How many engines on a 747

But how did it affect the aircraft in flight? The above picture depicts a rather unusually-configured Qantas Boeing As we can see, this aircraft has an unbalanced engine layout, with two on one side and three on another. Of course, in times of extensive research and development into new engine technology, aircraft having strange engine configurations is not a new phenomenon. Indeed, both Airbus and Boeing are known to add on a different engine to testbed aircraft.

Boeing, for example, tested the new GE9X on a before installing it onto its new X. However, it is even rarer to see an extra engine on an aircraft, and an odd number at that. So why did Qantas operate a commercial Boeing flight with five engines, and how did the airline manage it? Stay informed: Sign up for our daily aviation news digest. However, to have shipped a spare engine over to South Africa would have cost time and, subsequently, more money.

After all, having a stuck on the ground abroad, not earning revenue, is a costly proposition. Sign up. I would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not sell your email. Please enter a valid email address Please check mailing preferences. Sign-up Successful! Welcome to The Points Guy! Quora is a contributing writer for The Points Guy.

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Back in , this spare pod was put to good use by Australian flag carrier Qantas. It needed to get a replacement engine to Johannesburg in South Africa fast, and by far the quickest and easiest way to do this was by using the fifth pod on a that was headed that way anyhow. A post shared by Qantas qantas. QF63 strapped a six-ton Rolls-Royce engine onto its spare pod, and successfully ferried the engine to its destination. For passengers on that flight, it must have been an odd sight to look out of the window and see three powerplants!

The fifth pod is located under the port size left wing and is located close to the body. You might think that the weight of this extra engine causes balance issues. The Boeing is not the only aircraft that can fly with five engines, however. In fact, many older aircraft such as the DC-8 and used to have fifth pods installed for transportation of spare engines.