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Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

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TheGreenAnger
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Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#1 Post by TheGreenAnger » Mon Jan 30, 2023 6:30 pm

The last commercial Boeing jumbo will be delivered to Atlas Air (AAWW.O) in the surviving freighter version on Tuesday, 53 years after the 747's instantly recognizable humped silhouette grabbed global attention as a Pan Am passenger jet.
Watch the delivery flight...
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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#2 Post by PHXPhlyer » Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:43 pm

Two "Air Force One" presidential planes still to be delivered.
Still a few years way, I think.
Boeing took a financial hit on these as well because they sold them at a fixed price. Now huge overruns.

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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#3 Post by PHXPhlyer » Tue Jan 31, 2023 2:57 am

After 53 years, Boeing rolls out its final 747 jumbo jet

https://www.azfamily.com/2022/12/07/aft ... jumbo-jet/

(CNN) -- After 53 years and more than 1,570 planes, the last Boeing 747 rolled off the assembly line in Washington state last December, on its way to serve as a cargo plane.

With the distinctive second-floor bulge, the once-groundbreaking jumbo jet is perhaps the most notable and popular plane Boeing has ever built. It was even big enough to be used to ferry the Space Shuttle from landing strips in California to its launch site in Florida. And it is set to launch a new type of spacecraft by Virgin Orbit as soon as next week, after carrying it aloft under its wing.

The 747 was once the choice of the rich, glamorous, and even royalty. Many movies, including the 1973 James Bond classic “Live and Let Die,” featured the plane or sets made to look like the first class lounge on its upper level. The 747 still serves as Air Force One, as it has since 1990. Two already-assembled planes are currently undergoing work to be transformed into the next generation of the presidential jet. Due to delays, those planes won’t be delivered for at least four years.

Besides that use, the 747′s days as a passenger plane are now almost completely behind it. Airlines have moved away from planes with four fuel-guzzling engines like the 747. Rival Airbus dropped its own two-level jumbo jet, the A380, in 2019.



Boeing had signaled in 2020 that it would stop building the 747, even in its freighter form, as customers bought either the more fuel-efficient 777 freighters or save money by reconditioning former 747 passenger jets as freighters. It has not yet announced plans for the factory in Everett, Washington, where it has been building the 747, but it does expect to keep it open. In order to build the massive plane, the facility is 200 million cubic feet, which Boeing says makes it the world’s largest building by volume.

The passenger versions of the plane could carry between 400 to 500 passengers, at its maximum about twice as many passengers as one of Boeing’s current widebody jets, the 787-8 Dreamliner. But Boeing hasn’t built a passenger version of the 747 since it delivered the last one to Korean Airlines in 2017. This last 747 will go to Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, which will operate the plane for Swiss logistics company Kuehne+Nagel. Tuesday’s final plane will be flown to another Boeing facility shop for painting and other final details before being delivered to Atlas early next year.

Today, only 44 passenger versions of the 747 are still in service, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. More than half of those — 25 — are flown by Lufthansa.

That total is down from more than 130 in service as passenger jets at the end of 2019, just before the pandemic crippled demand for air travel, especially on international routes on which the 747 and other widebody jets were primarily used. Most of those passenger versions of the jets were grounded during the early months of the pandemic and never returned to service.

But there are still 314 747 freighters in use, according to Cirium, many of which were used as passenger jets before being renovated into freighters.

“The 747-8 is an incredibly capable aircraft, with capacity that is unmatched by any other freighter in production,” said UPS in 2020, when Boeing signaled it would soon stop building the jet. “With a maximum payload of 307,000 lbs., we use them on long, high-volume routes, connecting Asia, North America, Europe, and the Middle East.”

The current version of the 747 is 250 feet and 2 inches long, the longest commercial plane in service or about twice the length of the Wright Brothers’ first flight. It has a wingspan of 224 feet and 5 inches.



Boeing delivered the first 747-passenger jets in December 1969 to two airlines that no longer exist — TWA and Pan Am. Delta Air Lines was the last US airline to fly a passenger version of the plane, also in 2017. That was the last year the final US 747 passenger flights — by both Delta and United — drew large crowds of the plane’s fans, a testament to its enduring popularity.

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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#4 Post by TheGreenAnger » Tue Jan 31, 2023 5:51 am

Juan Trippe did some great things in conjunction with Bill Allen.
In 1965, Trippe asked his friend Bill Allen at Boeing to produce an airplane much larger than the 707. The result was the Boeing 747, and Pan Am was the first customer. Originally, Trippe believed the 747 would ultimately be destined to haul cargo only and would be replaced by faster, supersonic aircraft which were then being developed. The supersonic airliners failed to materialize, with the exception of the Concorde and Tupolev Tu-144, and the 747 became the iconic image of international travel. In 1965, Trippe received the Tony Jannus Award for his distinguished contributions to commercial aviation.
Juan Trippe Bill Allen.JPG

https://www.flightglobal.com/analysis-h ... 83.article
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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#5 Post by Alisoncc » Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:05 pm

Boo hoo, so sad. Was at Hatton Cross in 1969 for a guided tour of the very first 747 delivered to Pan Am. Working for RCA Aviation as field eng at the time, and the airie was full of our kit. Happy daze.
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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#6 Post by Ex-Ascot » Wed Feb 01, 2023 8:07 am

Don't think that I have ever flown on one. I was head hunted to fly them for Virgin 9 months before I was due to leave the Royal Air Force. Promised a command in 18 months. They needed me like yesterday. The military don't like you skipping off 9 months early. A real shame.

Edit. Been told we went BA LHR-JNB-LHR one one and it was a knackered old thing.
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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#7 Post by G-CPTN » Wed Feb 01, 2023 11:19 am

Most of my World travelling was by B747 apart from an early DC9 (one way to southern Italy).
One time in Hong Kong the booking-in system was down and seat allocation was done manually - took ages.

Another occasion (again in Hong Kong) I neglected to confirm my seat, so the aircraft was full.
I had a meeting arranged in Singapore (that I had travelled from Denmark for) so I really needed that seat.
Ticket non-negotiable, but managed to buy a seat in First Class (I carried Diners Card).
Back in Denmark my employer OKed the expense - they had previously explained that I should do 'whatever was necessary' - a big change from my previous employer who had strict limits on everything from daily meals allowances (unless with a director).
When I joined the 'new' employer I asked about expense limits and they replied that there were no 'limits'.

Not all trips were at full capacity - one overnight journey I managed to find an empty row of seats in the central section, so was able to lie down full length and actually sleep comfortably.

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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#8 Post by boing » Wed Feb 01, 2023 3:55 pm

Magnificent aircraft to fly, no hint of the amount of real estate you had behind you. Designed by humans and debugged by dedicated test pilots. 14 hour fights no problem if the destination WX was good.

Probably the most unusual flights I did were the military support flights for Desert Storm, no problems loading passengers (left right, left right, line up by seat numbers from the rear.). Didn't get any complaints about the food either and the aircraft were nearly as clean after we arrived as they were before we departed.

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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#9 Post by PHXPhlyer » Wed Feb 01, 2023 4:54 pm

My only time on one was an Air New Zealand 747-200 from LAX to Rarotonga, Cook Islands with a stop in Tahiti; they let us out onto the ramp to stretch the legs.
It was time before 9/11 so I got to spend a few hours up front. I was a bit surprised that every light on the flight deck was lit up (middle of the night, middle of the Pacific) nothing but black outside.
No service from the US now. Hawaiian will start service in a few months out of Honolulu.

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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#10 Post by G-CPTN » Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:49 pm

PHXPhlyer wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 4:54 pm

It was time before 9/11 so I got to spend a few hours up front.
I managed one visit - in the middle of the night when most of the passengers were (trying) to sleep.
The (co)pilot was bored ( I was occupying the left-hand seat - but he explained everything patiently and succinctly.
When I asked whether the autopilot was controlling the flight, he said "Yes, - but if I do this . . . " and he swerved to left and right "Though I shouldn't do that as it might spill the drinks!"

Thread drift:-
The first time I travelled on the Cross-Channel hovercraft, I jokingly asked the stewardess if I could go out on deck. She returned and said "Follow me" and lead me through the vehicle deck then up the ladder to the 'cockpit'.
The 'pilot' explained that he was "Fish and Fowl" as the authorities couldn't agree exactly what qualifications were appropriate.

From my 'jump seat' the view out front was clear of the spray (which surrounded the craft) and we had an uneventful journey.

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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#11 Post by ExSp33db1rd » Wed Feb 01, 2023 11:07 pm

Boo hoo, so sad. Was at Hatton Cross in 1969 for a guided tour of the very first 747 delivered to Pan Am.
I was there too ! I have a photo. of my 3 yr. oid son standing by one of the main undrcarriage wheels - which towers over him !

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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#12 Post by TheGreenAnger » Thu Feb 02, 2023 6:31 am

Full final ceremony etc. Nostalgia writ large.

Warning includes live music as well.



Well worth watching, not least, for the commentary from the flight test pilots etc.

Lufthansa's CEO Carsten Spohr's enthusiasm was infectious as was the video of the 747SP as used by Trek Airways (with their own German wartime general Friedrich von Mellenthin on the company's board of directors), SAA, and the short lived Avia.

The only "nostalgic" artefact missing from the presentation was one of the BA 747 cattle class passenger seats left for years on their aircraft used on the LHR CPT route before BA phased out the aircraft with seats still in situ literally with springs coming out of them!
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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#13 Post by 1DC » Thu Feb 02, 2023 4:49 pm

I reckon my first 747 flight was with TWA, LHR to JFK about March 71. I remember the surprise that an aeroplane could be so wide inside. I think that is my lasting first memory.
I remember going from Houston to LAX in Continental first class, I think they called it the club room?, big arm chairs and lovely ladies serving cocktails and canapés. How times have changed.

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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#14 Post by G~Man » Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:42 pm

This was the flight track when he left the factory:

,
747 track.jpg
747 track.jpg (116.6 KiB) Viewed 368 times
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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#15 Post by TheGreenAnger » Wed Feb 15, 2023 3:31 pm

My necessaries are embark'd: farewell. Adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave.

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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#16 Post by llondel » Wed Feb 15, 2023 4:46 pm

That would be interesting to see, although I guess the problem is whether it can manage a take-off on a single engine at MTW.

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Re: Final 747 to be delivered tomorrow.

#17 Post by G-CPTN » Wed Feb 15, 2023 5:34 pm

llondel wrote:
Wed Feb 15, 2023 4:46 pm
I guess the problem is whether it can manage a take-off on a single engine at MTW.
Maybe downhill?

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