A Love Letter to the Queen of the Skies: The Boeing 747

Beginnings of a Love

In 1971, I celebrated a childhood birthday in Hong Kong. It was a time of many firsts—my first time in Hong Kong, which then seemed so mysterious with Chinese signs, British police officers, and fingers flying over abacuses in small street side stores. My birthday cake came from Maxims (those who know Hong Kong know Maxims, the quintessential bakery).

My parents bought me a toy 747 with flashing lights and moving wings from a toy store, and then we boarded my first flight on a 747. Symbolically, it was with Pan Am, the airline that had been the launch customer for this plane, christened the “jumbo jet” as it dwarfed anything that had come before it with size and technology. (Wikipedia photo)

Boeing and Pan Am were in their heyday in 1971. I had a window seat in a bulkhead and, inexplicably, had it to myself! I had one scarey moment when the Flight Attendant arrived at my seat with a knife and a white box. I was convinced that she was about to punish me for wriggling too much and put me in a box. It turned out to be my birthday cake, and she, with my family, sang happy birthday to this plane-struck, very young child.

This is the preserved Qantas 747-400 named City of Canberra, located at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) Aviation Museum in Wollongong, Australia. VH-OJA, was retired in March 2015 after flying 13,833 flights and covering more than 4 million nautical miles in its lifetime.

This aircraft was particularly significant as it set a world record in 1989 for the longest non-stop flight by a commercial jet, flying from London to Sydney in just over 20 hours.

My Commitment to the 747

Since then, I have spent the equivalent of 40 days aboard 100 of these aircraft. My nerdish excitement has remained every time I have boarded one and heard those four mighty engines do the impossible, lifting tonnes of metal above the clouds! I’ve traversed the globe twenty times and accumulated an astonishing 500,000 miles (around 804,000km ) in the process. To put this into perspective, that distance was equivalent to going to the Moon and back.

Boeing had five varieties of the 747 the -100, -200, -300, SP (Special Performance) and the -8. . Today, just four airlines are operating passenger flights: Air China, Iran Air, Korean and Lufthansa. Multiple airlines still operate freight versions.

Journeying with the Five Generations of the Boeing 747

The 747-100

The first Boeing 747 model, the revolutionary 747-100, was launched in 1966 and entered service in 1970. Production of this model ended in 1986. Pan Am was the first to fly it, and my experience with their 747 was just a year later. The plane debuted at a massive 70.6 m (231 ft 10 in) in length. Its mighty wingspan was 59.6 m (195 ft 8 in). In a three-class layout, airlines could fit 366 people aboard in rows with 9 to 10 people. A number unheard of. With its distinctive humped upper deck, airlines entertained their wealthy passengers in a comfortable lounge. That didn’t last long as airlines worked out they could squeeze more revenue from that space!!!!

747-200

Following the 747-100, Boeing quickly debuted the 747-200 into service in 1971. This model was the same dimensions as the 100 but it had greater fuel capacity, a higher maximum takeoff weight, and more powerful engines. The plane’s range was extended from 9,800 km (5,300 nmi) to 12,700 km (6,850 nmi) range. Now airlines could carry more people at once for much longer distances making non transpacific flights a breeze. I flew on the 747-200 with Air Pacific (now Fiji Airways) three times, Alitalia also three, British Airways twice, and Continental six times. Giving me 14 experiences on this type.

747SP

The Boeing 747SP (Special Performance) was introduced in 1976 to provide even longer range and higher speed capabilities compared to the standard 747 models of the time. The 747SP was significantly shorter than the standard 747 models by about 14.7 metres (48 feet). This reduction in length helped to decrease the weight of the aircraft, allowing for that longer range. I never flew it.

The 747-300 (1980)

Next came the 747-300, which introduced a stretched upper deck, providing additional seating capacity with airlines able to now carry 412 passengers in a three-class configuration. The range remianed about the same. Boeing didn’t produce as many of this model as the two previous ones. I had the opportunity to fly the 747-300 four times with Cathay Pacific.

The 747-400 (1989)

The 747-400 is the model where I logged the most hours in the sky including Qantas Airways, with whom I flew their 747-400, 44 times for 414,294 km! The -400 featured major advancements from the 300 series, including improved engines, a two-crew glass cockpit (eliminating the need for a flight engineer), a longer wing at 64.4 m (211 ft 5 in) and winglets for better fuel efficiency. This increased the range to 13,450 km (7,260 nautical mles). Seating capacity was around 416 in a three-class configuration.

Here I am, sitting in my preferred upstairs Qantas 747-400 seat (16k) aboard preserved VH-OJA.

Qantas claims to be the first airline to invent Business Class when it introduced it back in 1979 by offering large seats with more legroom on 747s for a fare just 15% higher than the standard Economy fare. That’s changed these days!

Qantas retired its last 747 in 2020 and now relies on Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Airbus A380s for long-haul routes.

United Airlines carried me aboard their 747-400 for 11 flights and 82,427 km. I also travelled aboard Air New Zealand, Lufthansa, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Korean Air, and Thai Airways 747-400s.

The 747-8

The latest and most technologically advanced version is the 747-8. It entered service in 2012 I flew that one with Lufthansa from Mexico to Frankfurt recently. The 747-8 is about 5.6 meters longer than the 747-400 (76.3 meters vs. 70.6 meters). The upstairs hump three metres or 14 feet longer.

The 747-8 uses more advanced General Electric GEnx-2B67 engines, which are quieter and more fuel-efficient than the older Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, or Rolls-Royce engines used on the 747-400. There is a 16% improvement in fuel efficiency over the 747-400, making it more cost-effective to operate while carryingup to 467 passengers. The 747-8 has a longer range than the 747-400, allowing it to fly up to 7,730 nautical miles compared to the 747-400’s range of around 7,285 nautical miles. It also features updated avionics, including fly-by-wire technology, for better performance and safety.

Exploring the Globe

My 747 travels took me to 18 different countries on five continents. Of the 28 airports i travelled to or from on a 747, the most frequented were Sydney, LAX, Hong Kong, London Heathrow (LHR)—the most northern airport I visited in a 747 and Melbourne Tullamarine (MEL), the most southern point in my journeys.

a map of the world with lines and points

My longest flights were the trips between Los Angeles (LAX) and Melbourne, which, for a while, was almost a regular commute! My longest flight was a marathon of 16 hours and 19 minutes, covering 11,546 km from Los Angeles (LAX) to Brisbane (BNE) in March 2011, when we battled a very strong headwind for most of the approach to Australia. A cabin crew member told me that the captain had considered diverting for fuel reasons. That was probably my most exciting flight!

While most of my flights have been long hauls with large numbers sitting at 12-14 hours, I had a few very short-haul flights, including:

The 707 km, one-hour hop between Melbourne (MEL) and Sydney (SYD), which I did a couple of times
Brisbane to Sydney 1 hr 20mins
Johannesburg to Harare, 1.30 mins hours
Bangkok to Singapore, 2.5 hours
Melbourne to Auckland, 3 hours

I also did the trip between Los Angeles and JFK a few times.

Flying with the Best: Top Airlines

14 different airlines took me on my 747 voyages, each offering unique flavours and styles of hospitality aboard the 747. The top carriers in my logbook by number of flights and distance covered were:

Qantas -which was consistently a delight. I believe they understood long haul flying. Their commitment to comfort and service excellence, as a result, made my 44 long-haul 747 flights feel shorter and more enjoyable!

Air France, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, Thai and the late, great Continental Airlines were the airlines I had the best experiences with along with that first ever and deeply memorable Pan Am trip. Alitalia and United gave me the worst 747 flights.

Alitalia had long faded from being a great airline. It was a tatty airline staffed by grumpy crew when I hopped on three of their 747 flights. United consistently offered a combination of unhappy service and bad food for eleven 747 flights.

I had ten British Airways 747 flights between 1978 and 2002! Half were in Business and half in Economy. I believe I saw the decline of this great airline in that time.

Comfort Above All: Classes and Seating

Most of my flights were “down the back” with 82 flights in economy and a handful (18) upfront in business. None in First!When it comes to seating preferences! I am a Windows man-usually in exit row! There is nothing like watching the mighty plane thunder down the runway and lift effortlessly into the sky and then witnessing sunsets, sunrises, mountains, oceans, and other breathtaking landscapes at 35,000 feet.

Purposeful Journeys

90% of my 747 trips were for business, and just ten were for pleasure. The 747 served as my commute vehicle, enabling me to connect efficiently with colleagues and clients across the globe. Yet, even amidst busy schedules, I have always found time for personal adventures, exploring new destinations and cultures with the same aircraft that facilitated my professional endeavours. I remember sitting next to a businessman flying from Sydney to Los Angeles. He intended to arrive early in the morning, take a shower, attend a meeting, and fly back that evening on the same plane we were on. 30-hour round trip. Six-hour meeting. No sightseeing!

One significant flight was the 747th flight of my life which was aboard a Qantas 747.

Vale the 747

I will probably never have another 747 flight again in my life. This fills me with a mix of profound sadness but also a sense of thankfulness for an amazing lifetime of adventures on an amazing plane.

The future is two engines and hopefully hydrogen and biofuels. Here’s to the 747 that brought us so far technologically!

What about you?

Are you a 747 fan? What are your memories?

Comments

Christian says:

September 15, 2024 at 11:07 am

The first flight I can remember taking was when I was six years old. I remember that the airplane seemed enormous and fascinating. I was so excited that I just couldn’t sleep. The Pan Am stewardess saw my fidgety excitement and took pity on me. She asked if I wanted a tour of the plane. I said yes and she showed me around the behemoth. I was way beyond impressed. Then she took me upstairs. I was stunned by a plane with an upstairs. It was a lounge with a baby grand piano. Things got even better when we went forward I got to meet the pilots. What an incredible experience and one that I’ll remember to my dying day.