The Boeing 747 History Quiz
Ten questions about the Boeing 747 — from the airlines and engineers who launched the jumbo to the variants that made it famous. Every answer links to a source page on this site.
The Boeing 747 has a long, strange and gloriously detailed history — 54 years, 1,574 airframes, an upper-deck lounge movement, and a launch customer that ordered it more or less on a handshake. If you have skimmed the rest of this site, you should do well.
Question 1 of 10
Which airline ordered the first 25 Boeing 747s and launched the programme in 1966?
Question 2 of 10
What was the date of the 747's maiden flight?
Question 3 of 10
Why does the 747 have its famous upper-deck hump?
Question 4 of 10
Who led the 747 design team as chief engineer?
Question 5 of 10
Which variant introduced the stretched upper deck that became standard?
Question 6 of 10
Which airline was the launch customer for the 747-400?
Question 7 of 10
Roughly how many 747s were built in all?
Question 8 of 10
Which 747 is the best-selling member of the family?
Question 9 of 10
NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft were converted from which 747 airframes?
Question 10 of 10
Who took delivery of the very last Boeing 747 ever built, in January 2023?
You scored 0 of 10
Ten questions, all drawn from pages on this site. Answer one at a time — you cannot correct a wrong pick, so choose carefully. No data leaves your browser.
How it works
Ten questions, one at a time. Pick an answer and you instantly get the explanation plus a link to the page it comes from — there is no second chance, and no server involvement. A perfect round makes you as rare as the 747SP.
Where the questions come from
Every fact above is sourced on this site. Start with the Boeing 747 family for the variants, the airline histories for the operators, and the airframe registry for the machines that survive.
Frequently asked questions
- Which airline ordered the first 25 Boeing 747s?
- Pan American World Airways launched the 747 programme with a 25-aircraft order in April 1966.
- When was the 747's maiden flight?
- The Boeing 747 first flew on 9 February 1969 from Paine Field near Boeing's Everett factory.
- Why does the 747 have an upper deck?
- The raised cockpit was designed to allow freight to be loaded through a nose cargo door; passengers later inherited the upper-deck space.
- Who led the 747 design team?
- Joe Sutter was the 747's chief engineer, leading the team that built the jumbo in under 30 months.
- Which 747 introduced the stretched upper deck?
- The 747-300 of 1983 lengthened the upper deck by 23 ft 4 in, a profile every later 747 kept.
- Which airline launched the 747-400?
- Northwest Airlines was the launch customer for the 747-400, entering service in 1989.
- How many 747s were built?
- Boeing built 1,574 Boeing 747s from 1968 to 2022.
- What is the best-selling 747 variant?
- The 747-400 is the best-seller with 694 built.
- Which 747s became NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft?
- NASA's two Shuttle Carrier Aircraft were converted from early 747-100 and 747-100SR/200-series airframes.
- Who received the last Boeing 747 ever built?
- Atlas Air took delivery of the final 747-8F, N863GT, in January 2023.
Related topics
The story of the Boeing 747
How the 747 came to exist — the Pan Am bet, the factory built to make it, the hump that came from a freighter, and why production ended in 2023.
Fun Facts from Boeing
Boeing 747 facts and figures — six million parts, the largest building on Earth, 1,088 people on one flight, and 1,574 aircraft built over 54 years.
747-400
Announced in 1985, the 747-400 added winglets, a two-crew glass cockpit and a new interior, becoming the best-selling 747 generation.
Boeing 747: History, Variants and Legacy
A complete reference to the Boeing 747, built from 1968 to 2023 — every variant from the 747-100 to the 747-8, plus special-mission jumbos and photos.
Boeing 747 Family
Every Boeing 747 variant built between 1968 and 2023 — the 747-100, -200, -300, -400 and 747-8, with freighter, combi and short-range models explained.
Boeing 747 Fuel System
Detailed Boeing 747 fuel system guide covering tank layout, pumps, transfer, crossfeed, refuelling, jettison, safety and every major 747 variant.
More in Features
Features
Longer pieces on the Boeing 747 — the factory built to make it, how it compares to the A380, what became of the retired fleet, and what it is like to fly.
How to Identify Boeing 747 Variants
Identify Boeing 747 variants from photographs using upper-deck length, wingtip shape, fuselage length, engine nacelles and freighter doors.
The building that had to be built first
Boeing had no building big enough for the 747, so it built the largest building in the world by volume — and assembled the aeroplane while it was going up.
747 versus A380
The two largest airliners ever built, compared — size, capacity, economics, and why both are now out of production.
Where the 747s went
Most retired 747s were scrapped. Others became freighters, museum pieces, restaurants, a hotel — and one launched satellites into orbit.
Flying the 747
What the 747 is like to fly — the type rating, the view from 30 feet up, the handling, and why pilots talk about it the way they do.
