Airliner
The largest of them are wide-body jets which are also called twin-aisle because they generally have two separate aisles running from the front to the back of the passenger cabin.
When the Wright brothers made the world's first sustained heavier-than-air flight, they laid the foundation for what would become a major transport industry.
Initially, several publicity flights were made, including one on 8 February 1919, when the Goliath flew 12 passengers from Toussus-le-Noble to RAF Kenley, near Croydon, despite having no permission from the British authorities to land.
[11] One aircraft was sold to the River Plate Aviation Company in Argentina, to operate a cross-river service between Buenos Aires and Montevideo.
A relatively reliable aircraft for the era, the Fokkers were flying to destinations across Europe, including Bremen, Brussels, Hamburg, and Paris.
Powered by two 450 hp (340 kW) Napier Lion engines, the prototype first flew on 4 December 1919, shortly after it was displayed at the 1919 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.
[18] In 1921 the Air Ministry ordered three aircraft, built as the W.8b, for use by Handley Page Transport, and later by Imperial Airways, on services to Paris and Brussels.
The English company de Havilland, built the 10-passenger DH.29 monoplane,[22] while starting work on the design of the DH.32, an eight-seater biplane with a more economical but less powerful Rolls-Royce Eagle engine.
The Trimotor helped to popularise numerous aspects of modern aviation infrastructure, including paved runways, passenger terminals, hangars, airmail, and radio navigation.
Its relatively simple design could carry six passengers, each with 45 lb (20 kg) of luggage, on the London-Paris route on a fuel consumption of 13 gal (49 L) per hour.
During early August 1934, one performed the first non-stop flight between the Canadian mainland and Britain in 30 hours 55 minutes, although the intended destination had originally been Baghdad in Iraq.
[34] De Havilland invested into advanced features including elongated rear windows, cabin heating, thickened wing tips, and a strengthened airframe for a higher gross weight of 5,500 lb (2,500 kg).
[48] The committee final report pushed four designs for the state-owned airlines British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and later British European Airways (BEA): three piston-powered aircraft of varying sizes, and a jet-powered 100-seat design at the request of Geoffrey de Havilland, involved in the first jet fighters development.
[53] The Type III requirement led to the conventional Avro Tudor and the more ambitious Bristol Britannia, although both aircraft suffered protracted developments,[54] with the latter entering service with BOAC in February 1957, over seven years following its order.
It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four de Havilland Ghost turbojet engines buried in the wings, a pressurised fuselage, and large square windows.
On 2 May 1952, the Comet took off on the world's first jetliner flight carrying fare-paying passengers and simultaneously inaugurated scheduled service between London and Johannesburg.
[56][57] However, roughly one year after introduction, three Comets broke up mid-flight due to airframe metal fatigue, not well understood at the time.
The firm also commenced work on the Convair 37, a relatively large double-deck airliner that would have served transcontinental routes; however, the project was abandoned due to a lack of customer demand and its high development costs.
[63] During the postwar years, engines became much larger and more powerful, and safety features such as deicing, navigation, and weather information were added to the planes.
They often lack lavatories, stand-up cabins, pressurization, galleys, overhead storage bins, reclining seats, or a flight attendant.
The Antonov An-148 is the only in-production jetliner with high-mounted wings (usually seen in military transport aircraft), which reduces the risk of damage from unpaved runways.
Boeing and Airbus are ranked 1 and 2 in customer satisfaction for aftermarket support by a survey by Inside MRO and Air Transport World, and this is a reason why Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation purchased the Bombardier CRJ program.
Retirements were down by 8% and utilization up by 2%, according to Canaccord Genuity, driving used aircraft and engines values up while MRO shops have unexpected demand for legacy products like the PW4000 and GE CF6.
[93] The seats are designed to withstand strong forces so as not to break or come loose from their floor tracks during turbulence or accidents.
The backs of seats are often equipped with a fold-down tray for eating, writing, or as a place to set up a portable computer, or a music or video player.
The units frequently have small "Fasten Seat Belt" and "No Smoking" illuminated signage and may also contain a speaker for the cabin public address system.
Because of this, the oxygen generators are thermally shielded and are only allowed in commercial airliners when properly installed – they are not permitted to be loaded as freight on passenger-carrying flights.
Pressurization presents design and construction challenges to maintain the structural integrity and sealing of the cabin and hull and to prevent rapid decompression.
A side effect is that passengers experience some discomfort as the cabin pressure changes during ascent and descent to the majority of airports, which are at low altitudes.
Most "narrow-body" airliners with more than 100 seats have space below the cabin floor, while smaller aircraft often have a special compartment separate from the passenger area but on the same level.
