This article is great except for the part about bending 777 wings 14 feet during testing. I was on a 747-400 once from Hong Kong to S'pore and we hit "Heavy" turbulence (as described by the pilot later). People were ooohing and aaaahing and some people were crying, I saw the toilet cubicle up ahead turning from a rectangle outline to a parralelogram outline as the planes hull twisted, that really made me concerned. I also saw the wings going up and down to what I reckon was more than 14 feet at the tip. I just sat there and hoped that the engineers had done their job when designing and testing wings. Maybe 747 wings are more flexible than 777 wings? Anyone know? Anyway, in 15 years of flying, has only happened like that once.
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