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During the 1970's Boeing
considered a number of proposals for a successor to the 727, with many
designs featuring the nose and T-tail of the earlier jet. However this
design was dropped in favour of a more conventional tailplane arrangement
along with a new nose, wing and cockpit. Launch orders for the 757 came
from British Airways (19 + 18 options) and Eastern Air Lines (21 + 24
options) in August 1978 and Boeing announced full-production go-ahead for
the type in March 1979. Final assembly of the 757 took place in September
1981 and the first aircraft (N757A) was formally rolled out, at Renton on
January 13, 1982. The 757 took to the air for the first time in February
1982 and was shortly joined by four other aircraft for testing. FAA type
certification was awarded on December 21, 1982 with the UK CAA following
on January 14, 1983. Eastern Air Lines was first to receive the 757, with
their first aircraft being delivered on December 22, 1982. First delivery
to British Airways took place on January 25, 1982. The 757 is a very
flexible aircraft when it comes to routes, It is routinely used on short,
medium and long haul routes. The 757 can seat up to 239 passengers in a
charter-class layout, however it is more commonly configured in a 194
two-class layout putting its capacity between that of the 737 and 767. The
757 was developed at the same time as the 767 and therefore has many
similarities with its sister aircraft. One of the main similarities is the
cockpit. The cockpit's of the 757 and 767 are nearly identical and pilot's
qualified to fly one aircraft can fly in the other with only minimal additional
familiarization needed.
The first variant of the
757, the
was launched by
Boeing on December 30, 1985, when United Parcel Service (UPS) ordered 20.
Deliveries of these dedicated cargo airplanes began in September 1987. The
757-200F has no cabin windows or interior amenities. Cargo is loaded through a
large main-deck cargo door and crew board through a single entry door immediately
behind the cockpit. The total main-deck container volume in the 757-200F is
187 cubic metres (6,600 cubic feet) and the two lower holds of the
airplane provide 51.8 cubic metres (1,830 cubic feet) for bulk loading.
Nearly a decade after the launch of the
757-200 Boeing began to study a stretched development of its popular
narrowbody aircraft. The new aircraft was launched at the 1996 Farnborough
Airshow as the 757-300. The most obvious change on the 757-300 is the
fuselage stretch. The 757-300's fuselage is 54.43m (178ft 7in) long, being
7.11m (23ft 4in) longer than the 757-200. Interestingly the 757-300 is only
fractionally shorter than the 767-300. Another change on the 757-300 is a
new interior. The interior on the 757-300 is based on the interior developed
for the next generation 737. Features include a new sculptured ceiling,
larger overhead bins, indirect lighting and vacuum lavatories. Other changes
include new tyres, new wheels and brakes, a tail skid and strengthened wings
and landing gear. However the 757-300 shares the same cockpit and operating
system as the 757-200; This retains commonality between other 757 and 767
aircraft. The 757-300 can carry a maximum of 289 passengers in a charter
class layout or 243 passengers in a mixed class layout. This puts the
capacity of the 757-300 between that of the 757-200 and 767-300. First
delivery of the 757-300 was in March 1999 to German charter airline Condor
Flugdienst. Other airlines with orders for the 757-300 include Icelandair,
JMC and Northwest Airlines.
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