Truly makes it sad but it has to come to all I suppose Boeing Quietly Pulls Plug on the 747, Closing Era of Jumbo Jets https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-02/boeing-quietly-pulls-plug-on-the-747-closing-era-of-jumbo-jets?sref=ZoyErlU1 Boeing Co. hasn’t told employees, but the company is pulling the plug on its hulking 747 jumbo jet, ending a half-century run for the twin-aisle pioneer. The last 747-8 will roll out of a Seattle-area factory in about two years, a decision that hasn’t been reported but can be teased out from subtle wording changes in financial statements, people familiar with the matter said. It’s a moment that aviation enthusiasts long have dreaded, signaling the end of the double-decker, four-engine leviathans that shrank the world. Airbus SE is already preparing to build the last A380 jumbo, after the final convoy of fuselage segments rumbled to its Toulouse, France, plant last month. Yet for all their popularity with travelers, the final version of the 747 and Europe’s superjumbo never caught on commercially as airlines turned to twin-engine aircraft for long-range flights. While Boeing’s hump-nosed freighters will live on, the fast-disappearing A380 risks going down as an epic dud.
"Epic DUD." As I predicted in 2002. I will always feel great pride in having worked on the 747 for four years.
Yah the Boeing marketing guys were correct about the direction of the Dreamliner vs A380. They saw more non-stop flight destinations and fewer hub to hub flights. I worked on the 747 also for a year in Everett. I worked on one before I ever flew one. Little did I know I would take over 300 747 flights in the next 20 years.
Sad to see. I hope they build as many 7478F freighters as they can before they are finished. I know they have a few on the line. Well with the 777-300's now being converted to freighters and the 777 9 having the range and almost the freighter cargo capacity but with 2 engines, I guess the writing was on the wall. I have not seen anyone order the 777X yet as a freighter but its time will come. That will happen after Boeing fills all the orders for the pax versions that will replace the A380's and the A350's. Yes A350's. Boeing is leaping ahead of Airbus on the widebody market again. Boeing's only problem is their narrow bodies, wich is a big problem. They need to replace the 737. Don't forget the Japanese and the Chinese are now making medium sized airliners so Boeing better get on with it.
Very sad, the Cadillac of the sky. I was hoping that with the demise of the 380 the 747 would get a bit of a boost.
\Yes it was, but the froint of a 747 or top deck, its soft motion through the sky, its the cadillac.At least from when cadillac meant something.
I remember my first 747 flight - MIA to ATL in 1971 - but I honestly cannot remember my last, which must have been over 20 years ago. I flew a number on Northwest between JFK and SEA back in the '80s, and a couple of round trips to LHR on British Airways in 1990, but other than that I've drawn a blank.
Qantas 747 farewell flight over Canberra https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6838434/final-farewell-for-the-last-qantas-jumbo/ and
Sad. Flew to the UK several times and back on BA. Love their Business Class. When I was on my honeymoon the agent bumped us up to the Upper Deck for our flights. That was nice.
Sad times. Nothing in the air will ever replace it. All of the new stuff is just appliances. No soul. No romance of flight & adventure. Even Boeing is just a shadow of its illustrious past. And probably on its way to being just another black hole of government 'funding'.
Boy! Do I have a bucket full of memories from working on that bird for three years from the very start.
I used to go to the airport a lot as a kid. My ten year old birthday party was at the airport. Easy security and kids could often visit an airplane and enter the cockpit before flights. No metal detectors in the mid 70's. KLM was the only local carrier with a 747, at the airport. Probably a - 100 model. In the 1970's KLM had a natural metal finish with painted logos. Somewhere around the house I have photos.
Flew 747s round trip between Honolulu and Sydney in first class for the Australian Bicentenary in 1988. Most comfortable flights I ever had, albeit long ones with stops in Papeete and Auckland. Sat on the Sydney Harbor bridge while the tall ships passed underneath on that bright sunny day with a harbor filled with small craft. Stunningly beautiful. An end of an era.
Don't know if the wing structure would tolerate it. No. 1 and No. 4 had a lot of effect on flutter suppression, etc. Systems, too.
SABENA used to fly a 747-100 from ATL-BRU that I took a bunch of times. That non-stop accounted for a number of Belgium businesses locating in Atlanta (much to their later chagrin).
So I just found out Rolls Royce retired their 747-200 test plane for good (N787RR)...I wondered why I didn't see it at the Tucson airport for a while now. Good news at least is they are replacing it with a 747-400 that used to fly Quantas (now N747RR). It's currently in Washington state and I think still undergoing updates and conversion. Hopefully it makes its way down to Arizona so I can still see it fly like I did the 742. I'm trying to schedule a tour of Pinal Airpark to get a last look at the 742 before it gets dismantled...it landed there for the last time in June. Sad times...
