NASA Boeing 747 with Orbiter Piggyback: Our NASA Boeing 747 with Orbiter Piggyback model aircraft is modeled and handcrafted using various high-quality grade materials by our renowned master craftsmen. Our NASA Boeing 747 with Orbiter Piggyback model aircraft is uniquely designed and manufactured using the latest innovations and techniques applied in the over-all manufacturing and operation process procedures. The model airplane’s parts including the fuselage, wings and glass cockpit are extremely accurate and precise based on the original. This model aircraft will fascinate anyone, aviation enthusiast and model aircraft collectors alike for its remarkable and exceptional quality. This elegant NASA Boeing 747 with Orbiter Piggyback model aircraft is definitely the perfect gift and collectible you would want to give to your friends and family. NASA Boeing 747 with Orbiter Piggyback History: The Boeing 747 was a result of the increase in air travel in the 1960s. One of the principal technologies that enabled an airplane as large as the 747 to be conceived was the high-bypass turbofan engine. This delivered twice the power of the earlier turbojets while consuming a third less fuel. The aircraft was designed with multiple structural redundancy, four redundant hydraulic systems, and quadruple main landing gear to ensure safety and flyability. Since Boeing did not have a facility large enough to assemble the giant 747, it had to build a new one near Everett, Washington. Throughout its history, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA has used several different types of aircraft on a permanent, semi-permanent, or short-term basis. The agency has three 747s: a 747-100, a 747-100SR, and a 747SP. The 747-100 and 747-100SR are currently used as Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) while the 747SP is in use as Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The SCAs are used to ferry space shuttles from landing sites back to the launch complex at the NASA Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center, and to and from other locations too distant for the orbiters to be delivered by ground transport. The 747-100 was was acquired from American Airlines in 1974 and was extensively modified in 1976. Its cabin was stripped, mounting struts were added, the fuselage was strengthened, and vertical stabilizers were added to the tail. The avionics and engines were also upgraded. In 1988, in the wake of the Challenger accident, NASA procured the 747-100SR from Japan Airlines on recommendation from the review board. It entered service with NASA in 1990 after similar modifications. It was the first used to ferry the new shuttle Endeavour in 1991.