Father of the 'Queen of the Skies' Passes Away

Perhaps no one thought that the child who once spent his days dreaming of airplanes around the Boeing factory would one day become the creator of the Queen of the Skies. The creator of one of the world's aviation masterpieces has now passed away at the age of 95. Joe Sutter was born in March 1921 in Seattle, USA, and lived with his family, originally from Slovenia, in a neighborhood near the massive Boeing aircraft manufacturing plant. Joe grew up with a love for airplanes and studied aerospace engineering at the University of Washington. In the summer of his nineteenth year, while still a student, he entered Boeing as a student worker. It took twenty years from Joe's entry into Boeing for him to realize one of the largest projects in the history of aviation: the production of the Boeing 747, which was considered a major revolution in the industry of passenger aircraft at the time. The Boeing 747 Series 100, with four engines and a two-deck structure, had the capacity to carry up to 480 passengers. This high passenger capacity on long-haul routes, which was more than twice the capability of aircraft at that time, effectively transformed the air transport market globally and reduced prices, making air travel more accessible to many people. The idea of building the 747 was proposed by Joe Sutter at Boeing in the mid-1960s, following which the U.S. military signed a contract to purchase a large number of these aircraft from Boeing to strengthen its fleet. Subsequently, Boeing introduced its passenger model, resulting in the first flight of the 100-747 model in 1969. A year later, in 1970, this model of the 747 began its first service for Pan American Airlines. After Pan Am, Iran Air was one of the first buyers of the 100 and 200 series of the 747. During those years, managers from McDonnell Douglas, another major aircraft manufacturer, also traveled to Iran to sell their wide-body aircraft for long-haul flights to Iran Air, but it was Boeing that won the largest primary purchase for wide-body aircraft from Iran Air, a decision that history has shown was a correct one. After this purchase, Iran Air's managers realized they needed a longer-range aircraft than the standard 747s for direct flights between Iran and the United States, so they ordered the SP model from Boeing. At that time, Joe Sutter's team established a very close relationship with Iran Air, and he traveled to Iran many times, claiming to have fallen in love with the country. After years, in a letter to the engineers at Iran Air, he described Iran as a beautiful country with an extraordinary history and generous people. With the team's extensive efforts under Joe, the long-range model of the 747 was designed for direct flights between Iran and the U.S. This aircraft, which has a shorter fuselage and a taller vertical tail than the 100 and 200 models, has the capacity to carry more fuel. The first model delivered to Iran Air crashed during its transfer flight from the U.S. to Iran due to a technical defect. This flight was not carrying passengers, and the pilots and crew on board were killed. After the accident, Boeing made major changes to the design of the wings and fuel tanks of the SP model. With the delivery of the Boeing 747 SP, Iran Air began its direct flights between Tehran and New York, which at that time was considered the longest non-stop flight in the world. After the revolution, the relationship between Boeing and Iran Air was severed. The company, while needing new wide-body aircraft, was deprived of purchasing new series of the Boeing 747 and tried to compensate for its needs by purchasing Airbus 300. In the 300 and 400 series models, Boeing attempted to make the 747 more efficient by increasing the length of the aircraft and changing the aerodynamics of the wings. With these changes, the number of passengers increased from 480 in the 100 and 200 models to 550 in the 400 model. The flight range also increased from about 10,000 kilometers to 14,000 kilometers. However, in these models, Joe Sutter only served as a consultant, as he had retired from Boeing in 1986. With the introduction of the Airbus 380, the tide turned in favor of Airbus. The higher passenger capacity of up to 800 people attracted customers towards Airbus. It took several years for Boeing to finally introduce the 747 Series 8 to compete with this model. Although the Airbus 380 remains the largest passenger aircraft in the world, the new Boeing is longer than the Airbus 380. It may be astonishing, but the design by Joe Sutter and his team in the 1960s was so complete that after more than 50 years, Boeing was able to design the Series 800 of the 747 to compete with the Airbus 380, the largest aircraft in the world. Among wide-body aircraft, two Boeing 747 Series 800s, priced at $357 million and with a capacity of 600 passengers, stand against the Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft in the world, priced at $428 million and with a capacity of 800 passengers. The high durability and excellent efficiency of the Boeing 747 in Iran have led Iran Air to order four 747 Series 800s in its latest purchase request from Boeing. Iranian pilots and engineers, after more than 40 years of using the Boeing 747, have become highly skilled. This expertise has even drawn praise from Joe Sutter, the designer of this aircraft. In a letter to the engineers at Iran Air, he expressed his delight at Iran Air's capabilities in maintaining and operating the Boeing 747 SP (special model 747). However, the last model of the Boeing 747 SP, after more than 40 years of service, was retired from Iran Air's fleet in the year of its designer Joe Sutter's passing. With the retirement of this model, long-haul flights of Iran Air have currently been suspended.