The Boeing 747 is not the only aircraft that can fly with five engines, however. In fact, several older planes, such as the DC-8 and 707, used to have fifth pods installed to transport spare engines.
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However, there was once a time when the American manufacturer was also working on a shortened variant with three engines. Although the project was scrapped quite early on in its development, it makes for an interesting story. Let's check out the story behind the failed Boeing 747 trijet below.
Among commercial aeroplanes, this facility of carrying a spare engine, known as the fifth pod in aviation circles, is the most effective and fastest way of transporting a huge aircraft engine by air, though due to the extra weight of the engine the speed of the airliner gets reduced to some extent.
Consequently, the B-36 was configured to have 10 engines, six radial propeller engines and four jet engines, leading to the B-36 slogan of six turnin' and four burnin' . The B-36 had more engines than any other mass-produced aircraft. The jet pods greatly improved takeoff performance and dash speed over the target.
Without engine thrust, the 747 had a glide ratio of 15:1, meaning it can glide forward 15 kilometres for every kilometre it drops. After calculating the glide ratio, the crew realized that they had less than 30 minutes to regain power before they smashed into the ground.
What you might not know is that the 747 has the ability to carry a fifth engine, fitted between the body of the aircraft and the inner-most engine on the port (left) side of the aircraft.
While the Boeing 747 carries more passengers and has a longer range, the 777X surpasses it in cargo capacity and fuel efficiency. The cost of operating the 777X is lower than the 747 due to newer technologies and larger engines, making it a better long-term investment for airlines.
November 27, 1983: An Avianca 747-200 crashed while on approach to the airport in Madrid, Spain, killed 181 of the 192 people on board. June 23, 1985: An Air India 747-200 blew up over the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland, killed all 329 people on board. The plane, en-route to Bombay, was destroyed by a bomb.
Over the past decade, the giant aircraft was eclipsed by smaller, more nimble models like Boeing's own 777 or Airbus SE's A350 that only have two engines but still manage to fly the same routes, albeit at much lower operating costs.