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B743/744 Hybrid?

Ariis From Poland, joined Sep 2004, 353 posts, RR: 1
Posted (3 months 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 1099 times:

Hi there,

this one got me really puzzled. On the front page there is this nice VP-BGX photo which shows a B743 (below left). This is an ex-JA8189 ship (right).

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Photo © Dmitriy Pichugin - Russian AviaPhoto Team

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Photo © Dennis Chang

Now I would appreciate if someone could explain to me: how come this B743 has wing fairings just like B744s have? Is this some kind of an intermediate variant? Is it known how many of such no-longer-300-not-yet-400 planes have been built?

I would appreciate any input.

Best regards
FAO

P.S.: Just in case: this is NOT a B744D.

FAO - Flight Activities Officer

8 replies: All unread, jump to last

Oly720man From United Kingdom, joined May 2004, 3903 posts, RR: 6
Reply 1, posted (3 months 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 1082 times:

Looking through the photos it seems to be after line number 703 where the new wing root fairing is introduced. I presume it was a design improvement.

#704

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Photo © Giovanni Verbeeck

#707

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Photo © Prince Aviation Images

#713

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Photo © Yunjin Lee - Korea Aero Photos

Man City p3 w3 d0 l0 f4 a0 P9 - hey it may never happen again!

Je89_w From Singapore, joined Mar 2002, 1928 posts, RR: 8
Reply 2, posted (3 months 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 1046 times:

Even the last built B742 which was line number 886 has the new style wing roots.

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Photo © Mark van Cuilenborg

RoseFlyer From United States, joined Feb 2004, 5230 posts, RR: 17
Reply 3, posted (3 months 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 1038 times:

People often have the preconception that designs are stagnant between model derivatives. That is not true at all. Redesigning a faring sounds perfectly reasonable between derivatives.

I design airplane parts for a living and am that guy that mechanics hate and blame for everything... the Design Engineer

Starlionblue From Greenland, joined Feb 2004, 12704 posts, RR: 57
Reply 4, posted (3 months 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 998 times:

Quoting RoseFlyer (Reply 3):
People often have the preconception that designs are stagnant between model derivatives. That is not true at all. Redesigning a faring sounds perfectly reasonable between derivatives.

Especially if you're going to certify the new design element (fairings in this case) for the next mark anyway.

My real self is a Blood Elf Mage in Azeroth. Meet him on Boulderfist.

Ariis From Poland, joined Sep 2004, 353 posts, RR: 1
Reply 5, posted (3 months 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 938 times:

Thank you all for the input. That helps me understand what I saw.

So, what was the line number of the first B744? Were there any B742/B743 built after B744 was introduced, or are these pictured airplanes actually an intermezzo for the yet-to-come new 400 series?

I assume that once B744 appeared there was no point continuing the old design across all variants, but perhaps some technical/logistic aspects could be an issue to switch at once...

Thank you again
FAO

FAO - Flight Activities Officer

Oly720man From United Kingdom, joined May 2004, 3903 posts, RR: 6
Reply 6, posted (3 months 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 934 times:

Quoting Ariis (Reply 5):
So, what was the line number of the first B744?

It was 696, N661US

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Photo © Miguel Snoep

Man City p3 w3 d0 l0 f4 a0 P9 - hey it may never happen again!

Starlionblue From Greenland, joined Feb 2004, 12704 posts, RR: 57
Reply 7, posted (3 months 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 923 times:

Quoting Ariis (Reply 5):
Were there any B742/B743 built after B744 was introduced, or are these pictured airplanes actually an intermezzo for the yet-to-come new 400 series?

There were indeed 742s and 743s produced after the first 744. If nothing else, you can tell by the line numbers. The first 744 was 696, while the last 742 was 886,

In the same way, there were 737 Jurassics produced after the introduction of the 737 Classic.Say that a custom had deliveries smeared out over 5-6 years. That customer would want to keep fleet commonality despite a new mark being introduced.

My real self is a Blood Elf Mage in Azeroth. Meet him on Boulderfist.