The Last 747

FrancieBrady

It's my favourite aircraft and there is something sad about this even though they'll be flying for many years.

The big surprise in this video was the fact the first one was destroyed along with so many lives in the Tenerife crash, I never knew that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs1QVM

EchoIndia

The aircraft that was destroyed at Tenerife was the 11th off the line, so it wasn't the first 747.

Glaceon

The first one is in a museum somewhere if I recall?

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120195640#Comment_120195640

Apologies...the first one to carry passengers. Clipper Victor.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120195661#Comment_120195661

The Museum of Flight in Seattle.

Pilots absolutely love flying the 747, it’s said to be a great plane to hand fly in spite of its proportions. I’ve been in the cockpit of one, before the days of sterile cockpit, en route to Australia. There was some rather momentous turbulence in the back climbing out of Singapore, but the folk up front barely felt it. First time I landed at JFK, at night, it was in a Pan Am 747 6 months before Lockerbie, there was some pilot error and aircraft landing with a massive thud, all overhead lockers opened, oxygen masks fell down, and tons of debris flying down the aircraft. I was tossed against the cabin wall, mildly bruising my arm. Thought it had crashed, but no apology or explanation. Somebody mentioned it had literally stalled from about 20ft, coming in too slow. Still, pilots report it is a relatively easy aircraft to land in spite of high cockpit.

Charles Babbage

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120195739#Comment_120195739

A place well worth a visit for anyone in this forum, one day is hardly enough to see it all.

xtradel

Or another well worth a visit for all types of transport but a little closer to home:

https://speyer.technik-museum.de/en/

FoxForce5

I never had the money when younger to fly and now that I do are there any routes or airlines flying the 747 regular enough it's a bucket list experience imho.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120203988#Comment_120203988

Nice one. I periodically work for a client within 1.30 from there. Will definitely try organise a visit.

EchoIndia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120204296#Comment_120204296

Lufthansa operates 747-400s and 747-8 passenger aircraft. You have to research what routes they fly.

ohigg84

It is a sad day in civil aviation.

The 747 is still my favourite aircraft of all time, followed closely by the venerable 707 which it replaced.

I'm fortunate to have flown on a few 747s including EI's 3 747-100s (ASI, ASJ & BED).

My dad worked for EI for over 39 years and I'm thankful I flew all over the world when we went on family holidays.

I even flew on a PAN AM 747-100 from JFK-LAX in 1986, and I still remember that flight, despite being 2 years old.

However, 1,574 747s in production since 1968 is still remarkable.

Consider that just over 1,000 707s were produced, 1,050 757s were delivered, there are just over 1,000 767s which are still being produced (mainly the KC-46A tanker for the USAF).

I guess you could say Boeing became a victim of its own success when it launched the 777 program in 1989, which was designed to replace ageing L-1011s and DC-10s.

Once the 777 was stretched and its range increased, airlines began to replace their 747s (100/200s) with them and the fuel economics of the 777, (particularly the 200ER/300ER family) was a major factor in the substantial retirement of the 747s.

I really thought more airlines would have ordered the 747-8I, especially KLM and BA, as they operated large 747-400 fleets.

Cathay Pacific was reportedly interested in the 8I model but it went with the Freighter model instead.

I wish Boeing would make another variant of the 747, its such a remarkable and beautiful looking aircraft.

Long live the Queen.