Boeing 737 family

The Boeing 737 was developed as a shorter range, lower cost twin engined aircraft developed from the 707 and 727 using the same cockpit and fuselage structure. The 737 is the worlds best selling jet airline, with over 10,000 delivered to date. The family has been developed over half a century from the original 737-100 & 200 to the latest & 737 MAX family.

 

The original aircraft, a 737-100 made its first flight in April 1967 and entered service with Lufthansa in February 1968. A version lengthened by 1.53m the 737-200 entered service in April 1968. These versions of the 737 were powered by the Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines, in fact the firs versions off the production lines used the fuselage mounted nacelles and thrust reverser from the 727 - but these were found to lift the fuselage reducing wheel brake effectiveness, as well as not being very effective. A new reverser was introduced in 1968 which included a 1.22m tailpipe extension. The 737-100 & 200 are known as the 737 'Original' series.

In 1979 the development of the next version of the aircraft started development using a new engine, the CFM56-3B-1 high bypass turbofan which greatly improved fuel economy and was much quieter. Some aircraft, especially later builds, were equipped with a CRT glass cockpit. The greatest external difference to the aircraft were the engines which have a much greater fan diameter than the original engines and seem to have non circular engines, this is because the engine accessories have to be mounted on the sides of the engine to allow ground clearance. There were three versions of this aircraft in produced, the -300 which was the first version, flying on 17th January 1984, the -300 is 33.4m long and can carry 149 passengers. The next version, the -400 was 3m longer than the -300, with a maximum passenger capacity of 188. The -500 was a shorter version, a direct replacement for the -200 being 2.4m shorter than the -300 and having a passenger capacity of 145. The 737 - 300/400/500 are known as the 737 'Classic'.

When Airbus introduced the A320, Boeing hit back with the 737 Next Generation launched in 1991. This aircraft uses the same engines as the classic but has aerodynamic refinements. The other main change was the introduction of an LCD cockpit. The first aircraft, a -700 first flew on 9th February 1997. The -700 has a passenger capacity of 149. A shorter version still with a capacity of 149 passengers, the -600 was introduced to directly replace the -500. The -800 has a passenger capacity of 189 and the -900 a capacity of 220.

In December Airbus launched the A320NEO family, and Boeing replied by launching the 737MAX. This aircraft has a new engine, the CFM LEAP-1B aerodynamic improvements, the most visible being the 'Scimitar' winglets. The first aircraft was delivered in May 2017 and the family consists of the -7/-8 and -9 directly replacing the -700, -800 and -900. In June 2017 Boeing launched the -10MAX a high capacity version of the aircraft.

Total  sales (to Dec 2017):

737 Original - 1,144
737 Classic - 1,988
737NG - 6,944
737 BBJ - 161
737 MAX - 4,065

Total: 14,302