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The PSM-747 (aka Project B74) is a wide-body commercial jet airliner and cargo aircraft. Created in Second Life by Paraside Motor, the aircraft is based on the real-life Boeing 747 (ICAO: B741 / WAKE: HEAVY) developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Background

The real-life Boeing 747 is often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. Its distinctive "hump" upper deck along the forward part of the aircraft makes it among the world's most recognizable aircraft,[1] and it was the first wide-body produced. Manufactured by Boeing's Commercial Airplane unit in the United States, the original version of the 747 had two and a half times greater capacity than the Boeing 707,[2] one of the common large commercial aircraft of the 1960s. First flown commercially in 1970, the 747 held the passenger capacity record for 37 years.[3] The 747-400 passenger version can accommodate 416 passengers in a typical three-class layout, 524 passengers in a typical two-class layout, or 660 passengers in a high density one-class configuration.[4]

The four-engine 747 uses a double deck configuration for part of its length. It is available in passenger, freighter and other versions. Boeing designed the 747's hump-like upper deck to serve as a first class lounge or extra seating, and to allow the aircraft to be easily converted to a cargo carrier by removing seats and installing a front cargo door. Boeing did so because the company expected supersonic airliners (development of which was announced in the early 1960s) to render the 747 and other subsonic airliners obsolete, while the demand for subsonic cargo aircraft would be robust well into the future.[5] The 747 was expected to become obsolete after 400 were sold,[6] but it exceeded critics' expectations with production passing the 1,000 mark in 1993.[7] By August 2015, 1,512 aircraft had been built, with 29 of the 747-8 variants remaining on order.[8]

Teased as Project B74, Paraside Motor's replica Boeing 747 made its first appearance at Second Norway Lufthavn on 14th March 2015, with landing/takeoff testing first publicly conducted on the 17th of the same month. The aircraft was in development for over 6 months prior to the first official beta release which retailed for L$7,999[9]. The PSM-747 has a simulated wingspan of 64m, with a length of 72m and like its real-life counterpart uses a double deck configuration; seating a total of sixteen avatars (including pilot/co-pilot).

Features

  • Working cockpit instruments.
  • Dynamic Scripts and Handling with weight effect, flaps, air brakes etc.
  • Seats up to 16 people (20+ animations).
  • Animated components (flaps, doors, wheels, landing gear, engines).
  • x3 variants (airliner, executive and cargo).
  • x3 included liveries (JAL, AirFrance and British Airways), proprietary paint application system.
  • Texture creation kit with templates.
  • Rezable ground-support props (passenger stairs).

Images

See also

References

  1. Negroni, Christine (July 2014). 747: The World's Airliner. Air & Space Magazine. Retrieved on January 2, 2015.
  2. Branson, Richard. "Pilot of the Jet Age." Time, December 7, 1998. Retrieved: December 13, 2007.
  3. "A380 superjumbo lands in Sydney." BBC, October 25, 2007. Retrieved: August 3, 2010. Quote: "The superjumbo's advent ends a reign of nearly four decades by the Boeing 747 as the world's biggest airliner."
  4. "747." The Boeing Company. Retrieved: January 9, 2012.
  5. Orlebar, Christopher. The Concorde Story. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, Fifth edition, 2002. ISBN 1-85532-667-1., p. 50.
  6. Haenggi, Michael. Boeing Widebodies. St. Paul, MN: MBI Publishing Co., 2003. ISBN 0-7603-0842-X., pp. 14–15.
  7. Sutter, Joe. 747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books, 2006. ISBN 978-0-06-088241-9., p. 259.
  8. "747 Model Orders and Deliveries data." The Boeing Company, May 2015. Retrieved: June 12, 2015.
  9. "Paraside Motor - PSM-747 BETA." Primbay. Retrieved: October, 2015.
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