B787-10 and A350-1000 are two of the largest/longest and most ultra-modern long-haul (wide-body) twin-jet commercial (passenger) airplanes flying today. Add to that the (upcoming) B777-X (X=8,9) Series, first flight of which occurred Jan 25, 2020, and we've really an impressive group of (massive) passenger airliners, at a time, when, for pax transport, the 4-engine (passenger) jets, eventhough modern, are (already) beginning to fall out-of-favor, with Airlines. Now, there are multiple (complex) factors used in comparative analysis of such jetliners, but, it's curious, and a bit of fun, too, to examine an overly simplistic metric, the "length". If one considers these (below) data, one will see the (ever-going) race (between the two giants, A- and B-) to out-do each other, at least in this metric:

B787-10 [224.0 ft] [Note: A330-900neo is 208.9 ft]
A350-1000 [242.1 ft] [Note: B777-300 is 242.3 ft]
B777-9 [251.7 ft] [So, this will be one "long" (pax) plane, if not the longest - see images below.]
So, next what, A350-???? [??? ft...]...🙂...

A while ago, I'd posted a few images, here, of the A350 XWB. The A350-900 XWB had entered service with its launch operator Qatar Airways, in 2015. I've travelled many times in -320/-330/-340, but never in -350. BTW, Qatar is also in the running, as a launch customer, for the B777-9, see the Qatar Airways pictures below.

All such above (data) also imply a race between the engine-makers, e.g. RR and GE. Rolls-Royce agreed with Airbus to supply a new variant of the Trent turbofan engine for the A350 XWB, named Trent XWB. Likewise, GE will supply its latest and largest turbofan engines for the 777-X, named GE9X (the one that powered 777-9's maiden flight, see a bit more details, below).

I find it hard to visualize this factual comparison about the size of the GE9X engines:

"These engines are so gigantic that you could fit the entire fuselage of a Boeing 737 within its diameter. So, at nearly 13 ft in diameter, the GE9X is wider than the fuselage width of a Boeing 737 (about 12 ft)...!"

777-9, the largest of the series from Boeing, had its first flight on January 25, 2020. One novel thing about the 777-X are its folding wingtips. I was aware that 777-X would feature this (uniquely designed) folding wing-tip, but I'd never seen this in a video. So, because of this post, I got to see it today for the first time. While the mechanism must be a complex and fascinating piece of engineering design, especially, on a commercial airliner, the gentle folding/unfolding of the wingtips, indeed, looks curious. If you haven't seen it, you may wish to search e.g. for the video clip "First flight of Boeing's 777X foldable-wing video". This novelty will have some rather interesting taxiway clearance implications, in certain airports. For example, with wings folded, it can use Code E taxiways (used by e.g. 777-300ER), whereas, with wings un-folded, it can be also cleared to use Code F (e.g. A380/B748) runways.

The above-cited video is a (4 min 01 sec) clip - takeoff to touchdown. But, here are the highlights/timestamps, I found fascinating, and you may too:

1. (0.22 - 0.32) [Wing-tip unfolding - takes 10 Seconds]
2. (0.55 - 1.25) [Take-off roll and lift-off]
3. (2.19 - 3.10) [Landing and touch-down roll]
4. (3.23 - 3.33) [Wing-tip folding]

Due to the current state of affairs, it will be a year or two till we see the 777-X in service, and, then, it will be a much longer while, before we (may) see it, in our SIMs,...🙂...from the Premier developers, but, fortunately, we have our (persistent and passionate) freeware (SIM) contributors who have already thought of it. I found this 777-9 model (among the Top Freeware Files of 2020) both interesting and good-looking, and therefore worth sharing. So, hope, you enjoy this collection, below, of a few pictures each of the six airline liveries, of this (yet) another magnificent flying machine...(The engine technology, here, is leaps and bounds ahead of the JT9D, also a high-bypass, of the B747-100, I'd shown in my previous post...)...

Thanks for viewing...! Good rest of the week...!!

[Freeware (B777-9)]

I always did like big girls!  The T7 is definitely in that category.

Lovely set! FWIW this awesome freeware model was modelled by the greatest freeware modeller ever (and still going strong).

Mr Hiroshi Igami.

If it were up to me he would receive a knighthood.🤩

 

26 minutes ago, edetroit said:

If it were up to me he would receive a knighthood

Far more worthy than Lewis Hamilton...  

***Awesome Series***

7 hours ago, HighBypass said:

Far more worthy than Lewis Hamilton...  

🤣🤣🤣

Great post, P_7878. I still remember ads that Airbus used some twenty years ago for its A 340, when 4 engines were perceived to be safer than Boeing's 2

Ed:

I knew you would keep track of such things....🙂...and you are absolutely correct....(Mr Igami is one of those folks, who have/had greatly enhanced my (early) interest in this hobby...)....

Here is from the README, BTW,:

SkySprit2019 777-9 Rev3 Rollout model

Model Designers
Hiroshi Igami ,Yosuke Ube
Master Textures
Yosuke Ube
modified Hiroshi Igami...etc...

And, the Repaints are by Stefan Bree.

 

Mark:

Learned a bit more, today, about "...CBE, OBE, MBE and a knighthood etc.?"...🙂...and about Sir Lewis Hamilton....

 

Patrick, Bernd, and folks:

Thanks...!!

[Bernd, I still recall (LH) A340-500/600 well, had travelled several times...(long plane...and smooth ride...)...]

2 hours ago, P_7878 said:

[Bernd, I still recall (LH) A340-500/600 well, had travelled several times...(long plane...and smooth ride...)...]

Me, too P_7878. I'll never forget, we flew on July 16th 1999 from Portland to Chicago on a UA flight to catch a connecting 747 flight to Frankfurt. When we entered Portland airport, we saw the news on TV  that John F. Kennedy, Jr.; his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy; and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died when the single-engine plane that Kennedy was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’s Vineyard. So sad!

For some reason, our UA plane left two hours late, which made sure that we would miss our LH connection to Frankfurt in Chicago. During our flight I talked to the UA captain and asked him, whether there was a chance to  get in contact with Lufthansa in Chicago to inform them of our late arrival. He said that wasn't possible. So when we arrived in Chicago we could see the LH 747 departing. word not allowed...We rushed to the LH counter and were informed that there was an A 340 departing for Munich in about ten minutes, our luggage wouldn't make it, but we were told that all our connecting flights would be fine, even out of Munich instead of Frankfurt. Pretty efficient service, thank you LH. That was our first flight in an A340. My wife and I were sitting in 1st class and our two kids in coach. We even arrived in Germany earlier than the LH flight that we missed.

Since then I have like you, flown in the A 340 many times, most often in Asia with Singapore Airlines. What a fantastic experience. My most memorable flight ever with Singapore Airlines was an A 340 flight from Sydney to Singapore. You sit in 1^st class, sip Krug Champagne and look down at the amazing Australian landscape. I’ll never forget that.

You have very great pictures! I have always been a fan of this plane after the 737NG!

14 hours ago, bernd1151 said:

During our flight I talked to the UA captain...

... those where the days my friend! 

19 minutes ago, HighBypass said:

... those where the days my friend! 

I think you will find if you fly First Class the Capt may well say hello.🙂

Edited January 9, 20215 yr by edetroit

During the flight? Is he or she allowed out of their bulletproof box?

3 hours ago, HighBypass said:

During the flight? Is he or she allowed out of their bulletproof box?

Nope, not anymore, only if he has to go to the bathroom. And then one of the flight attendants have to sit in the cockpit, so that nothing happens up there (due to the German Wings disaster)

1 minute ago, bernd1151 said:

so that nothing happens up there

..unless the attendant and the F.O. have a thing for each other !  (A far happier outcome than the German Wings disaster )

I was confused with Ed referring to the present/future tense "if you fly", rather than "if you flew" or if you had flown".🍻

3 hours ago, HighBypass said:

I was confused with Ed referring to the present/future tense "if you fly", rather than "if you flew" or if you had flown".🍻

You are correct Mark, it has to be past tense. We are the lucky ones. What we experienced, you won't see today anymore. Of course you can watch a video nowadays from the flight deck, but the excitement of being allowed to be there physically in a 744 on its final into Kai Tak is something that no YT video can give you. And I guess, we were lucky also in another aspect; we had the pill already and HIV wasn't there yet. So no complains on my side on the life I have had (and still have) 😄😄