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How big is a 747 fuel tank?

The 747-400 has eight fuel tanks, with a combined capacity of 57,164 gallons of Jet-A fuel. This amount weighs in excess of 380,000 pounds. (Pilots normally discuss fuel in terms of weight rather than volume.)



The Boeing 747, famously known as the "Jumbo Jet," has a staggering fuel capacity that allows it to fly long-haul routes across the globe without stopping. A standard Boeing 747-400 can carry approximately 216,840 liters (about 57,285 U.S. gallons) of jet fuel, which weighs roughly 173,000 kilograms. The even larger 747-8 Intercontinental variant has a maximum capacity of about 238,610 liters (63,034 gallons). This massive volume of fuel is stored primarily within the aircraft's wings, which act as integral fuel tanks, and a "center wing tank" located in the fuselage between the wing roots. Some long-range models also feature auxiliary tanks in the horizontal stabilizer (the small wings on the tail) to help maintain the plane's center of gravity as fuel is consumed. To visualize this scale, a 747’s fuel tank holds enough liquid to fill a medium-sized backyard swimming pool several times over, or enough to fuel an average passenger car for over 1.5 million miles. On a typical 10-hour flight, the aircraft will burn through roughly 10 to 11 tons of fuel every single hour.

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With today's fuel prices, it costs about $450,000 to fill up a Boeing 747, depending on your market. By contrast, the Gulfstream G280, a popular business aviation aircraft, costs around $8,000 to fill.

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The four engines of the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet burn approximately 10 to 11 tonnes of fuel an hour when in the cruise. This equates to roughly 1 gallon (approximately 4 litres) of fuel every second. It can carry a maximum of 238,604 liters of fuel and it has a range of about 7,790 nautical miles.

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The tanks are so big that very long distances can be flown. But if the plane would be fully occupied and fully fueled, the maximum take-off weight would be exceeded. In such a case, you have to weigh how much fuel is needed and how many passengers can be transported.

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Can a wide body airliner land with a full fuel tank? Yes! But it is safer to land an aircraft below its published MLW.

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A plane like a Boeing 747 uses approximately 1 gallon (about 4 liters) of fuel every second. Over the course of a 10-hour flight, it might burn 36,000 gallons (150,000 liters). The 747 burns approximately 5 gallons of fuel per mile (12 liters of fuel per kilometer).

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The 747-400 bolts through the sky slightly faster than its competitors, with a speed of Mach 0.85 (652.18 mph). Introduced in 1989, its primary users are British Airways, Qantas, and Lufthansa. Popular as a long-haul aircraft, the 747-400 can fly non-stop for up to 7,670 nautical miles.

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How much does a Boeing 747 Pilot make in New York? The salary range for a Boeing 747 Pilot job is from $78,698 to $105,268 per year in New York. Click on the filter to check out Boeing 747 Pilot job salaries by hourly, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, and yearly.

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A 747 engine, depending on the manufacturer, costs about $12 million.

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Commercial Pilot Licensing for Boeing 747 Pilots To gain a license to fly the Boeing 747, pilots must first obtain their Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate. To do this, pilots must meet certain educational requirements, such as having a college degree, or having a minimum of 1,500 hours of flight time.

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Air traffic represents less than 2-3% of the global CO2 emissions whereas road traffic accounts for around 10% of these direct emissions. Still, planes remain among the most polluting means of transport, together with cars.

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As a rule of thumb for the Boeing 747, pilots either quote dump rates ranging within 1–2 tons per minute or reference a thumb formula of dump time = (dump weight / 2) + 5 in minutes.

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Airlines find that fuel dumping can actually be cheaper than not dumping in certain circumstances. But it's not something pilots do on a routine basis. We spoke with Alison Duquette, spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), who assured us that it doesn't happen very often.

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For example, with a glide ratio of 15:1, a Boeing 747-200 can glide for 150 kilometres (93 mi; 81 nmi) from a cruising altitude of 10,000 metres (33,000 ft).

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How far can a Boeing 747 fly without refueling? A: This depends on the size of the plane, its efficiency, and how fast it's flying. A modern Boeing 747 can fly about 15,000 km (9,500 miles) when it's flying at 900 kmh (550 mph).

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What is the longest flight in the world by distance? The longest flight in the world by distance is New York (JFK) to Singapore (SIN) on Singapore Airlines clocking in at 9,537 miles. What plane can fly the farthest in the world?

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