Dreamlifter (747-400LCF)

Boeing · United States · first flew 2006 · transport aircraft

The Boeing Dreamlifter is a heavily modified 747-400 with a hugely enlarged fuselage built to carry Boeing 787 Dreamliner components between supplier factories.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, swept
E — Engines	4 × turbofan, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	Enormously bulged upper fuselage dwarfing the 747 cockpit hump
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Enormously bulged upper fuselage dwarfing the 747 cockpit hump
Swing tail that hinges aside to load 787 fuselage barrels
Four wing-mounted turbofans on a long swept 747 wing

Look for the grossly swollen upper fuselage that engulfs the classic 747 forward hump, plus the distinctive rear swing-tail door, all on four-engined 747 wings.

Specifications

The Dreamlifter (747-400LCF) has a length of 71.68 m (235 ft).
It has a wingspan of 64.4 m (211 ft).
Its maximum speed is 878 km/h (546 mph).
Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Four aircraft were converted from used 747-400 airframes, the first flying in September 2006. The bulged fuselage was engineered in partnership with Evergreen Aviation Technologies and Taiwan's aerospace industry.

Variants

All four are the single 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter conversion; no other variants exist. They remain the largest cargo-hold aircraft in the world by volume.

Where you'll see it

The fleet shuttles 787 wings, fuselage sections and tail assemblies from suppliers in Japan, Italy and the United States to Boeing's assembly lines at Everett and Charleston.

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