While John was surfing the internet one day he found a site about the development of aeroplane design.
Click the titles above the screen
opposite to view the films of early airliners.
It showed how airliners have changed over the last 70 years. He
clicked on a button. A short film of the
Ford Trimotor appeared. He called to his father
"Look Dad! This was one of the first airliners.
It's called the Ford Trimotor. It took a whole day to cross the United States. It carried
only 17 passengers and the flight cost $1,000! Why did the trip take so long?"
"Well", said his father, "as you can see it wasn't a jet aircraft. It was propeller driven.
The engine didn't produce much power so it couldn't fly very fast and it couldn't carry a lot of weight."
John clicked another button. This showed the
the Boeing 247. This aircraft first flew in 1933 and was much more comfortable than the Trimotor. It could do the trip in less than 20 hours.
"How long does it take to fly from New York to Los Angeles today?", asked John.
"Oh, I suppose about 5 to 6 hours." replied his father. And, as you know, a modern airliner like the
Boeing 747 can carry about 350 passengers. The same flight would only cost about $300 today".
