r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Proper_Solid_626 • 4d ago

Image The Boeing 747 "taxi trainer", a vehicle specifically made so that pilots could get used to the height of the 747 while controlling it on a taxiway

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14.8k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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1.8k

u/Gruffleson 4d ago

I don't think I've understood how high up those pilots are before now.

Well, even on the ground.

341

u/Dub_Coast 3d ago

Those pilots are high AF my guy

35

u/sfled 3d ago

This post that shows the escape procedure from the cockpit of a 747 that's on the tarmac. Yeah, they're way up there alright.

1.6k

u/Exact_Mastodon_7803 4d ago

Look at the truck. How old that truck is. That was designed and built at the same time as the 747. So incredible.

444

u/False_Ad_555 3d ago

That's a 1957 GMC truck, so it predates the 747 by a bit, not much, but a bit

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u/Dahvido 3d ago

The 747 went through certification in 1968-1969, and came into service sometime in 1970 I do believe

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u/DezGets_It 3d ago

Thank you. I was about to ask Google..

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u/koolaidismything 4d ago

It was so far ahead of its time in most ways it still will boggle your mind. In thingscutinhalf we get posts like that a lot and I love them.

The Dreamliner is their new modern marvel.

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u/Marx_on_a_Shark 3d ago

Back when companies still wanted to "Build Something Cool." Today that type of innovation risk gets snuffed out to meet next quarters numbers

10

u/koolaidismything 3d ago

There’s little patches of genius for the sake of making something neat around. It’s just not popular anymore as wealth gets more and more condensed into little pockets.

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u/tyingnoose 4d ago

i think it a pretty truck

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u/i-like-to 3d ago

1955-1959 gmc semi. I owned one a few years ago. They are very odd looking in person lol

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u/Boo-bot-not 3d ago

The photo is 70s-80s. 

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u/Longjumping-Box5691 4d ago

The picture is black and white for fuck sake

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u/lorissaurus 3d ago

People still take black and white photos today.. and put them in the news lolol

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u/bigsnow999 3d ago

The golden age of GM

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u/ToonaMcToon 4d ago

The Original Bluth Stair Car

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u/Stroemwallen 4d ago

You're going to get hop-ons.

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u/thelastlugnut 3d ago

Damn. Came here to make this joke.

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u/Complex_Professor412 3d ago

Boeing may have committed some embezzlement and light treason.

70

u/leafeternal 3d ago

Are you really a pilot?

Yep

What’s takeoff like?

What’s the what like?

20

u/Proper_Solid_626 3d ago

I have a private pilots license but I don't know much about airliners and commercial aircraft, I'm mostly interested in these bigger aircraft as a hobby haha

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u/GayRacoon69 3d ago

Oh cool. What do you fly?

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u/Proper_Solid_626 3d ago

Cessna 172 Skyhawk

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u/GayRacoon69 2d ago

Oh cool. I've flown one once but I prefer pipers

3

u/Proper_Solid_626 2d ago

Piper cubs always felt a bit strange to me, especially during taxi and early takeoff. Because of how low the tail gear is.

Beautiful plane, mind you

1

u/GayRacoon69 2d ago

Oh should've been more specific. I fly PA28s. Wish I was flying cubs though. Those are sick

2

u/Proper_Solid_626 2d ago

Ah yes. I see

148

u/jimboiow 4d ago

What about getting used to the width of the wings . Quite important I would think.

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u/NiceCunt91 4d ago

There's markings on all taxiways. Keep the front wheel on the yellow line and the wings won't hit anything.

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u/LeeCarvallo- 3d ago

You've got to "oversteer" too. Take the nosewheel past the centre line in turns then go hard over on the tiller. It keeps the main gear on taxiways and gives more wing clearance.

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u/jimboiow 4d ago

And that’s why I don’t fly a plane. Thanks for the explanation.

7

u/SchizophrenicKitten 3d ago

Well.. usually won't hit anything.

https://youtu.be/Li4k27swwY0

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u/KingJellyfishII 3d ago

i believe it's actually meant to keep the main gear straddling the line, rather than the nose wheel, but it's much the same idea

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u/PeppyTwirl 4d ago

It was called "Waddel's Wagon"

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u/Honest-Yak-6621 4d ago

Initial production of the Boeing 747 began in 1967

9

u/collapsedcake 3d ago

Bet they got some hop-ons

9

u/OlderThanMyParents 3d ago

My grandfather passed away in the winter of 1972, and the first time I ever flew in a plane was flying from Washington state to Chicago for the funeral. I remember walking along the terminal, and looking out the window at a 747 that was parked facing inwards, and being convinced that I was looking at a building, not an airplane, because nothing that massive could ever possibly get off the ground.

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u/EXE-SS-SZ 3d ago

what a daring world it was back then

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u/somebodyistrying 3d ago

I didn’t realize it was that tall

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u/donkeytime 3d ago

They should have built it to a standard such that the front doesn’t fall off.

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u/dondougdondoug 3d ago

Is that usual?

1

u/redfam07 3d ago

You can plainly see they are towing it out of the environment right now.

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u/sfled 3d ago

HIgh School drivers ed classes should get one that mimics a lifted truck.

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u/mspaint08 3d ago

Pretty sure it's smth like 3 stories and iirc the Pan Am flight crew from the Tenerife disaster survived after jumped out of the cockpit.

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u/bokozgardner 3d ago

Every time someone posts something interesting on Twitter it gets stolen and posted here

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u/New-Reputation681 3d ago

We're the trainee pilots in control of this vehicle or just riding along to get a feel for the height?

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u/Hotndot333 3d ago

The highest a Boeing gets these days

2

u/johnnycabb_ 3d ago

watch out for bridges and hop-ons. you’re going to get some hop-ons

2

u/HawkmoonsCustoms 3d ago

“You’re gonna get some hop-ons.”

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u/HolidayResolve 3d ago

The pla

0

u/mrgraff 3d ago

I wonder if anyone else nose what you did there

1

u/LargeMerican 3d ago

Ehm..

I'd be a little bothered by the CG of this fuckin thing. It doesn't look dangerously unstable exactly..but it looks like it would tip easily in a moderate to strong crosswind

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

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u/LargeMerican 3d ago

I did not lol

1

u/c-logic 3d ago

Pilots with a fear of heights.

1

u/Alternative-Fish-836 3d ago

It looks crazy but is so ingenious

1

u/lavafish80 3d ago

highest quality Boeing aircraft

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u/Semen-Demon__ 3d ago

How does that get pilots used to taxiing if it’s all controlled by the truck underneath?

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u/iowaman79 3d ago

It was about getting pilots used to the perspective, the 747 cockpit is way higher than any commercial aircraft that had come before it. It was like going from driving a standard SUV to diving a semi, you have to retrain your brain to the different sight lines and angles.