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The 787 is definitely a quieter plane, more so compared to the 747-400 and earlier than the 747-8. 787s are also more pleasant on longer flights due to their higher cabin pressure and higher humidity, This from someone who has literally flown well over a hundred hours on both types of plane.
Other than the awesome sense of security if an engine were to fail?
I was very impressed with the quietness of the Dreamliner when I flew it last year - so much more pleasant than the other planes I've flown. It reminded me of my dad telling me about his first jet ride, probably circa 1960 and his being impressed at how quiet it was compared to older plans of that era.
That would be very cool! I wish United still flew the 747. I would have a chance for an upgrade with them. I guess Lufthansa is Star Alliance so I still have a shot. I sat last night and tried to figure out what it was worth to me to fly Polaris again, this time on a trans-Atlantic 747. I came up with $500 extra is worth it for an experience I may never get to try again. It really busts my budget a bit, but ...
How would you compare the A380 to the 787 on the amount of noise? I flew Qatar Air on an A380 and it was about the same as a 787, maybe a bit quieter. Especially on takeoff the A380 was a subdued but powerful ride. I like the 787 better than most widebody jets for its comfort level, but the A380 is just a step better than a 787, it seems, and two steps better than the rest. Or so it seems to me in my limited experience. Most of my flight miles are on A320's and 737's.
Yes…I believe that even ETOPS twins are limited to their distance from a landing site, and may not be able to take the most direct route. But there aren’t many routes where that would be a factor.Other than the awesome sense of security if an engine were to fail?
With ETOPS 330 and 370, there is basically nowhere on earth that you can't fly with a twin. The one exception being flights to Antarctica:
As mentioned before I have now flown on a -8i twice, both Lufthansa and both times in Business Class. It certainly had a much more 787-ish feel to it. I enjoyed both flights.
Excuse me, it actually stands for "Engines Turning Or Passengers Swimming."
Interestingly, there is one place that no commercial flight that is not landing there is allowed to overfly, and that is the Tibetan Plateau. That is because it is so large in geographical extent that if a plane has an unplanned cabin depressurization situation over it, there is no way for it to reduce altitude following the regulation in a timely manner to the prescribed altitude, because that would place you underground. Only commercial flights landing at or taking off from Lhasa or another Tibetan airport is allowed to overfly the plateau, while transiting flights, no matter how many engines they have, are required to fly around it.
I do not believe she ever flew on a Boeing 747, but my Aunt Judi worked for Boeing's HR department from 1965 to around 1972. She had the extreme good fortune to be in a position to give a couple thousand people notice that they were being fired when the Boeing gamble on the 747 was still not making Boeing any money and Seattle had the "Would the last person to leave Seattle please turn out the lights!" sign up.
There is plenty of engineering innovation in the 787. It has though undoubtedly been managed very poorly. Actually the whole Carbon Fiber thing in and of itself is a very remarkable innovation, and in spite of all the weird management they somehow managed to screw that up, something that was fragrant with possibilities of screwup as it involves clean room operations during fabrication.
The air vents above seemed to supply a very minimal blast of air as compared to others (usually smaller regionals) I have rode on commercially (I prefer enough air to have my hair blowing). The temperature was ungodly hot. I asked the stewardess to turn the heat down a bit, and it is my nature to never complain or ask for special requests like that. I spent part of the ride sitting in the back open area on the floor with my forehead pressed on a cold door latch downing cold drinks from the nearby refreshment area.
