40 Years of 747

FlightBlogger ^ | January 19, 2010 | Jon Ostrower

[skeptoid]

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the entry into service of the 747-100 with Pan Am in January 1970, Max Kingsley-Jones and I have authored a package of features commemorating the event. During my visit to Seattle in December for 787 First Flight, I had an opportunity to sit down with Joe Sutter, who served as chief engineer for the 747 program . . . . .

[skeptoid]

The 'package of features' is a link to a series of 747 info at FlightGlobal.

It includes a recent interview with Joe Sutter.

High quality avporn.

[al baby]

The Boeing 747 the best dam airplane in the sky except for that one that center fuel tank went boom

[1066AD]

Still my favorite for a long haul, trouble is, there’s not many around now.

[CodeToad]

My wife's dad worked for Boeing during the 747 rollout. He built the "coffins" for the champagne bottles used to christen that first 747. They were wood and satin and nicely done. The bottle was wrapped in red and white ribbon before it was used to keep it together to after it broke. We still have one of the bottles and coffin. We even have various memorabilia such as the first train ticket, buttons, etc from that day. The date was 30 September 1968.

[Secret Agent Man]

No, you mean the one that had two missiles slam into it and blow it out of the sky.

[Gay State Conservative]

I've clocked many miles over the last 40 years in various versions of the 747...(early models,747-SP,400 series) and I love it still.Today its "cost per passenger mile" doesn't work in its favor when compared to several Boeing and Airbus models however.

In addition to its comfort there's nothing more beautiful that watching a 747 on final approach...something I've done many times in South Boston (a fraction of a mile from Logan).

[uncbob]

I remember going to JFK to see the first PANAM 747 its 2nd week of service

[2nd Bn, 11th Mar]

What always amazed me about the 747 was that whenever I saw one coming in for a landing, it looked like it was standing still in the air. It’s so big, it didn’t seem to be moving very fast at all.

[Textide]

Pretty bird

[SuperLuminal]

Glad to see you set him straight on that!

Revisionism and mind-boggling cover-ups are sometimes found hand-in-hand....

[ErnBatavia]

I used to fly Continental from L.A. to Chicago on those....the upper deck was a bar/lounge/gameroom. Nifty stuff.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

747 Ping

[The KG9 Kid]

That's St. Maarten.

I've been there many times and have seen the jetliners that close right over the beach.

Something you only want to experience once.

[6SJ7]

Air travel was fun, once upon a time.

[huskerjim]

Wow, what a photo!

[AFreeBird]

Um, a coffin shape box used to hold a bottle used to christen an aircraft?

That seems a little macabre to me. What's the story (tradition?) behind that?

[skeptoid]

Today its "cost per passenger mile" doesn't work in its favor when compared to several Boeing and Airbus models however.

The lastest version (747-8) is touted as a having significantly lower operating costs.
I am reminded of this '06 Randy Baseler blog comparing the 747-8F vs the A380F
I wonder if the 380 Freighter will ever enter production.

[The Great RJ]

I made several trips to Honolulu on a United 747 fight..always sat in first class on the upper deck. My most recent 747 travel was a round trip from California to Sydney Australia. Still a great airplane.

[ErnBatavia]

Damn...thassit! On my last trip, the guy that wrote the movie "Grease" was my seatmate, he told me, and we wandered up the staircase for a swill and a smoke (I'm a puffer)....

He told me a bunch of Hollywood stories, and I pretty much wrote him off as a buzzed doofus.............but when we landed back in L.A., there was a group of limo drivers and hangers-on waiting for him......................he gave me a wink and nod as he was escorted on his way. It was a hoot; a real down to earth guy who I thought was just bullshitting his way through a flight.

[CodeToad]

What else would you use to hold the bottle?