RA001: The First Boeing 747

N7470, also known as RA001 and City of Everett, is the first Boeing 747 built. Boeing retained it for development work rather than handing it over to an airline. Its surviving test configuration makes it a record of how the jumbo was developed.

Aircraft identity

• Registration: N7470
• Variant: Boeing 747-121
• Serial number: 20235
• Operator history: Boeing flight test
• Record status: Preserved

Aircraft history

Date or period	Milestone
9 February 1969	First flight of the 747 prototype from Paine Field. Source
After certification	Continued as a Boeing development testbed, including work on later engine programmes. Source
6 April 1995	Final flight and donation to The Museum of Flight, after about 5,300 flight hours. Source
2013 - 2014	Extensive restoration returned the aircraft to its early flight-test appearance. Source

What makes this aircraft important

The aircraft is in the museum's Aviation Pavilion. The museum also links to virtual views of the cockpit, lounge and lower bay. Those tours are a useful way to compare a prototype's working interior with the airline cabins that followed.

Status and access

The official collection or venue record lists this aircraft at The Museum of Flight, Seattle. Interior access, tours and opening arrangements can change. Check the venue information before visiting.

Sources checked: 3 October 2026. Dates are as specific as the confirming source; an undated milestone is labelled as a period rather than given an invented day.

Related

• All individual aircraft histories
• The 747-100