AIR TRAVEL CHEAP FLIGHTS

The Boeing 737 is the world's most popular medium-range, narrowbody commercial passenger jet aircraft. With 6,160 ordered and 5,009 delivered, it is the most ordered and produced commercial airliner of all time and has been continuously manufactured by Boeing since 1967. The 737 is now so widely used that at any given time, there are over 1,250 airborne worldwide. On average, one takes off or lands every five seconds.
The 737 was born out of Boeing's need to field a competitor in the short-range, small capacity jetliner market which had been opened up by the BAC 1-11 and the Douglas DC-9. Boeing was badly behind however when the 737 program was initiated in 1964, as both of these rivals were already into their flight certification programmes. To speed up the development time, Boeing reused as much technology from the existing 707 and 727 as possible, most notably the fuselage. However, one of the wing sets failed when submitted to static test on a bench at 95% of designed maximum load capacity. The wing had to be redesigned, but this provided the aircraft with a superb wing capable of operating both with short runways and high altitude efficiency. Even with the early shortcomings, 737 was cheaper and quicker to design, featuring six-abreast seating compared to the 1-11 and DC-9's five-abreast layout.

The -100 and -200 series are identifiable by their tubular engine nacelles which are integrated into the wing and project both fore and aft of it. The engines used on the Original 737 models are Pratt and Whitney JT8D low-bypass turbofans. The Originals can also be identified by the smoothly curving upsweep of the tail fin - the Classics and NG models have a noticeable "kink" at the base of the fin.

The first 737 (a 100 series) took its maiden flight April 9, 1967 and entered service in February 1968 with Lufthansa, the first foreign airline to launch a new Boeing plane. The 737-200 made its maiden flight on August 8, 1967. Lufthansa was the only customer to purchase the 737-100 from new and only 30 aircraft were ever produced. The lengthened 737-200 was widely preferred and was produced until 1988. The launch customer of the 737-200 was United Airlines. The inaugural flight for United was flown on April 28, 1968 from Chicago O'Hare (ORD) to Grand Rapids, Michigan. (GRR) United B-737-200 N9003U flew this first 737 revenue flight. After aircraft #135, an important improvement was applied to the subsequent units and mod kits made available for the precedents: the less efficient 727-style thrust reversers was replaced by exclusive target thrust reversers designed in conjunction with Rohr, but such modification cost US$24 million to Boeing.
The cockpit of an early 737 on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington
Enlarge
The cockpit of an early 737 on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington

In the early 1980s the 737 had its first major facelift. The biggest change was the usage of CFM International CFM56 engines in place of the JT8Ds. The CFM56 is a high-bypass turbofan and thus its diameter was larger than the previous P&W unit, so the engine was slung underneath the wing rather than built into it. This posed a problem as the 737's limited ground clearance (a trait of the 707-derived fuselage) meant that the gearbox and accessories normally fitted to the bottom of the engine had to be fitted to the side — giving the cowling the fattened hamster cheek appearance that is often confused with a flattening of the nacelle geometry. At the same time, the 737 gained a partial glass cockpit from the 757 and 767. The first 737-300 entered service in 1984.

By the 1990s, the 737 had lost ground technologically to the newer Airbus A320. In 1993, Boeing initiated the 737-X or Next Generation (NG) program.

The Next-Generation 737 encompasses the -600, -700, -800 and -900, and amounted to a complete redesign of the 30-year old airliner. The 737NG is an entirely new aircraft, sharing very little with previous 737s, other than fuselage frames. New wings, new avionics and revised engines were the biggest engineering changes. The 737 was given a glass cockpit with CRT (except the -900, which had newer and higher tech LCD screens) screens and digital systems inspired by the ones that were used on the 777. A new interior was designed for the Next-Generation 737, again borrowing heavily from the 777. The parts count is down by about 33%, reducing weight and simplifying maintenance. Additional changes since its introduction include a new interior and performance enhancing winglets which reduce fuel consumption and improve take-off and climb performance.

In 2001, the 737 was stretched one more time to create the 737-900, which is in fact longer and carries more passengers than the 707, and steps into the capacity of the 757-200. As a result of weak demand Boeing closed the 757 line in 2004. Early in 2005, the 737 lost its distinctive "eyebrow" windows in the cockpit

For the 1st time, I flew EVA air. I knew I would be disappointed, and I was. The women (yes, plural) at the check-in counter were the rudest people I have ever met. I will skip the long story, but the experience was so terrible I told their manager that I will never, ever ride EVA again (except on my return flight, of couse). The actual ride was okay, the flight attendant were fine, and the seats, I must admit, were a bit more roomy and comfy than China Airline. Oh but then the food arrived.....

I had the choice between spicy chicken or black pepper beef. I went with the beef. This was sooooo disgusting! The beef, though tender, was way too salty. The potatoes were grainy and tasteless and tuff. They could not even afford some cheap cake and gave us cookies instead, and the cookies were so sweet I could only have one bite.

Another thing about this flight, the entertainment options were much weaker than China Airline's, and it was very hard to operate. My neighbors had many problems with it too.