Posted on 08/22/2016 11:57:32 AM PDT by djf
My memory could be faulty, but I don’t remember any. I do recall that before 1973 your ticket alone was all you needed to board a flight and my Mom and Dad would come down to the hate to greet me when I arrived. ZERO security in any terminal. Then came DB Cooper, commies wanting to get into Cuba and musselmen commandeering aircraft everywhere. It was the start of “did you pack your own bag” and searches.
We had a Shuttle piggy backing a 747 fly over our place real low and later found out it landed at Whiteman.
Same here. It is not uncommon to see them headed in four different directions right over our house a minute apart. The Virgin A320 are the worst with their shrieking. Tens of thousands of people are hopping mad and filling meetings, but the FAA is giving all of us the finger. It’s a big FU, it’s our airspace, we are fedzilla and too bad for you attitude.
A 747 was the first plane I ever flew on. Calmed the nerves. It had a piano and a wall aquarium. Crazy.
“I do recall that before 1973 your ticket alone was all you needed to board a flight “
—
My first flight was in 1955——and we ate from real china.
(Sigh!)
.
A heckuva plane. An engineering marvel really, that revolutionized air travel.
In addition, the airline industry is evolving away from the hub and spoke route design that favors the 747 and other large capacity designs. The new model for the industry is to provide longer and more direct flights in efficient twin engine aircraft with upgraded seating and greater passenger comfort. Boeing and Airbus are both aiming at this market.
And, for all the tears shed at Boeing about the shutdown of 747 production, Airbus will soon be shedding far more tears -- and red ink -- due to the failure of its massive A380 to find enough buyers to continue production for much longer. Boeing suffered heavy costs due to its troubles with the development and production of the 787, but at least it has a fine aircraft to show for it, with a long and eventually profitable production run ahead of it. Meanwhile, Airbus's A380 is a technological marvel but a commercial failure.
Im just happy they fixed all those pesky center fuel tanks
As a kid, I remember seeing on the news the very first commercial 747 flight, a Pan Am 747 getting reading to fly from JFK to London.
There were moonbat protestors outside the terminal with big signs that said, “Ban Pan Am’s Flying Titanic.”
Joe Sutter RULES !!!
The DC-3 was extremely popular (and easy to fly).
There were still some in regular use in third world countries in the 1980’s and 1990’s. John Travolta owned one many years ago.
Eisenhower once credited the military version (the C-47 Dakota) as being responsible for winning World War II. Quite an endorsement from Ike.
I remember dropping my girlfriend off at LAX in the winter of 1970. She was flying a 747 Swiss Air back to her home in Zurich. I was sad driving back to Orange County, but could see the big 747 our of my car window for 20 minutes as it left LAX and climbed out over Pomona and Mt. Baldy on a crystal clear day. (I still have this memory and the girlfriend - now wife!)
Crystal clear days were not very common back then
A380 orders are virtually dead.
Few airports have done upgrades for the behemoth.
Demand for the big planes just isn't there
The first thing my dad said when the announced that the A380 would be built is that it would be very popular in the middle east for everyone making their required pilgrimage to Mecca.
There is some variant of the 777, probably the -200LR you mentioned, that did a demonstration flight more than half-way around the world.
“From 28 April 2016, Qantas will be operating daily round trip non-stop A380 services between Dallas/Fort Worth and Sydney, Australia...”
Thanks, until April 28, Qantas used the 747 outta Dallas (direct to Brisbane/Sydney), and the A380 was used exclusively from L.A. to/from Sydney.
The A380 musta made some adjustments to get the extra fuel.
With 2-engine planes having the same range and capacity (e.g. 777-200ER) eventually the 747 was going to be history. The only 4-holer left is the Airbus 380 and I think that frame is living on borrowed time too.
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