Goodbye my friend, the United 747

Today I took my last trip in a United 747 -- Hong Kong to SFO. Ontime.

My first job out of college was working on the 747 in Everette Wa many years ago

My first intercontinental flight was LAX to Narita in 1981 Pan Am Flight 1 on a 747. No TFT nav screens in those days. The pilot came out, taped a map up on the wall, and drew our flight plan with a ball point pen marking off the hours. The movies were on projector screen.

Many years, over 300 cross Pacific flights, and more than 2.5 million miles later, the last flight was today. United is phasing out the 747 in 2 weeks. The end of the month I'll be flying a 777. A nice plane, but it's not a 747.

I may still fly on the 747 in the future. Lufthansa has the 747-8 (a wonderful plane). I've flown it from Hong Kong to Frankfurt but they use the A380 also.

So, goodbye to seat 45a an 45k. You got me home every time.

And thanks to the people of Boeing for building something so remarkable with nothing more than slide rules and pencil lines on velum paper.
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Neat story. I took the tour of the Everett plant on Saturday. I'm almost finished with Joe Sutter's book about his career and the 747. Out of curiosity, why was row 45 your preference?

 

Why seat 45A & K? Every time?

 

When ever I could if I didn't get upgraded. Sometimes 33 A and B but I didn't like it as it was near the bathrooms. The area was always crowded with people waiting to use them.

 

Row 45 is an exit row on United so there is tons of leg room as well as not having to worry about the seat in front of your crushing in you knees when they recline.

https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/United_Airlines/United_Airlines_Boeing_747-400_B.php

 

I only flew in a 747 once from Kennedy to Frankfurt, but really enjoyed it. Upstairs in business class with our own flight attendant and very little through traffic. First class was downstairs with more room. Great airplane and tough as nails, just like the B-52. Cost a lot of miles for the upgrade, but worth it.

 

I'm glad that you said that, Taz. I worked on both of them.Getting the number one 747 out the door was the program from hell but I'm proud to have been a part of it.

 

End of an era. I don't have as many miles as TheMayor but I started flying from Boston to Seoul right out of college on United (through SFO) on 747s. In the pre-9/11 days we used to get upgrades to F simply because the gate agents knew us by sight. I first tried caviar, dom perignon, and Johnny Walker Blue in united first class, when they would serve meals from that little triangular table in the nose of he plane and bring around a selection of video cassettes for you to watch after the cheese course.

Still a United 1k member but will miss those old birds.

JP

 

I love the 747. I've only flown in a couple. TWA 741 New York to Paris (same summer as flight 800 crash which was our flight number to Paris a few weeks before). Also took an Iran Air 747SP in 1995. I'd like to try the 748 and Luftansa first class terminal in Frankfurt, but that's out of my price range lol.

 

Went Virgin 747 LAX-SYD a few years ago.. nice recent plane, didn't have individual air vents though only downside to their otherwise excellent configuration.

On my bucket list is upper deck on a QANTAS before they go out of service..

To me they are a mould breaker classic for all time.. sort of like what Honda did with the 750/4 in 1969.. and nothing was the same since.

 

BA still uses quite a nuber of 747-400 on LHR-HKG and LHR-JFK routes.
Favourite position is upper deck. First class is more comfy but I prefer the quiet upstairs deck.
I don't know how long BA will fly them. They are getting a bit long in the tooth. New -800 version doesn't seem to have sold very well and I wonder whether they won't be phased out in the next few yeras. To be replaced with 787in different versions and A350

 

Miss the 747.

Flying coach--no way.

 

+1 A design of true classic beauty.
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I think you need to buy those seats and put them somewhere special! Heck why not...oh and why 45A and 45K?

 

My first flight on a 747 was on a Delta flight (using a Pan Am airplane, though) from MIA to ATL in 1971. The interior space was most impressive.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember when my last flight was. As circumstances have dictated, it's been many years since I've flown one.

 

I take 747's back and forth between SAN-LHR several times a year, and enjoy the coach-plus when not flying business class. Not going back until the fall, but they will have completed their transition to 773's by then for the route. The upstairs business class may be the most relaxing time you can have on a commercial flight; no traffic, private facilities, and off the plane first at the bottom of the stairs when you arrive.

Unfortunately, the last time I flew United on a 747 (SFO-HKG) was this flight: United Airlines flight bound for Hong Kong ?short of fuel? and makes emergency U-turn back to San Francisco | South China Morning Post

As the article notes, we were to the Gulf of Alaska when the plane made a slow righthand 180 turn; the pilot came on and said that due to unanticipated headwinds, they had calculated they wouldn't have enough fuel to get to Hong Kong. I'm not certain why they didn't just land in Tokyo or Seoul, but when we arrived back at SFO, we were met by 11 fire vehicles and three police cars that chased us down the runway until we stopped (on the runway) and were immediately hosed down. Most of their attention was directed at the center tank area between the wings; no one ever mentioned if they found the source of the "fuel loss" (instrument failure or actual). My wife had also already fallen asleep, so I elected not to wake her until we were on approach at SFO (no sense having more than one of us sucking seat cover up our keisters...).

When they finally towed us to the gate, the passengers left as if there was a contest to get off first. Even with the advance notice, no one was there to help us learn what to do, so we stood in the check-in kiosk for an hour or two, were told we'd reboard later that morning, and got $20 in vouchers (nothing was open, but we used them later in the day). All things done and said, I am glad we actually made it all the way back given the reception we got from the emergency crews.

 

My wife and I flew in one in 1992 from Seattle to London. It was a refurbished Pan Am 747SP and like band new. A real hot rod, too. I knew several pilots who flew them and they all said it was a joy to fly. "Like a big fighter." I remember seeing the start of it in Renton in 1966-67 when I discovered a guy in a separate room doing a layout of the wing on mylar. He was plotting wing contour shear lines every 5 % of the chord. The dimensional scale of the wing thickness was at 50% and the length scale was something smaller. At any rate he had a huge drawing and why it was being done I think was to establish spar profile. I knew a body structures guy who was wrestling how to design frames in the nose and under the flight deck where there was a sort of flat spot in the sides. I asked why he didn't increase frame depth and his answer, " Sutter won't allow it." The old weight battle again. I was on the final assy line when the wing jacks failed when gear swing was in progress. A bit of scramble for a few days, a couple of big holes to patch.

 

The SP looked strange, but I'll bet it was a "hot rod". I think the only Boeing I flew on that could fit that description was the re-engined 720B. And the 767-200 could get going pretty well, also.

 

Yeah, Jim. The 720B was the ultimate hot rod.

 

Riding in the bubble on 747 was the best. You had your own bathrooms, no passengers from downstairs invading and rarely a kid crying. Not a bad way to commute back and forth from the Orient.

 

+1

 

Last year Delta was flying ex-Northwest 747s on the Seattle-Tokyo routes. Flew one to Haneda before Delta gave up that route in a riff with the government, then later to Narita. Loved the super smoothness and speed of the 747.

End of last year I flew British Airways 747 Business Class upper deck to/from London. Plane was aged, not as nice as the Delta, but still a smooth and fast ride.

Now the Delta Seattle-Tokyo routes are 777. Not quite the same.

 

United sure has the ugliest livery these days. The old United liveries were great. Why they took that terrible Continental paint is beyond me.

 

United actually explained it

Continental had a huge following before the merger. What was to be decided was since merged airline would be called United, the Continental logo would be incorporated to not tee off Continental owners that their airline had disappeared. They repainted every plane in their fleet just to get Continental flyers to stay with them.

 

Flying on a 747 had a sense of occasion. I used to fly BA 747s frequently from LAX - LHR. They use the A380 now. Still impressive, but the 747 will always be king.

Sad.