Goodbye jumbo jet...

Some here I know have an interest in aviation. Another piece of history passes as BA and Virgin announce the immediate retirement of the venerable Boeing 747,  50 years since the first models were added to the BOAC fleet.

As a fairly regular traveller transatlantic I will sadly miss the comfort of the queen of the skies, yes she was old but like a London bus just kept going and felt incredibly safe and comfortable. Something reassuring about having four donkeys under the wing instead of just the two

Inevitable as all these gas guzzlers must be phased out, a new era of air travel is upon us, hopefully much better for the planet but still sad to see a legendary machine pass away.

Did our first ever flight on a brand new lease 747 with Virgin to Miami, to go to Disney.

Was told it was it's first commercial flight, just like us as a family of 4, we made it and back.

Wow what a Jumbo, we sat 4 in a row.

Used to watch them coming into land over the Telephone Exchange at Lingfield.

RIP.
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Richard

I remember in the early 80s  working at Atlantic House in Prestwick where they controlled north Atlantic aircraft traffic movements .  An airforce bod came into the communication s room we were working in and invited us to go out onto the main airport runway to watch a fly past  of a 747 with the space shuttle bolted  on it's back. We sat cross legged eating our sandwiches on the runway apron on a lovely  June day and got some great photos as it did a low level pass along the length of the runway. Less 'elf and safety to worry about in those days...

kaspian wrote:I remember in the early 80s  working at Atlantic House in Prestwick where they controlled north Atlantic aircraft traffic movements .  An airforce bod came into the communication s room we were working in and invited us to go out onto the main airport runway to watch a fly past  of a 747 with the space shuttle bolted  on it's back. We sat cross legged eating our sandwiches on the runway apron on a lovely  June day and got some great photos as it did a low level pass along the length of the runway. Less 'elf and safety to worry about in those days...

one flew right over the top of us as we were driving to Ayr via Prestwick, massive plane ,really impressed.
When in Berlin with the AAC, we were invited to Templehof airport to see the USAF Galaxy, two of my pals with American Army air corp , took me on board the whale size freight deck.thats a plane to see.   
Flew back to RAF Gatow in a Huey.
Boaby

Started as a BEA/BA apprentice in 72. The staff restaurant was alongside the footprint of the South runway at Heathrow and you didn't need to look to see that it was a Jumbo winding up before letting of the brakes.

The Brannif Jumbo  (bright orange so known as the fat carrot) would be fully laden and wouldn't roll until engines were at full power for several seconds. More than once it managed to blow over the arrays at the end of the runway.