Yes but I’ll qualify my answer by assuming you mean a regular aileron roll (see my point at the end). During type training, I’ve done it in the full size 747–400 airline simulator more than once and they’re a very accurate representation of the real aircraft (just for fun when we had a few minutes spare. It’s not part of actual training). Done properly, a roll is a low stress manoeuvre. Having said that, the 747 has been involved in at least one accident where the aircraft exceeded the stresses you’d find in an ordinary roll and performed some extraordinary manoeuvres as the crew struggled to regain control (China Airlines Flight 006). They and the aircraft survived and flew on to landing. Also note that a Boeing 707 did a roll during a sales demonstration flight (Pilot Tex Johnson in 1955). It was both at (relatively) low altitude and in front of a crowd.
Search for it, there are many photos and a film. Back to the “barrel roll”. Most media and general public incorrectly use the term “barrell roll” when they really mean an aileron roll. An aileron roll is when the aircraft simply rotates 360 degrees along it’s longitudinal axis. Although an initial use of elevator usually precedes the manoeuvre, the primary input during the roll is aileron. A barrell roll is when the aircraft appears to scribe a path as if flying around the inside of a giant barrell. This manoeuvre has two primary inputs used throughout the manoeuvre, aileron and elevator. I’d bet the ‘plane could pull this off but have never tried it.
Author – Wayne Waddington
