Navy's E-6 in the Looking Glass function, allowing government authorities to launch counterattacks against the enemy.

Answer: The High and the Mighty

Directed by William A. Wellman and starring John Wayne and Robert Stack, "The High and the Mighty" was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Director (Wellman), Best Supporting Actor (Jan Sterling) and Best Supporting Actress (Claire Trevor).

It won just one Oscar, for Dimitri Tiomkin's original music score. Considered to be a forerunner of Hollywood's disaster movie genre, "The High and the Mighty" followed the passengers and crew of a Douglas DC-4 as it encounters trouble on the trip between Honolulu and San Francisco.

Answer: Museum of Flight (Seattle, Washington)

The City of Everett was named in honor of Everett, Washington, the city near which the 747 assembly facilities built in the 1960s. At various times, it was joined at the Museum of Flight by a VC-137, which served as a VIP transport for the US Air Force, and a British Airways Concorde.