General Electric Test Bed for GEnx testing
The General Electric Boeing 747-100 engine flying test bed.
General Electric's 747-100 flying test bed, N747GE, with an experimental engine on the inboard pylon.
GE used this aircraft for decades to certify engines including the GEnx that would later power the 747-8 and the 787.
General Electric 747-100 testbed, used in the 1990s for the GE90 and today to test the new GEnx engine for the 747-8/787.
Related topics
N747GE: From Pan Am to Engine Testbed
N747GE flew for Pan Am as N744PA before becoming General Electric's flying engine laboratory and joining the Pima museum collection in 2018.
The 747 as a flying testbed
General Electric, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney all fly engines on 747s - because a four-engined aircraft can carry a strange engine safely.
747-100
The original Boeing 747-100 entered service in 1970 with six upper-deck windows and a lounge; later aircraft offered a ten-window upper deck.
Boeing 747-100 vs 747-200
What the 747-200 added to the original 747-100: more thrust, higher takeoff weights, a ten-window upper deck and freighter, combi and convertible variants.
The 747-8 and the environment
The 747-8 meets emissions limits for hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, smoke and nitrogen oxides, with a noise footprint about 30 percent smaller than the 747-400.
Boeing 747SP vs 747-100
The 747SP traded forty-plus seats for nearly 48 ft of fuselage and a 5,830-nautical-mile range - the first 747 built to fly further, not carry more.
More in Photo Album
Photo Album
Photographs of every major Boeing 747 variant and special-mission jumbo - airline service, freight, Air Force One, the Dreamlifter and SOFIA.
Boeing 747-8 Photos
The Boeing 747-8 in pictures - wing assembly, final construction, paint hangar roll-out, first flight and airline service.
747-400 Cargo
Japan Airlines Cargo Boeing 747-400F JA401J photographed on the ramp, showing the freighter's raised flight deck and nose door.
747-400D (Japan Airlines)
A Japan Airlines Boeing 747-400D, the high-density domestic variant built without the winglets fitted to other 747-400s.
747-8 Berths
Optional crew rest berths offered on the 747-8, tucked into the upper area of the cabin for long-haul operations.
747-8-Intercontinental forward fuselage
The first forward fuselage section of the 747-8 Intercontinental, delivered to Everett for final assembly.