50 years today of commercial flights on the Boeing 747

[quote quote=987774]That aircraft changed the world. For better or for worse gives rise to another discussion, but either way, this is an anniversary that deserves to be recognised.[/quote]

I wholeheartedly agree. I am surprised that there has been little coverage over such a significant anniversary. I did track a BA 747 (G-CIVE) in from YVR yesterday that landed at 14.10, just 4 minutes shy of the time that the first 747 landed 50 years ago at 14.14. Hopefully there will be some coverage in the media over the coming days.

I imagine that BA now has the largest fleet of 747? Unfortunately my PHL 747 flight soon to be replaced with A350 – no F but new J seat – things move on…..
I hate to think how many days of my life have been spent on a 747.

I remember when they introduced the 400 variant which had the wing tips and actually looking forward to boarding the Queen to whisk you to your destination, she was indeed a fantastic aircraft to fly and opened up the world for many of us Business Travellers. Interesting enough I can only think of Thai Airways that operates a 400 series between BKK and HKT as the only Asian carrier still using the plane…. Ahhh those were the days!!!

[quote quote=987810]Agree with everything you say Capetonianm. The Queen of the Skies, a status the 380 is unlikely to ever achieve.[/quote]

The difference between the A380 and the Boeing 747 is really simple. The Queen of the Skies is engrained into our popular culture, Whether it be through music or movies, most of the western world , and certainly if you’re of a certain age simply know it as the Jumbo Jet.
It’s an icon of our time that unfortunately is destined to the same fate as the only other true aviation icon of our time “Concorde”
And the real beauty of the 747 is that unlike Concorde it wasn’t an elitist icon. Sort of like our relationship with the Volkswagen Beetle and a Ferrari —We admire a Ferrari, but love Herbie !!

[quote quote=987940]Had many wonderful memories of this Queen of sky with MH, SQ, CX & VR.. Some horrible ones (only because of Service) with BA & QF..[/quote]

My first experience of the 747 was being huckeled along with my younger sister into the back of my dad’s Chevy , adorned in my favourite PJ’s we drove to the viewing point at the end of the runway at YVR . Gazing up at the dusk sky , impatiently seeking the emergence of the glow of the landing gear lights somewhere to the east, somewhere over Richmond !!
And then, a glimmer, and for the next few minutes we sat starstruck as the lights grew brighter, the drone of the engines became louder, and then the crescendo of noise as the mighty beast filled the sky above. . Sometimes , sitting on my dad’s shoulder ,I felt I could actually touch the rubber above, then with a twist of the head the huge puffs of smoke rose like a dragon breath as she came back to earth .
Ánd finally as she disappeared along the length of the runway the final deafening roar of the engines signalled time to return home to bedtime and a wee boys dreams . After all it was school night..
Maybe Air Canada should have taken that into account and rescheduled their inbound YYZ flight to arrive earlier than 21.15

Didn’t take long for those dreams to be realized, as CP Air took delivery of their fleet to compete with AC , mine 1st flight on a family employee ticket to HNL
Since that first CP flight , I’ve flown on 747’s belonging to KLM, Wardair, JAL, BA, Qantas , Garuda, Cathay, and I’m sure I’ve missed a few. Ironically , I’ve flown on many AC aircraft , alas never their 747 !! So maybe one of my dreams was never realized : )

My first flight on a B747 was in 1994.

I have flown on British Airways ( Toronto, Singapore, Mumbai, Dubai and Bahrain ), Singapore Airlines ( Singapore and Sydney ), KLM ( Toronto, Curacao, St Maarten and Singapore ), Northwest ( Minneapolis and Mumbai ), Air New Zealand ( Los Angeles ) and Air France ( Reunion ).

I do remember a Pan Am B747 flying over my house, I think in 1970, on its way to the Farnborough Airshow

I used to go monthly to Johannesburg in the early 2000s. BA had not long introduced flat beds and there was nothing better than upstairs on a 747. Great service in a fairly intimate environment.

These days the planes are tatty and to be honest there are better airlines and better aircraft.

Everything in life moves on, can’t say it bothers me much.

Fond memories of Pan Am Clipper climbing the curved staircase, and then Virgin 200 series up the curved staircase.

100 & 200 always seemed a bit more special than the 400 series going up the straight staircase to a relatively large cabin.