Boeing 777 Aircraft; photo wallpapers: The Boeing 777 is a family of long-range wide-body twin-engine airliners built by Boeing's Commercial Airplanes division. It carries from 301 up to 368 passengers in a three-class configuration and has a range from 5,210 to 9,420 nautical miles (9,649 to 17,445 km). Distinguishing features of the 777 include the set of six wheels on each main landing gear, its perfectly circular fuselage cross section, the pronounced "neck" aft of the cockpit, and the blade-like rear tailcone. The 777 was the first commercial aircraft to be designed entirely on computer. No paper drawings were ever produced; everything was created on a 3D CAD software system known as CATIA. This allowed a virtual 777 to be assembled in simulation, allowing engineers to examine for interferences and to test whether the many thousands of parts would fit together properly before costly physical prototypes were manufactured. The first flight of a 777 was in 1994. Direct market competitors to the 777 are the Airbus A330-300, A340 and some models of the proposed A350 XWB. In the 1970s, Boeing unveiled new models: the twin-engine 757 to replace the venerable 727, the twin-engine 767 to challenge the Airbus A300, and a trijet 777 concept to compete with the DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. Based on a re-winged 767 design, the 275 seat 777 was to be offered in two variants: a 5,000 km (2,700 nm) transcontinental and an 8,000 km (4,320 nm) intercontinental. The twinjets were a big success, due in part to the 1980s ETOPS regulations. The launch of the 777 was cancelled (much like the trijet concept of the Boeing 757) in part because of the complexities of trijet design and the absence of a 40,000 lbf (178 kN) engine. The cancellation left Boeing with a big size and range gap in its product line between the 767-300ER and the 747-400. The DC-10 and L-1011, which entered service in early 1970s, were also ripe for replacement. In the meantime, Airbus developed the A340 to fulfill that requirement and compete with Boeing. The initial proposal from Boeing was simply to enlarge the 767, resulting in the 767-X concept. It was similar to a 767 but with a longer fuselage and larger wings seating about 340 passengers and with a maximum range of 7,300 nautical miles (13,500 km). The airlines were unimpressed with the 767-X. They wanted short to intercontinental range capability, cabin cross section similar to the 747, a fully flexible cabin configuration and an operating cost lower than any 767 stretch. The result was a new design: the 777 twinjet. The design phase of the 777 differed from previous Boeing jetliners. For the first time, eight major airlines and their passengers had a role in the development of the plane. The major airlines consulted were United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, ANA, British Airways, JAL, Qantas, and Cathay Pacific. The "Working Together" philosophy, as Boeing called it, meant that the 777 was their most customer oriented aircraft yet. Singapore Airlines is currently the largest operator of the Boeing 777 family with 60 in service, of which 46 are of the 777-200ER variant, 12 are 777-300s and 2 are 777-300ER. Another 17 777-300ERs are on firm order, with 13 more on option. At the end of August 2006, 44 different customers had placed 851 orders for 777s.
