However, they could not create a larger undercarriage due to limited ground clearance. Boeing then created the first wide-body, turbofan-powered commercial airliner, the 747. This aircraft is one of the few that has kept the same form throughout the years. The only differences are a slightly longer wingspan and a larger upper deck. The six-foot longer wing and winglet was designed to reduce fuel burn by about three percent. Boeing's 747 still remains one of the most successful aircraft ever built. Boeing uses graphite-epoxy materials on their 737, 757, and 767 which saves significant amounts of weight on the structures. Fairings and struts have been altered to improve drag and engine efficiency.
"Aerodynamics is the study of forces and the resulting motion of objects through the air ". Aerodynamics affects everything that physically moves through air, including airplanes, rockets, paper planes and even birds. The forces of lift are measured by studying the movement of air around an object. This movement of air helps the airplane overcome gravity, and drag. Gravity and drag is the resistance that an object feels as it makes it motion in air.[Smi] .
The Boeing 707 was manufactured in the early 1950's. The 707 was the company's first turbojet aircraft. The aircraft was consuming too much fuel and was very loud. After a few years, Boeing came out with variants of the aircraft and made them more aerodynamically effective. The Boeing 707-320 and 420 models were designed to have a larger wing span to hold more fuel. The aircraft used turbofan engines compared to the Pratt and Whitney engines used in its first variant. The 320 models also changed the detail of flaps on the aircraft. They considerably revised wing structure which featured three-section leading-edge flaps.[Wor12] The aerodynamic improvements made to this aircraft model helped in improved take-off and landing performances, resulting in removal of the ventral fin.
