The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport aircraft, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced. Manufactured by Boeing's Commercial Airplane unit in the United States, the original version of the 747 was two and a half times the size of the Boeing 707, one of the common large commercial aircraft of the 1960s. First flown commercially in 1970, the 747 held the passenger capacity record for 37 years.

The four-engine 747 uses a double deck configuration for part of its length. It is available in passenger, freighter and other versions. Boeing designed the 747's hump-like upper deck to serve as a first class lounge or (as is the general rule today) extra seating, and to allow the aircraft to be easily converted to a cargo carrier by removing seats and installing a front cargo door. Boeing did so because the company expected supersonic airliners (whose development was announced in the early 1960s) to render the 747 and other subsonic airliners obsolete, while believing that the demand for subsonic cargo aircraft would be robust into the future.  The 747 in particular was expected to become obsolete after 400 were sold, but it exceeded its critics' expectations with production passing the 1,000 mark in 1993.  By September 2012, 1,448 aircraft had been built, with 81 of the 747-8 variants remaining on order.

The 747-400, the most common passenger version in service, is among the fastest airliners in service with a high-subsonic cruise speed of Mach 0.85–0.855 (up to 570 mph, 920 km/h). It has an intercontinental range of 7,260 nautical miles (8,350 mi or 13,450 km).  The 747-400 passenger version can accommodate 416 passengers in a typical three-class layout, 524 passengers in a typical two-class layout, or 660 passengers in a high density one-class configuration.  The newest version of the aircraft, the 747-8, is in production and received certification in 2011. Deliveries of the 747-8F freighter version to launch customer Cargolux began in October 2011; deliveries of the 747-8I passenger version to Lufthansa began in May 2012. The 747 is to be replaced by the Boeing Y3 (part of the Boeing Yellowstone Project) in the future. 

Specifications

Measurement	747-100B	747-200B	747-300	747-400 747-400ER	747-8I
Cockpit crew	Three			Two
Typical seating capacity	SR: 550 (1-class) 539 (1-class) 452 (2-class) 366 (3-class)		SR: 624 (1-class) 565 (1-class) 496 (2-class) 412 (3-class)	660 (1-class) 524 (2-class) 416 (3-class)	605 (maximum) 467 (3-class)
Length	231 ft 10 in (70.6 m)				250 ft 2 in (76.25 m)
Interior cabin width	20 feet (6.1 m)
Wingspan	195 ft 8 in (59.6 m)			211 ft 5 in (64.4 m)	224 ft 7 in (68.5 m)
Wing area	5,500 ft2 (510.95 m2)			5,650 ft2 (525 m2)	5963 ft2 (554 m2)
Wing sweep	37.5º
Aspect ratio	6.9			7.9	8.5
Tail height	63 ft 5 in (19.3 m)			63 ft 8 in (19.4 m)	63 ft 6 in (19.4 m)
Operating empty weight	358,000 lb (162,400 kg)	383,000 lb (174,000 kg)	392,800 lb (178,100 kg)	393,263 lb (178,756 kg) ER: 406,900 lb (184,600 kg)	472,900 lb (214,503 kg)
Maximum takeoff weight	735,000 lb (333,390 kg)	833,000 lb (377,842 kg)		875,000 lb (396,890 kg) ER: 910,000 lb (412,775 kg)	975,000 lb (442,253 kg)
Cruising speed (at 35,000 ft (11,000 m) altitude)	Mach 0.84 (555 mph, 893 km/h, 481 knots )			Mach 0.85 (567 mph, 913 km/h, 493 kn) ER: Mach 0.855 (570 mph, 918 km/h, 495 kn)	Mach 0.855 (570 mph, 918 km/h, 495 kn)
Maximum speed	Mach 0.89 (594 mph, 955 km/h, 516 kn)			Mach 0.92 (614 mph, 988 km/h, 533 kn)
Required runway at MTOW*	10,466 ft (3,190 m)		10,893 ft (3,320 m)	9,902 ft (3,018 m) ER: 10,138 ft (3,090 m)	10,138 ft (3,090 m)
Maximum range at MTOW (with max payload)	5,300 nmi 6,100 mi; 9,800 km	6,850 nmi 7,880 mi; 12,690 km	6,700 nmi 7,700 mi; 12,400 km	7,260 nmi 8,350 mi; 13,450 km ER: 7,670 nmi 8,830 mi; 14,200 km	8,000 nmi 9,200 mi; 15,000 km
Maximum fuel capacity	48,445 U.S. gal (40,339 imp gal/183,380 L)	52,410 U.S. gal (43,640 imp gal/199,158 L)		57,285 U.S. gal (47,700 imp gal/216,840 L) ER: 63,705 U.S. gal (53,045 imp gal/241,140 L)	64,225 U.S. gal (53,478 imp gal/243,120 L)
Engine models (x 4)	PW JT9D-7A/-7F/-7J RR RB211-524B2	PW JT9D-7R4G2 GE CF6-50E2 RR RB211-524D4	PW JT9D-7R4G2 GE CF6-80C2B1 RR RB211-524D4	PW 4062 GE CF6-80C2B5F RR RB211-524G/H ER: GE CF6-80C2B5F	GEnx-2B67
Engine thrust (per engine)	PW 46,500 lbf (207 kN) RR 50,100 lbf (223 kN)	PW 54,750 lbf (244 kN) GE 52,500 lbf (234 kN) RR 53,000 lbf (236 kN)	PW 54,750 lbf (244 kN) GE 55,640 lbf (247 kN) RR 53,000 lbf (236 kN)	PW 63,300 lbf (282 kN) GE 62,100 lbf (276 kN) RR 59,500/60,600 lbf (265/270 kN) ER: GE 62,100 lbf (276 kN)	66,500 lbf (296 kN)

Source: Wikipedia