User Guide

The Fleet
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space, and communications businesses combine
to make it the world’s largest aerospace manufac-
turer and the leading exporter of goods from the
United States.
Boeing 737–400
One should hardly be surprised that the world’s
most prolific manufacturer of commercial aircraft
is also the producer of the world’s most popular
jetliner. The 737 became the best-selling commer-
cial jetliner world-wide when orders for it hit 1,831
in June of 1987 (surpassing Boeing’s own 727 as
the previous champ). It wasn’t always that way; in
the first few years of production, there were so
few orders that Boeing considered canceling the
program. They didn’t, and the airplane has more
than proven itself in over three decades of service.
The reason for the 737’s great success is its
design flexibility. It lends itself well to modifica-
tions that fit the market needs of its customers,
and currently seven variants are available. The
ability to order different versions of the same
plane allows an airline to fit the airplane to a
particular route and passenger load while
maintaining a smaller inventory of support and
service equipment for its fleet. And, like all of the
planes in this family, the 737–400 has crew
commonality with its siblings—a pilot qualified to
fly one is qualified to fly all of them.
The short-haul 737s have ranges from 2,300 mi
(4,180 km) to 3,800 mi (6,110 km). And, speaking
of short, the first model’s length was only 8 inches
greater than its wingspan, giving the airplane a
compact look that led to its nickname: Fat Albert.
Derivative models of this line were on the drawing
boards before the first 737–100 ever flew. The
–200 grew in length over the –100 and was fitted
with progressively more powerful engines,
eventually allowing the maximum takeoff weight
to increase by nearly 32,000 pounds (14,515 kg).
The most important advancement with the next
size, the –300, was the use of a new type of
engine. The General Electric/Snecma CFM56
produces more power than the old JT8Ds of
earlier models, while producing far less noise and
providing better fuel economy.
The –400 sits at the upper end of the 737 lineup
(the –500, –600, and –700 are smaller but faster).
While the 737–300 allowed up to 126 passengers
to be seated in its lengthened cabin, Boeing put it
on the rack again, this time stretching it another
10 feet (3.05 m) to a total of 119 feet 7 inches
(36.45 m). This longer airplane became the –400,
which first flew in February 1988 and seats 147 to
168.
All variants of the 737 will continue to fly for many
years to come. From its short and stubby origins
to its more elegant stretched versions, the 737 has
always been beautiful in the eyes of airline bean
counters. Its position in the travel marketplace
and in aviation history is assured.
For details on flying this aircraft, see the Aircraft
Information section of Help.
If you bounce the –400 on landing,
don’t continue to pull the stick back
to flare. That will cause you to strike
the ground with the rear fuselage
before the main gear touch again.
Instead push the nose slightly
forward and add a little power.