Why is it always 7 at Boeing??

Maybe a lot of people, including me, have been wondering why almost all of Boeing’s aircraft have the default name 7×7. We can see 707, 727, the famous 737 series and so on. My friend’s just found and given me an articel explaining this. Here it is:

from www.boeing.com

Why 7’s been a lucky number

BY MIKE LOMBARDI

One of the most frequently asked questions posed to Boeing company historians is, “How did Boeing come up with the 7-7 name for its commercial jets?” There are many myths about the Boeing 7-7 name, one of the most famous brands in history.

People who lean toward math and engineering are certain that 707 was chosen because it is the sine of the angle of wing sweep on a 707. It’s not, since the wing sweep is 35 degrees and not 45. However, more people lean toward superstition and feel that the positive connotation of the number seven was the reason it was selected.

The truth is a bit more mundane. Boeing has assigned sequential model numbers to its designs for decades, as have most aircraft manufacturers. Boeing commercial aircraft use their model number as their popular name: Model 40, Model 80, Model 247, Model 307 Stratoliner and Model 377 Stratocruiser.

Boeing planes built for the military are best remembered by their military designations, such as the B-17 Flying Fortress or the B-52 Stratofortress. These airplanes also had Boeing model numbers assigned to them-the B-17 is the Boeing Model 299 and the B-52 is the Boeing Model 454.

After World War II, Boeing was a military airplane company. William Allen, Boeing president at the time, decided that the company needed to expand back into commercial airplanes and pursue the new fields of missiles and spacecraft. To support this diversification strategy, the engineering department divided the model numbers into blocks of 100 for each of the new product areas: 300s and 400s continued to represent aircraft, 500s would be used on turbine engines, 600s for rockets and missiles and 700s were set aside for jet transport aircraft.

Boeing developed the world’s first large swept-wing jet, the B-47. That aircraft sparked interest with some of the airlines. One in particular, Pan Am, asked Boeing to determine its feasibility as a commercial jet transport. At the same time, Boeing began studies on converting the propeller-driven model 367 Stratotanker, better known as the KC-97, into a jet-powered tanker that would be able to keep pace with the B-52 during in-flight refueling.

Boeing product development went through several renditions of the model 367, and finally a version numbered 367-80 was selected. It was soon nicknamed the “Dash 80.”

Boeing took a calculated risk by financing the development and construction of the Dash 80 prototype with its own funds. The goal was to put the airplane into production as both an Air Force tanker/transport and a commercial jet transport.

Since both of these offspring of the Dash 80 would be jet transports, the model number system called for a number in the 700s to identify the two new planes. The marketing department decided that “Model 700″ did not have a good ring to it for the company’s first commercial jet. So they decided to skip ahead to Model 707 because that reiteration seemed a bit catchier. Following that pattern, the other offspring of the Dash 80, the Air Force tanker, was given the model number 717. Since it was an Air Force plane, it was also given a military designation of KC-135.

After 717 was assigned to the KC-135, the marketing department made the decision that all remaining model numbers that began and or ended in 7 would be reserved exclusively for commercial jets. (After the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger in the late 1990s, the model number 717 was reused to identify the MD-95 as part of the Boeing commercial jet family.)

Other than the 717, the only anomaly to the Boeing commercial jet numbering system was the Boeing model 720. The 720 was a short-range, high-performance version of the 707 and was first marketed to the airlines as the model 707-020. United Airlines was very interested in the 707-020 but had previously decided to go with Douglas and the DC-8. To help United avoid any negative public relations for going back to the 707, Boeing changed the name of the 707-020 to the 720.

Since the naming of the initial 717, all Boeing commercial jets have been named in succession based on the 7-7 formula: 727, 737, 747 . up to the latest Boeing commercial jet transport, the 7E7.

michael.j.lombardi@boeing.com

Saturday Night

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I think it’s been a while i haven’t got this peaceful saturday night, at least in these last 5 months. Finally i can enjoy such a peaceful weekend.

Remembering those previous weeks before this, it seemed that i always have something to do, though sometimes i didn’t do anything, but still i think about some assignments i had to submit the following week.

This semester has been quiet though for me. I take 22 credits this semester, it;s not because i’m clever or what, it’s because i wanna know how hard to have 22 credits, considering last semester which was not too hard with 20 credits, so i thought by adding 2 more credits this semester wouldn’t do much changes. Along with my new spirit i decided to take 22 credits.

As time goes by, i’m now feeling it’s harder than i thought. Maybe i took the wrong strategy or what, there are 4 subjects which require me to have “praktikum” (dont know the correct english word for it, sorry ) ). Each “praktikum” has lot of assignments, especially seismolgy, which makes me whining all the time when doing the assignments, whining of why they gave me lot of assignments???

One reason of why i’m feeling this semester tough is maybe the dropping of my spirit, yeah my spirit drops. The spirit that i have at the start of this semester has now gone. It was the spirit which encourages me to manage my time properly, make some targets for my life, and so on. And now it’s gone. Maybe I’m not an “istiqamah” (istiqamah – arabic word means consistent) person, and hard to be one.

Nah, talking bout istiqamah. I’ve a friend who has the same problem, hehehe…, Since we have common problem, we’re now close, his name is Rachim. It feels great to have friend when u doing bad thing, doesn’t it? hahaha. that’s how i feel exactly..

Now, i just hope i can be more istiqamah. I should make some changes, and it’s now or never. (Actually i write this in blog to encourage my self, if in fact i’m not encouraged i dont know what else to do….!!) . And for Rachim, just go to Mifkho asap! hope it can make u better, and it can affect me positively. Amin. Hope we can all be better person.

*duh, knapa bhs inggrisku jadi kacau gini ya??

Go Home…………….

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Finally this semester is over and it means the time to go home to Malang. I wanted to go by plane this time and got a cheap ticket booked from www.airasia.com several months before. The price was a big deal with only Rp 238.000 for Jakarta-Surabaya route (compare it with the bus ticket for Rp 230.000).

June 11,2008 was the time. I woke up late since I went to bed too late and missed the 6.30 Parahyangan train to Jakarta. After calling several numbers finally i got the ticket for Primajasa bus with the route Bandung Super Mall(BSM) – Soekarno Hatta Airport, Jakarta with the price Rp 75.000. (last time I bought it was only Rp 60.000, maybe due to the increasing price of oil)

Things that i like from this Primajasa bus is its punctuality and discipline. I have traveled with this bus twice and is always depart on time. The bus will only pick up and drop the passengers either at BSM or the airport. You won’t be dropped at any place although you force the driver to do so. The travel time from Bandung to Jakarta is about 3 hours. The bus departed on time at 9.30.

Around 12.30 the bus entered the airport area and I dropped at Terminal 1A. Terminal 1A is a domestic terminal for Lion Air and AirAsia. Since my check in time is 13.00 i decided to go to the waving gallery to watch the activities of planes at the second floor.

In that waving gallery, I only able to watch several Lion Air planes and a China Air Cargo. In this waving gallery, we can see the runway 25L/7R, the other runway is 25R/7L, can only be seen from terminal 2. I watched several planes taking off and landing at runway 25L. The word “25″ means the plane heading west during landing and take off (or azimuth 250 degree). If the plane heading east, it will use runway 7.

Because i don’t like high temperature, i decided to go to the check in area and checked in. I found the check in gate empty and checked in directly without queuing.

Since there are 2 more hours for departure, I and my friends decided to take a walk around the airport. I walked through terminal 1A,1B,and 1C. Terminal 1C is at the corner end of this terminal 1. There are only few people at the terminal C since Adam Air stopped its operation. This terminal is now only operated by Mandala Air and several small airlines. The situation was totally different from the last time i went there several months before when i found this terminal crowded by passengers mostly Adam Air’s passengers.

From terminal 1C, i got to the free airport bus to go to terminal 2. Terminal 2 is newer than terminal 2 and is less crowded and more comfortable. The pre check-in area is air conditioned. There are 3 parts of terminal 2. Terminal 2D, 2E, and 2F. Terminal 2D and 2E is for international flights, and terminal 2F is for Garuda Indonesia and Merpati domestic flights.

Like I did at terminal 1. I took a walk around this terminal till reaching the far end of terminal 2F. It’s been an hour now since i checked in and we decided to get back to terminal 1A using the same free bus. Upon arriving at terminal 1A we felt hungry and decided to eat at a Padang restaurant which cost us a lot. Just a plate of rice and an egg they cost me Rp 12000. (

Then i headed to our assigned gate, which was gate A6. I found the gate crowded by people which i later found that half of them were Lion air passengers which has been delayed for an hour and was expecting another 1 hour delay(something you will often find when flying Lion Air). We then praying dhuhur and 20 minutes prior to our departure i saw the plane was ready outside.

Informations regarding the plane:

Type : Boeing 737-300

Age : 18 years old

Registration : PK – AWO

10 minutes later, the boarding announcement commenced and people were in rush to be the first to get to the plane after the X-Press Boarding holders permitted to go first. This is what i don’t like from airlines having free seat policy.

Later, we took off on time and i found the journey not interesting since all i could see were only clouds blocking the land view. The journey took only an hour and we landed at Juanda airport of Surabaya around 16.00 local time.

After claiming our baggage we took a walk for a while and then met with my friends who is now a ground staff of Sriwijaya Air. Then at 17.00 we went to the Bungurasih Bus Terminal using Damri Bus by paying Rp 15000 for connecting to Malang with another bus.

During my

journey to Malang, we were trapped by traffic jam in the Lumpur Lapindo (Lapindo Mud) for about an hour. I still wonder when will this be over and the government decided to relocate the road, or the people travelling Surabaya-Malang and Surabaya-Bali route will be trapped by traffic jam forever????

I arrived at my home at 19.00 and I’m glad to see my family once more..

Moi Lolita

Versi Bahasa Indonesia.

In this last 3 weeks, I started to know a French singer named Alizee. My friend gave me her video clip when she sang La Isla Bonita and I strated to like her. Since interested, then I browsed the internet and look for her information and got this.

One of her songs which i like so much and now becoming one of the most played song in my PC is Moi…Lolita. Moi Lolita was her first song in the first album launched in the year 2000 when she was 18. I don’t know what interest me but i just love it.

Here is the youtube link:

and here’s the lyric, taken from this site:

Moi je m’appelle Lolita
Lo ou bien Lola
Du pareil au même
Moi je m’appelle Lolita
Quand je rêve aux loups
C’est Lola qui saigne
Quand fourche ma langue,
j’ai là un fou rire aussi fou
Qu’un phénomène Je m’appelle Lolita
Lo de vie, lo aux amours diluviennes

Moi je m’appelle Lolita
Collégienne aux bas
Bleus de méthylène
Moi je m’appelle Lolita
Coléreuse et pas
Mi-coton, mi-laine
Motus et bouche qui n’dis pas
À maman que je suis un phénomène
Je m’appelle Lolita
Lo de vie, lo aux amours diluviennes

Repeat Refrain

C’est pas ma faute
Et quand je donne ma langue aux chats
Je vois les autres
Tout prêts à se jeter sur moi
C’est pas ma faute à moi
Si j’entends tout autour de moi
Hello, helli, t’es A (L.O.L.I.T.A.)
Moi Lolita

Since then, I have influenced several of my friends and at least they started to know that there’s song entitled Moi…Lolita.

Poverty…….. sad story from Indonesia

I just watched MetroTV when there’s news telling that a woman and his son in Tasikmalaya were hospitalized due to famine. The week before the same thing happened in Makassar, but the victim were died instead of hospitalized.

Apparently the news has become a usual thing for Indonesian people. Honestly, I’m sick and tired of hearing such news because i can do nothing. Sometimes I just want to close my eyes and ears when there’s news about it. I feel angry, bad as a human, but what??? I’m here and they’re there, and even if I were there what would I do??

So…… all I can do is only pray for them to have a more lucky life and I will keep on living and doing my daily activities. Because hoping that the government will do something about it is like impossible, especially in this corrupt country. Maybe i sound skeptical but this is my true feeling of my government.

It’s just a thought of an ordinary Indonesian person, and I believe I’m not the only one.

Your comment?

Blood Donation held by TERRA

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There’s something unusual happened at the first floor of BSC-B building when i was about to go to my geomat class this afternoon. I saw an ambulance parked at the parking area and the place which was usually quite suddenly full of people.

TERRA, The Student’s Organization of Geophysical Engineering ITB, held a blood donation at BSC-B Building, inside the ITB campus this afternoon. The ambulance parked outside was the ambulance of Indonesian red cross (Palang Merah Indonesia) invited by TERRA to help us.

The event is one of several events included at an activity called “BAKTI SOSIAL“, an Indonesian term for social activities, which is going to be held in several days.

There were lot of participants when i came around 1300 hours, most of them are members of TERRA.

Such event is a common activities here in ITB, usually initiated by student’s organizations to show their social care. Though it’s a common thing, i never participated since i hate seeing my blood coming out of my body.

Hello world!

Welcome to my English blog. This blog is an english translation of my Bahasa Indonesia blog for my english speaker reader. Sorry for my poor English, since i’m not good at it.

The translated posts are only those posted after April 1, 2008.

enjoy