The End of an Era - The Jumbo Jet

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Ricardodaforce

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I see the last passenger flight of a Boeing 747 by an American airline took place the other day.

I wonder how long before they disappear from the fleets of other carriers.

I’ll miss seeing its distinctive, iconic shape.
 
Surprising news as the aircraft is still in production with the 747-8 and I’ve just read that Boeing has 14 of these on order yet to be delivered.

They will surely be around for a long time yet.
 
Likewise I'd thought it still in production, so perhaps another 40+ years before they stop being used.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
I see the last passenger flight of a Boeing 747 by an American airline took place the other day.

I wonder how long before they disappear from the fleets of other carriers.

I’ll miss seeing its distinctive, iconic shape.
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The question is what is there that is more modern that fulfils the same specifications. capacity, range etc

The A380 has high capacity but needs the volume of passengers to make it viable. A number of routes previously taken by 747 are now things like the 777ERs and the 787s
 
jamesev said:
The question is what is there that is more modern that fulfils the same specifications. capacity, range etc

The A380 has high capacity but needs the volume of passengers to make it viable. A number of routes previously taken by 747 are now things like the 777ERs and the 787s
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Have you flown on an A380? They're fantastic
 
KitsuneAndy said:
Have you flown on an A380? They're fantastic
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Yes been on a variety

A380
777ER
747
787

The A380 is great although different carriers have different layouts. Emirates and Singapore are nice
 
jamesev said:
Yes been on a variety

A380
777ER
747
787

The A380 is great although different carriers have different layouts. Emirates and Singapore are nice
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Yeah the one I was on was Emirates, had the little one with us so had the seats behind the bulk head with the bassinet for the little'n, incredibly comfortable for economy! And was nice to be able to stretch your legs and walk around the cockpit area.

Taking off in them feels weird though, you'd expect them to go much faster considering their size!
 
KitsuneAndy said:
Yeah the one I was on was Emirates, had the little one with us so had the seats behind the bulk head with the bassinet for the little'n, incredibly comfortable for economy! And was nice to be able to stretch your legs and walk around the cockpit area.

Taking off in them feels weird though, you'd expect them to go much faster considering their size!
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I guess bigger plane bigger wing area so more lift so doesnt need more speed. Just needs longer runway because being heavier takes longer to accelerate.

This was the debate over the A380 whether carriers wanted to move more passengers between large hubs (that are presumably more expensive to fly to) that had the longer runways vs smaller planes to move between smaller ports.
 
Without doubt the 747 is one of the most iconic aircraft. BBC 2 or 4 I think have had some documentaries on it and how it was conceived and built. Fascinating.
 
cambsno said:
Without doubt the 747 is one of the most iconic aircraft. BBC 2 or 4 I think have had some documentaries on it and how it was conceived and built. Fascinating.
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It that because its not just a plain tube shape as many others are.. Without the Delta wing engine shape and nose would concord have been iconic?
 
Yes, as the only supersonic airliner to have seen service.
 
Nod said:
Yes, as the only supersonic airliner to have seen service.
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uh? 747 supersonic? Downhill with a tail wind possibly, although not sure the wings would have taken the stress.
 
Dangermouse1964 said:
Tupolev TU-144 entered service
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On one internal route for 55 (passenger) flights.

Didn't think it had ever made any progress beyond prototype though so thanks for pointing my error out.
 
KitsuneAndy said:
Yeah the one I was on was Emirates, had the little one with us so had the seats behind the bulk head with the bassinet for the little'n, incredibly comfortable for economy! And was nice to be able to stretch your legs and walk around the cockpit area.

Taking off in them feels weird though, you'd expect them to go much faster considering their size!
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Last year I was picking my OH up from Heathrow and had a bit of time to kill, so I went on a drive around the perimeter road and parked up in a petrol station. I watched a Qatar airlines A380 taking off, and it took so much longer to get up in the air and climb. They usually come over our house in Kent, and are noticeably flying a lot lower than other aircraft.
 
747s will be in the air for years yet.
Once the "top" airlines are done with them, they get re-liveried and spruced up, and "lesser" airlines take them on (mainly Asian and Middle East).
Upcycle! :-)
 
Don't they use them for astronaut weightless training?
 
wontolla said:
Cheers Gramps, it was a 727. The 747 was used for a piggy back with the shuttle. Knew I had read something about it !
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Oi, Shirley! Less of the "Gramps"! :P

Did a Torquay/Jersey/Torquay trip on a Condor some years ago and the return trip was almost cancelled due to a bit of chop. I have a cast iron stomach but when the slight chop escalated a bit, I nearly joined the mal de mer club! Went out onto the rear deck for some fresh air but the mixture of fag smoke, Diesel exhaust and puke was worse than the mildly pukey atmosphere indoors.
 
Nod said:
Did a Torquay/Jersey/Torquay trip on a Condor some years ago and the return trip was almost cancelled due to a bit of chop. I have a cast iron stomach but when the slight chop escalated a bit, I nearly joined the mal de mer club! Went out onto the rear deck for some fresh air but the mixture of fag smoke, Diesel exhaust and puke was worse than the mildly pukey atmosphere indoors.
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The only Condor I know is one of these.

Swiss Condor Motorcycle by Barry Smith, on Flickr
 
viv1969 said:
747s will be in the air for years yet.
Once the "top" airlines are done with them, they get re-liveried and spruced up, and "lesser" airlines take them on (mainly Asian and Middle East).
Upcycle! :)
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BA still have quite a few 747 400s in service
 
wontolla said:
Ooops! Sorry Grandad.:cool:
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Not even a Dad, let alone a Grandad!

Pretty sure a mate in Crete has a Condor. Looks like a Norton or even a hint of a Kwak W650.
 
Fla5h said:
BA still have quite a few 747 400s in service
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36 at the moment - 20 have been retired and 1 was damaged beyond repair in J'Burg.

Flown in all 4 classes in the 744, I love the 4 pot aircraft as they are much more graceful and smooth than the A330/777. I want to go on an A340-600 before they are retired, these are a rapidly disappearing bird - done the A340-300, but I want to go on the stretched RR-engined version (Virgin/Iberia).

Much of BAs remaining fleet will be replaced by A350s, but somehow WW has to buy some more whether Airbus bring out a new variant or BA acquires Malaysia's aircraft. The B748 are all GE engined. BA (with the exception of some 777-200ERs) always want RR engined long haul aircraft.

Back to the 747, the sight of one taking off from LHR eastbound and the sun reflecting off the fuselage is a beautiful sight.
 
welshwizard645 said:
36 at the moment - 20 have been retired and 1 was damaged beyond repair in J'Burg.

Flown in all 4 classes in the 744, I love the 4 pot aircraft as they are much more graceful and smooth than the A330/777. I want to go on an A340-600 before they are retired, these are a rapidly disappearing bird - done the A340-300, but I want to go on the stretched RR-engined version (Virgin/Iberia).

Much of BAs remaining fleet will be replaced by A350s, but somehow WW has to buy some more whether Airbus bring out a new variant or BA acquires Malaysia's aircraft. The B748 are all GE engined. BA (with the exception of some 777-200ERs) always want RR engined long haul aircraft.

Back to the 747, the sight of one taking off from LHR eastbound and the sun reflecting off the fuselage is a beautiful sight.
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I did see the BA numbers at airfleet.com, they've also got 10 747 100's down as stored along with 12 stored Concordes.
I can understand the stored Concordes which are in air museums around the world but why store the 100's
 
Fla5h said:
I did see the BA numbers at airfleet.com, they've also got 10 747 100's down as stored along with 12 stored Concordes.
I can understand the stored Concordes which are in air museums around the world but why store the 100's
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I think all the 747-100s are scrapped - if you dig deeper on Airfleets then they will tell you what's happened to each airframe, some will have been sold to other operators but I would be very surprised if any -100s are still airborne.

One of the -200s exists - this is the Dunsfold aircraft used in adverts and in Casino Royale.

I know a lot of the -400s have been scrapped - some have gone to Victorville in the US, others scrapped in the UK. BA doesn't mess about with surplus aircraft

As for the Concordes - there were twenty in total. For BA there were 6 frames in use, 1 spare - and the other at Filton, Duxford and Yeovilton - the development/testing aircraft. I didn't know BA had 12.
 
welshwizard645 said:
I think all the 747-100s are scrapped - if you dig deeper on Airfleets then they will tell you what's happened to each airframe, some will have been sold to other operators but I would be very surprised if any -100s are still airborne.

One of the -200s exists - this is the Dunsfold aircraft used in adverts and in Casino Royale.

I know a lot of the -400s have been scrapped - some have gone to Victorville in the US, others scrapped in the UK. BA doesn't mess about with surplus aircraft

As for the Concordes - there were twenty in total. For BA there were 6 frames in use, 1 spare - and the other at Filton, Duxford and Yeovilton - the development/testing aircraft. I didn't know BA had 12.
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airfleet says 12 stored but over at concordesst.com it says 20 where built with BA having 7 and AF with 5. Maybe BA had 7 in service and had another 5 in store for spares
 
wontolla said:
The only Condor I know is one of these.

Swiss Condor Motorcycle by Barry Smith, on Flickr
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That looks like a Ducati single to me, 250/350cc
According to Google they did use a variety of engines
quote
Approximately 3000 Ducati-engined Condor 350s were built between 1973 and 1978, and some 1500 of these were still in use by the Swiss army as late as 2001 when they were replaced with BMW F650 singles. Earlier model Condors used French AMC engines and Swiss MAG powerplants, among others.
unquote

Matt
 
MatBin said:
That looks like a Ducati single to me, 250/350cc
According to Google they did use a variety of engines
quote
Approximately 3000 Ducati-engined Condor 350s were built between 1973 and 1978, and some 1500 of these were still in use by the Swiss army as late as 2001 when they were replaced with BMW F650 singles. Earlier model Condors used French AMC engines and Swiss MAG powerplants, among others.
unquote

Matt
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Yeh! spot on what the rider told us! It is a 350 Ducati engine. Not massively fast but more of a plodder and totally reliable.
 
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