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A wide-body aircraft is a large airliner with a fuselage diameter of about 6 metres and twin aisles. Passengers are usually seated 7 to 10 abreast. For comparison, a traditional narrow-body airliner has a diameter of 3 to 4 metres, a single aisle, and seats arranged 4 to 6 abreast. Typical wide-body aircraft can accommodate between 200 and 600 passengers, where the largest narrow-bodies carry about 280. Freight-only versions exist as well, which are similar bar the cargo-loading arrangements.
The first wide-body aircraft was the four-engined Boeing 747 which debuted in 1969 and is still the largest in service, although the Airbus A380 will be larger still, when it enters service in 2006. Slightly smaller and shorter ranged three-engined wide-bodies followed in the early 1970s—the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar—then the twin-engined Airbus A300 in 19741974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). Events January-February January 5 Dungeons & Dragons officially released. February 4 Patricia Hearst, the 19 year old granddaughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped. Subsequent commercial wide-bodies include the IlyushinIlyushin is a Russian (formerly Soviet) aircraft manufacturer (design office prefix Il , founded by Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin. Notable Ilyushin aircraft include: Ilyushin Il-2 "Sturmovik" Ilyushin Il-4 Ilyushin Il-10 "Sturmovik" Ilyushin Il-12 "Coach" Il-86The Ilyushin Il-86 is a Russian wide-body commercial passenger jet aircraft. The aircraft was developed by the Soviet Union; announced in 1971, it first flew on December 22, 1976, and entered commercial sevice in 1980. It was the first wide-body type buil ( 19801980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. Events January-February January 1- April 1 National steel strike in United Kingdom January 1 Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession creates Victoria of Sweden, Crown Princess over her younger brother January 5 He), the Airbus A310The Airbus A310 is a short to medium range widebody airliner developed from the Airbus A300 and manufactured by Airbus Industrie. Perhaps the greatest attribute of the A310 is that of range. The A310-300's range exceeds all A300 models and the -200 exceed (a shortened A300) and Boeing 767The Boeing 767 is a commercial passenger airplane manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Boeing 767, which was introduced in about the same time period as the 757, has a seat-to-aisle ratio in economy class of 3. 5 seats per aisle, making for qu ( 1982Events January January 6 William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer". January 8 AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara du), the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 ( 1986), the Ilyushin Il-96 ( 1992), the Airbus A330/ A340 family ( 1993), and the Boeing 777 ( 1995). The United States and the Soviet Union both produced dedicated military wide-body transports: the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy and C-141 Starlifter, the Ilyushin Il-76 "Candid", the Antonov An-124/ An-225, and the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III.