Double-deck aircraft

American Overseas "Flagship Denmark" Boeing 377 Stratocruiser

An Airbus A380 at the Paris Air Show in 2005

A double-deck aircraft has two decks for passengers; the second deck may be only a partial deck, and may be above or below the main deck. Most commercial aircraft have one passenger deck and one cargo deck for luggage and ULD containers, but only a few have two decks for passengers, typically above a third deck for cargo.

History

Many early flying boat airliners, such as the Boeing 314 Clipper and Short Sandringham, had two decks. Following World War II the Stratocruiser, a partially double-decked derivative of the B-29 Superfortress, became popular with airlines around the world.

The first full double-deck aircraft was the French Breguet Deux-Ponts. The first partial double-deck jet airliner was the widebody Boeing 747, with the top deck smaller than the main deck. Boeing originally designed the distinctive 747 bubble top with air cargo usage in mind. The small top deck permitted the cockpit and a few passengers and nose doors with unobstructed access to the full length of the hold. Most 747s are passenger jets, and a small percentage are cargo jets with nose doors.

The first full double-deck jet airliner is the Airbus A380, which has two passenger decks extending the full length of the fuselage, as well as a full-length lower third deck for cargo. Singapore Airlines took delivery of the first A380-800 in a ceremony in Toulouse, France. SIA had fitted them with 12 private luxury suites and two double beds. The A380 can hold up to 500 passengers and 25 crew.^[1]

List of double-deck aircraft

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

A JAL 747-100SR with the trademark "hump" formed by the partial upper deck

Junkers G.38 (1930)

Double-deck flying boats

• Boeing 314 Clipper
• Dornier Do-X
• Short Sandringham
• Short Empire C-Class and the related G-class
• Saunders-Roe Princess - did not enter service.

Partial second passenger deck

• Airbus A330 and Airbus A340
  • Optional lower deck lavatories and crew rest
• Boeing 377 Stratocruiser
  • Lower deck could be configured for lounge areas or additional seating
• Boeing 747
  • Partial upper deck lounge areas or seating
  • Optional upper deck crew rest and galleys
• Boeing 767
  • Optional lower level crew rest area sleeps six^[2]
• Boeing 777
  • Optional lower deck lavatories and galley
  • Optional upper deck crew rest
• Junkers G.38
• Ilyushin Il-86
  • Lower deck galley
  • Lower deck "self loading luggage storage"
• Lockheed L-1011 Tristar
  • Lower deck galley
  • Lower deck lounge (Pacific Southwest Airlines) (LTU International)
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10
  • Lower deck galleys
• Tupolev Tu-114
  • Lower deck galleys.
  • Lower deck aircrew rest area.

Full second passenger deck

• Breguet 761, 763 and 765
• Airbus A380

Cargo aircraft with a separate passenger deck

• Antonov An-225
• Antonov An-124
• Lockheed C-5 Galaxy
• Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter
• Douglas C-124 Globemaster II
• Short Belfast
• Lockheed R6V Constitution
• Blackburn Beverley - military transport, the main deck could be used for cargo or troops

Double-deck cargo aircraft

• Aviation Traders Carvair
• Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 Argosy
• Bristol Freighter
• Convair XC-99
• Douglas C-124 Globemaster II

Proposed double-deck passenger aircraft

• McDonnell Douglas MD-12
• Sukhoi KR-860

See also

• Wide-body aircraft

References

1. New York Post, "BED DOWN ON THE 'BUS", 16 October, 2007
2. Aerosystems, Timco. "Case Studies Crew Rest Module (designed for 767)". Timco Aerosystems. Retrieved 11-10-2012. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

External links