Why was the upper deck designed on the Boeing 747 aircraft initially?

Question

Why was the upper deck designed on the Boeing 747 aircraft initially?

Answer 1

The original reason for the upper deck is due to the 747's history as a competitor to the C-5. Like the C-5, the reason for the upper deck was so that the pilots would be situated above the cargo deck. The primary reason behind this was that, with the cargo loads carried in such an aircraft, having the flight deck in front of the cargo area would be risk during a crash landing, as all the cargo could break off from the tie downs and move forward. The side benefit was the front loading cargo door and the larger cargo deck.

In passenger service, the upper deck was initially used as a lounge area, similar to the lounge areas proposed for the Airbus A380.

Answer 2

the 747 was created after Boeing rolled out the huge C-5 military cargo plane. Since Boeing was competeing to get the contract, they converted their was-to-be cargo plane into a passenger jet.

I guess some of the designer liked the hugeness of the C-5 and the recognizability of a multideck aircraft. In fact today, more people will recognize a 747 then any other type of plane.

they added the partial upper deck to increase passenger and cargo capacity so that they did not need to lengthen the plane and thus decreasing range and increasing the risk of tail strikes which were pretty common on initial 747s anyways.  

edit: sure they planned it to be a special area for 1st class passengers but most operators went for extra seating instead of wasting the space for a "bistro". There was one 747 that had a grand piano on its upper deck once.

Edit two. realized i wrote Boeing rolled out. supposed to be Lockheed rolled out.

sorry, my mistake.

Answer 3

Maybe to allow more seats? >-<

Answer 4

Originally it was planned as an uber-1st class/lounge.  Theoretically, one could go "upstairs" and have a drink, eat like a bistro.  (I'm old enough to -barely-remember Chet Huntley advertising the "new" 747 and touring the bar).  With the changing demographic of travelers, it made more sense to just rip that  out, and add 1st class seats.  This made the original 1st class seats available as a business class.  More fares per trip.

Answer 5

After Boeing LOST the C-X (C-5A) they reworked their data to create the 747 from the beginning it was planed to convert it to cargo and fly pax's on SST's then price of fuel skyrocketed under President Carter, Arab oil embargo,....

and 747 proved to be economical passenger aircraft.

Answer 6

The original design of the Boeing 747, was to compete for the Air Force contract for a heavy lift, long range cargo plane. Its main rival was the Lockheed C-5.

The Freighter version of the 747 has an opening nose to load cargo.

The upper deck was for passengers in the same manner that the C-5 has an upper deck for passengers in the rear of the aircraft.

This design leaves the entire lower deck open for cargo.

Lockheed won the AF contract and Boeing converted the 747 design into a commercial passenger jumbo jet.

There are many 747 Freighters still flying. Some have the opening front visor and some have a cargo door on the left side of the fuselage.