A 747-438 is a 747-400 series airplane, built for QANTAS. The "38"
indicates Qantas' customer number with Boeing.

Jeff

"Charles Newman" e wrote in
message ...


I notice that one eclipse flight to view the Nov 23/24
solar eclipse over Antarctica is listed is being on a
747-438. What is the 438 designation? Is that a special
version of the 747 outfitted for scientific research?
I know there are custom made aircraft for scientific
research, I am wondering if the 438 is the designation for
a 747 outfitted for scientific research.