I’m an old retired freight dog and came up thru DC-3s,Convair600/640/800’s and finished up in the left seat of a 747 Freighter.
The 747 was a pussy cat I loved that airplane, the only trouble I had in transitioning to it was 1.How high the cockpit was and it was far ahead of the nose wheel it was.
A dream to fly.
I heard that the ground effect made it a very soft landing for such a large plane...even to the point of novice pilot feeling like they had to “push” the plane onto the ground.
I love the 747...the look...that hump, the performance.
It was remarkable seeing that footage on 9/11 of Air Force One taking off and climbing out...for a plane that big, it climbed like a raped ape, or so it seemed from the video.
Nice career.
I also heard someone characterize flying it off a runway as “taking off in a skyscraper”!
I used to work with a guy who was good at whatever he wanted to do.
At various times he was a government big-wig in the intel business. A charter boat operator in florida. A corporate executive....my company made him a VP, and tasked him with downsizing a major east coast division...when he was done, they layed him off.
He said his favorite “career” was pilot of cargo jets. B-707s out of Baltimore. He said he loved flying at night.