Boeing 747

[Graham Ritchie]

If there was ever an aircraft that changed the world of travel it was the 747. Air New Zealand used them for Auckland to London and back, with one stop at LA for years. the Auckland to LA leg was 10,498 km flying time 11 hrs 30 min alone, with a short around 2 hr stop at LA, before the aircraft did the LA to London bit, which was I think just over 10 hours. Those were long flights and the 747 was ideal for the long haul. It always took us a couple of days to get used to the time change and going from summer to winter or the reverse.

Its a pity the 747 on that journey has now gone.

The construction of the 747 back in the 1960s is a amazing story in itself, and well worth watching historical films taken at the time.

[David Roberts]

I remember being at Heathrow in 1970 ( I think) when the first 747 to arrive here flew in. You could recognise it being different with that enlarged front even before it landed.

[Terry Sills]

Yes a great step forward in air travel, but Concorde was far more innovative and iconic and should never have been grounded. The cause of the crash could easily have been overcome and no passenger plane has ever come close to its speed.

[Paul Adsett]

The 747 is the best of the long haul jets. Designed and built with the utmost care and quality there is a reason that even today it is the next Air Force One plane for the US President.
I never felt safer than flying a Boeing 747.
Unfortunately Terry, as brilliant as Concorde was it never made a profit and was a money pit for BA and the UK government. That was the real reason it was retired. Had it been profitable they would have fixed it. In any case profitable Supersonic air travel was doomed because of the sonic boom, limiting flights to over sea routes.
The next step will be sub-orbital aviation, London to New York in 20 minutes!

[Terry Sills]

Paul
concorde was a joint venture by France and the U.K. That's why it was named Concorde. It was retired because of falling passenger numbers after the crash in France when all passengers and crew died. Understandable really, but had BA and AirFrance ensured that type of fuel tank puncture could not occur again, then it would still be the fastest passenger plane in the air and passenger confidence would have returned I'm sure.

[Paul Adsett]

I'm sure you are right Terry. Look at that horrific DC-10 crash in Chicago when the engine fell off during take off. I vowed never to fly on one of those again. But several years later I inadvertently found myself on a DC-10 flight from Gatwick to Atlanta and, after an initial wave of terror, settled back to a great flight.
It will be interesting to see how passengers react to the 737 MAX when it eventually gets back into service.

[David Roberts]

Concorde was a wonderful engineering achievment,but events overtook it,fuel costs,9/11 etc. Also the price of spares went through the roof,and trying to provide them for such a small fleet prohibitive. It did find a niche market for special flights and was making a profit for BA by the time it was withdrawn from service.

[Steve Klare]

I've done a huge amount of short hops for my jobs: Laguardia to Dallas, then to South Texas, Laguardia to Dallas, then to Tucson, Laguardia to Dallas, then to San Diego. I guess my "favorite" plane must be the Douglas MD-80: I easily flew it a hundred times and it didn't kill me even once! (Thank you!)

-but flying the 747 and the other whales was something that never happened back in those days.

We've been to Europe a few times now and we've flown Lufthansa 747s to Frankfurt. To the MD-80 accustomed mind the idea that they can not only make this huge building move, but fly at over 500 MPH six miles up in the sky seems downright impossible!

(If you could tell somebody from the 1700s about this, it might seem as amazing to them as Star Trek seems to us.)

[Brian Fretwell]

Concorde seems to be another reason not to go with statistics. I believe until the crash it was classed as the safest plane to fly on but after one crash it was deemed the most dangerous.

Back to the 747 it seems that BA are phasing theirs out due to COVID reductions in passenger numbers.

[David Roberts]

Brian, I suppose that when there were only ever 14 Concordes in airline use,having one crash does muck up the stats a bit.

[Mitchell Dvoskin]

The Concord had another problem, in that do to loud sonic booms, it was not allowed to fly at supersonic speeds over the USA, somewhat negating the speed advantage for world travel beyond Europe to East Coast Americas.

[Maurice Leakey]

Boeing 747s have been arriving at the UKs Cotswold airport after having been retired by British Airways. Some may be sold, Some may be scrapped.
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.u...-lands-4478849


Maurice

[John Burgess]

Years ago it was possible to ask to for a visit onto the flight deck ( how times have changed!). The stewardess kindly agreed and took my two children and I through where we had a wonderful few minutes talking to the crew on this fabulous 747. The pilot explained that should three engines fail the bird was fine to fly on just one, he then proceeded to alter the flying height just to make it interesting for us to see him actually doing something. Memorable flight on a fabulous aircraft, sad to see them go.
John

[Graham Ritchie]

The first time I flew on a 747, was on a Pan Am flight from London to Seattle, then across the Pacific on a Pan Am 707, that was way back in January 1975.

This Pathe News is very interesting to watch, also note how well dressed everyone used to be.

[Graham Ritchie]

The Auckland to London although being a long flight the 747 was an ideal aircraft for many years. If I remember right Air New Zealand operated two direct flights a week with one stop at LA, it was a great service to London and back