06/26/2020
Here are 10 fun facts about the Boeing 737, as referenced from Flying Anarchy:
Development of the first Boeing 737 began in 1964
It took engineers three years to build the first ever 737. The Boeing 737-100 had its first flight in April of 1967 and officially went into service the following February. Lufthansa was the first airline to put this aircraft into their regular rotation.
The 737 is the best-selling commercial jetliner in history
Though this may not seem like much of a surprise, the numbers associated with the 737 are pretty amazing. As of 2017, Boeing received more than 14,000 orders for the different types of the 737. Nearly 10,000 of those aircraft were delivered to customers while the remaining are nearing the delivery stage. The next time you fly, there’s a good chance you will be on a 737.
It takes about 50 gallons of paint to paint the typical 737
That’s a lot of paint! Once it dries, the aircraft will weigh approximately 90,000 pounds. For comparison, that’s about as heavy as nine elephants.
The 737 has flown more than 119 billion miles
It’s virtually impossible to fathom that kind of distance. But you can think of it as equivalent to approximately 640 round trips from the earth to the sun. As the travel industry continues to gain steam, passengers will still rely heavily on the 737.
The 737 has carried nearly 17 billion passengers
This truly is an astonishing fact. As of 2017, World Bank confirmed a world population of 7.53 billion. So the fact that the 737 aircraft has carried more than double that number is mind-boggling.
There are about 1,000 737s in the air at once
Have you ever been on a flight and wondered how many other planes were in the sky at that time? Well, on average, there are about 1,000 737 aircraft in the air at once. Not only does this statistic speak to the popularity of the 737, but also the importance of air traffic control and experienced pilots.
A 737 either takes off or lands every 5.5 seconds somewhere in the world
In about the time it takes you to read this sentence, a 737 has either taken off or landed in some part of the world. This is yet another statistic that shows the importance of the aviation industry as a whole. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that travelers rely on the Boeing 737 more than any other aircraft.
Ten thousand 737s stacked on top of one another would be more than 400,000 feet high
That equates to 77 miles high! As a reference point, the shortest distance between earth and space is about 62 miles. Unfortunately, we aren’t yet to the point where 737s can fly into outer space!
The 737 was the first aircraft in the world with CFM 56 Turbofan engines
Wondering what makes CFM 56 Turbofan engines so important? Well, because of their high bypass ratio and the fact that they burn much less fuel than a regular jet engine, they are the most common engines in commercial aviation today.
The 737 helped push Boeing to build the largest factory in the world
When your business is building commercial aircraft, it only makes sense to have a huge manufacturing space. It’s safe to say the Boeing factory dwarfs what most people would consider large buildings. For those wondering, this factory has a volume of 472 million cubic feet.
