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  • [♪♪]

  • [narrator] The Boeing 747.

  • It opened up the world to long-range flight.

  • It carries millions of passengers per year

  • along with millions of tons of cargo,

  • and it's widely regarded as the most successful large aircraft ever built.

  • But with fuel prices climbing higher and higher,

  • the question became, could Boeing make the "Queen of the Skies" even better?

  • Could the 747 become a model of modern fuel efficiency?

  • The 747-8 is an all-new airplane [David Loffing, Boeing Engineer/Designer 747-8 Wings]

  • that is really built off the backbone and the foundation of the iconic 747.

  • [narrator] To remake the 747, Boeing took the world's best performing large airframe

  • and updated it with the advanced technology developed for the 787 Dreamliner.

  • In addition to adding powerful 787-type engines,

  • Boeing engineers developed an ultra-advanced wing

  • designed with complex curves and raked wing tips.

  • [Loffing] At one point during the design,

  • we reached a point where we were really concerned we couldn't form the wing skins

  • into the shapes needed with our traditional building processes.

  • So we brought a team together that brought in a new technology to form the wing skins

  • on the 747-8, and it's been very successful.

  • [narrator] With its advanced new wing and engines

  • and a host of other improvements,

  • the 747-8 offers the lowest operating costs and best fuel efficiency

  • of any passenger plane or freighter in its class.

  • In fact, the new 747-8 can boast a double-digit improvement in fuel efficiency

  • from the previous model.

  • [Loffing] The 747-8 represents a lot of big milestones for The Boeing Company.

  • It is the biggest commercial airplane that we've ever produced,

  • it's the world's fastest commercial airliner,

  • and it's one of the most efficient new large airplanes out there in the marketplace.

  • At the same time, we wanted to create a really quiet airframe

  • that also lands in the same airports and can take off from the same airports as the 747-400.

  • [narrator] In remaking the 747 for a new era,

  • Boeing engineers showed that sometimes, innovation means finding a way

  • to make the best even better.

  • When you change the wing on an airplane,

  • you effectively are creating an all-new airplane.

  • [narrator] The result is a next-generation aircraft

  • that sets a new benchmark for large aircraft fuel efficiency and noise reduction.

  • [♪♪]

  • [BOEING - Copyright © 2012 Boeing. All rights reserved.] [♪♪]

[♪♪]

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