Odd question regarding passenger planes!

[DannyVTS]

I've had a slow afternoon at work... here goes something that we've just been discussing in the office


So the question is:

What would be the mileage (odometer reading) of a passenger plane that had been in service, lets say 20 years. (Boeing 747 for arguments sake)

All i've been able to find is that it uses 18,000 litres of fuel per hour :\

Anyone wanna help me google?

[kambites]

Well say it does Europe to the US and back every day, that'd be around 8000 miles a day. That's about 60,000,000 miles in 20 years, assuming they fly every day? Probably the right order of magnitude, even if it's not completely accurate.

[leginlb]

'The 747 fleet has logged more than 42 billion nautical miles (77.8 billion kilometers), equivalent to 101,500 trips from the Earth to the moon and back.'

This quote from the Boeing website, although aircraft use is normally quoted in hours flown.

[Pints]

kambites said:

That's about 60,000,000 miles in 20 years

Sounds about right for a taxi. Toyota engine is it?

[john_p]

I've seen that Emirates use their aircraft at an average of 18hrs/day

At 500mph (say) that's 9,000 miles a day, or 3.2 million miles per year

Obviously maintenance etc takes a chunk out of that

[Evil.soup]

Its not an aircraft but i know of a number of trucks just a few years old that have broken the Million mile mark so a 747 could easily hit the billion mark i would have thought in 20 years!!

[kambites]

doogz said:

kambites said:

Well say it does Europe to the US and back every day, that'd be around 8000 miles a day. That's about 60,000,000 miles in 20 years, assuming they fly every day? Probably the right order of magnitude, even if it's not completely accurate.

Europe to the US and back every day, solid, for 20 years.

I don't think so.

Why not? I thought the big jumbos had pretty high duty cycles (OK not 100%, but over 90%) and no-one uses 747s for short-haul flying as far as I know?

[kambites]

doogz said:

I think 60,000 is about right for a 747.

So 60,000 hours, mostly at a cruising speed of around 600mph? Take off a bit for take off and landing and that gives you around 30,000,000 miles?

[leginlb]

kambites said:

doogz said:

kambites said:

Well say it does Europe to the US and back every day, that'd be around 8000 miles a day. That's about 60,000,000 miles in 20 years, assuming they fly every day? Probably the right order of magnitude, even if it's not completely accurate.

Europe to the US and back every day, solid, for 20 years.

I don't think so.

Why not? I thought the big jumbos had pretty high duty cycles (OK not 100%, but over 90%) and no-one uses 747s for short-haul flying as far as I know?

Cathay Pacific use their 747-400s (and Airbus A340's) on the high density route between Hong Kong and Taiwan on certain flights at weekends, but its not very common.

[NLB]

It slightly depends by what you mean by "an aeroplane"... The airframe is the thing easily identifiable as "the aeroplane", but it will have many engines, and several avionics up-grades/re-fits over its life. An aeroplane has it's engines exchanged at each scheduled period, not the same ones overhauled.

Some airframes are really old - there are B52 bombers (ok, not a passenger plane...) still in service, and they intend to keep them going until 2040 - the last airframe was built in 1962.

[mrmaggit]

Lots of steam locos were scrapped at 1-1.3 million miles, the BR Western diesels were scrapped with between 700,000 and 1.3 million miles.

Not sure this helps with aircraft, though.

[smack]

leginlb said:

kambites said:

Why not? I thought the big jumbos had pretty high duty cycles (OK not 100%, but over 90%) and no-one uses 747s for short-haul flying as far as I know?

Cathay Pacific use their 747-400s (and Airbus A340's) on the high density route between Hong Kong and Taiwan on certain flights at weekends, but its not very common.

They do in Japan, run inbetween Tokyo and Osaka. They run B747-400D's:

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/747family/pf/pf_d...

And they used to run 747's between Melbourne to Sydney, in the 80's, as part of a triangle to hubs in Asia. I assume back then less people flew, so servinging the 2 cities would fill the plane.
I remember flying that leg with a lightly loaded 747, and the pilot hammered it, making the 800km trip in no time!

[bleesh]

NLB said:

It slightly depends by what you mean by "an aeroplane"... The airframe is the thing easily identifiable as "the aeroplane", but it will have many engines, and several avionics up-grades/re-fits over its life. An aeroplane has it's engines exchanged at each scheduled period, not the same ones overhauled.

Some airframes are really old - there are B52 bombers (ok, not a passenger plane...) still in service, and they intend to keep them going until 2040 - the last airframe was built in 1962.

^^^^^^^^^^
Trigger's broom

[DannyVTS]

NLB said:

It slightly depends by what you mean by "an aeroplane"... The airframe is the thing easily identifiable as "the aeroplane", but it will have many engines, and several avionics up-grades/re-fits over its life. An aeroplane has it's engines exchanged at each scheduled period, not the same ones overhauled.

Some airframes are really old - there are B52 bombers (ok, not a passenger plane...) still in service, and they intend to keep them going until 2040 - the last airframe was built in 1962.

Sorry, i guess i was referring to the engine!

[NLB]

For "an engine", there is a variable lifetime between major strip downs and overhauls, depending on operating conditions etc, but the RR website boasts of the RB211-524 (as used on the 747-400 etc.) being "the first engine to exceed 27,500 hours on-wing". So... at a long range cruising speed of about 560mph (not the real average flight speed for a sector, which must include the time spent at lower speed for take off and landing, but not very far off), in 27,500 operating hours, an engine will cover a startling 15.5 million miles..... Quite reliable, modern aircraft turbines, eh?

[khaosai]

Hi,

just flown a B777 which is 12 years old and has flown just under 49000 airframe hours.

You could have a guess at the mileage based on that.
Rgds