Rant: Just read that a single 737 MAX engine can produce over 29,000 pounds of thrust

Found that in a Boeing spec sheet and it blew my mind, makes you think about the forces we're working with. Anyone ever had a job that really drove that point home?

3 comments

3 Comments

mila_murphy15d ago

Holy cow, that number is wild to see written down. I used to help load cargo pallets for a regional airline, and just shoving one of those empty metal containers across the floor took serious effort. Then you see the whole plane, packed full of them and people and fuel, and realize those engines have to lift all of it. It makes your back ache just thinking about it.

sanchez.julia15d ago

Watching them fuel up a wide-body is its own kind of shock. They just keep pumping for what feels like forever, adding literal tons of weight before it even rolls. The sheer scale of it all never really clicks until you see it happen.

the_leo15d ago

That fuel point from @sanchez.julia is key. All that weight has to get moving. I saw a video once where they calculated the total thrust at takeoff for a fully loaded 747, and it was more than the power output of a nuclear submarine. It really is just brute force physics, throwing this huge thing into the sky. Makes those cargo pallets mila_murphy mentioned feel like toy blocks.