The Boeing 747 - The Queen of the Skies Part II

The classic version - The Boeing 747-200B
In the second part of my article on the Boeing 747 we will take a look at the most classic of all versions - the Boeing 747-200B. Early on it was clear that the 747 held enormous potential for growth and therefore several upgrades and changes to the airframe were studied by its manufacturer including even such radical desings as a 747 trijet (with two engine under the wings and a third engine in the tail). The 200B version enabled airlines to operate non-stop services from the West Coast of the U.S. to airports in Western Europe by increasing the MTOW (versions from 351.534 kgs to 378.000 kgs). The 747-200B was introduced in 1971 with KLM Dutch Airlines (serial number 96). Starting that same year the 10 windows on each of the upper deck sides became production standard. While externally the dimensions of the upper deck remained unchanged, internally it was rearranged so that there was additional seating for 16 more passengers available. The 200 was also offered as a combi version, the 200M, which mixed passengers and cargo on the main deck, separated by a removable partition with the cargo loaded in the aft section of the aircraft through a side cargo door (SCD). Also a C version was built which could be easily converted from passenger to freighter model in a matter of hours, with the seats installed on pallets which could be easily offloaded. This C version retained the nose of the dedicated freighter model. This dedicated freighter model, the 200F was a sales success right away from the start. Both F and C models could be ordered with or without the side cargo door of the combi version. The 200 series was also the first version which was offered with an engine choice of General Electric, Rolls Royce and Pratt & Whitney - while the earlier 747-100 was only offered with Pratt & Whitney engines. I will depict all available engines for the Boeing 747 in a later part of this article series. A total of 367 civilian Boeing 747-200s plus 6 military versions for the U.S. Air Force (of which two were VC-25s, known as “Air Force One” once the U.S. President takes a ride on them) were built, with the last one delivered in 1991. A few 200s from KLM and UTA (which subsequently merged with Air France) were later retrofitted with the stretched upper deck (SUD), which was a standard production feature of the later 300 and 400 versions, thus making the Boeing 747-200B SUD externally indistinguishable from a Boeing 747-300, which will be featured in the next part of this article series.