User Guide

Flight Simulator
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Microsoft
Boeing 777–300
On the outside it may resemble the jetliners
you’ve seen for years. Inside it’s a whole new type
of bird. The newest plane in the long and proud
Boeing family line is the 777, commonly referred to
as the “triple 7.” This long range, fuel-efficient
twinjet was first delivered in May of 1995 to fill a
gap in the market between the 747 and 767. It is
capable of seating 305 to 479 passengers and the
longer-range 777–200 version can carry them
8,860 miles.
The genesis of the 777 was unique in Boeing
history. From the outset it was designed with
cooperation and input from its future customers.
Boeing actually had engineering staff from the
airlines working with Boeing engineers at the
factory. And the 777 is the first airliner ever
completely designed on computers. Using
Computer Aided Three-dimensional Interactive
Applications (CATIA), every system and piece of
the plane was created and fitted together on
computers before production began. It worked so
well that Boeing didn’t need to create a full-scale
physical mock-up of the airplane. The result was
that after laser-aligning the major sections and
wings of the real airplane, the port wingtip was a
mere 0.001 inch (.0025 cm) out of alignment. The
fuselage was out of alignment by only 0.023 inch
(.058 cm).
One of the distinguishing features of the 777 is its
perfectly round fuselage cross-section, as
opposed to the more ovoid shape of previous
Boeings. This gives structural strength and
simplicity to the fuselage, making it less prone to
fatigue. It is 22 inches (55.88 cm) wider than the
competition, allowing provision of one extra seat
per row than the Airbus A330/340 (and to an
airline, seats are revenue). The plane has an
enormous below-deck cargo capacity, even
greater than the 747-400 (by weight, not volume).
A striking external feature of this wide-body is the
main gear. Larger than that of any other airliner,
each main gear of the 777 has six wheels—giving
the same pavement loading as a jumbo DC10–30
but with half the parts and less complexity. The
left axle of each main can actually be steered up
to eight degrees to aid nose-gear steering.
The in-flight entertainment system is like nothing
any airliner has ever had. It’s the most complex
system of its kind ever developed, and with an
estimated 250,000 lines of dedicated software
code it’s as sophisticated as some airplanes’
avionics systems. Each passenger has a choice of
up to 12 video channels and 48 audio channels.
Each seat has a phone that doubles as a game
controller, credit card reader, and modem link. At
9,000 pounds (4,082 kg) for a typical installation,
this is some heavyweight entertainment!
Key to the present and future success of the 777
is its flexibility. Designed to be stretched, short-
ened and modified in many ways to suit its
customers’ needs, it can even be ordered with
folding wingtips to allow parking at gates
designed for smaller planes. From the extremely
powerful new engines to the all-glass cockpit, this
airplane has the technology to carry it far into the
21
st
century.
For details on flying this aircraft, see the Aircraft
Information section of Help.