United Airlines' last Boeing 747 completes its final flight after 47 years of service [tr]

UK Daily Mail ^ | November 8, 2017 | Chris Pleasance

[C19fan]

It is known as the Queen of the Skies - the world's first jumbo jet that forever changed the face of plane travel. And on Tuesday United Airlines' last Boeing 747 was given a send-off befitting royalty as the last aircraft in the company's service completed its final flight. United Flight 747 took off from San Francisco airport around midday bound for Hawaii, the same route the company's first version of the aircraft flew back in 1970. Tickets for the specially chartered voyage sold out within hours of being released, according to USA Today, despite selling for upwards of $550 for a one-way trip.

[dennisw]

In fact the 747 is still in production with current orders placed by a number of developing countries which will potentially see it serving into 2030.

While the aircraft's life is limited in the US - with Delta the only airline still flying the craft and due to retire it later this year - other major carriers will continue operating it well into the next decade.

British Airways, which now operates 36 of the aircraft, more than any other airline, has confirmed it will be phasing it out - but will not part ways with it entirely until 2024.

Even once it has disappeared from passenger routes, it is expected the 747 will go on to serve many more years as a cargo plane. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5061275/United-Airlines-Boeing-747-completes-final-flight.html

 

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Some of those DC-9s were bought second hand from Swiss Air.
A NW guy said they were easy to repaint into NW’s paint scheme...

[JP1201]

They do, just missed them

[morphing libertarian]

Thank you. That sounds much better

[DungeonMaster]

Back in ‘59 or so, my dad flew from Tokyo to San Francisco on Pan American’s first 707. What a change from the DC-6s...

Your dad flew on DC6's? If so, what was his impression of them?

[PapaBear3625]

>>It is really remarkable that an aircraft with only two engines hasn’t gone down. <<

There was the two-engine airbus which Sully landed in NY’s East River a few years back, after both engines ate some birds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I flew on United Airlines DC-6Cs as a little kid back in the late 50s. I thought my ear drums were going to burst...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Loud and poorly pressurized.

[ex91B10]

Don’t forget GE.

[TexasGunLover]

According to the FAA and the ICAO,

There is a difference between catastrophic failure and an engine shutting down.

[texas booster]

Aren't Air Force One and Two both 747?

Depending on the modern engines that can be attached, there must be some serious power attached to one of those birds.

Don't multiple foreign dignitaries, especially the Middle Eastern types, love the 747?

So maybe not for commercial passenger flying but they will certainly be useful and a much loved plane.

Designed by slide rule, IIRC.

[TexasGunLover]

Might want to check your sources....

I receive the nightly declared emergency reports. Engine shutdowns (what I'm calling a failure) during a flight occur every day.

[sjm_888]

Read the article at DM, the answer you seek is in there.

[JP1201]

Any engine shutdown during flight operations, AKA block to block are required reportable incidents to the NTSB.

Your numbers simply don’t line up with the published data from both the FAA and the NTSB

[posterchild]

Ah, yes, i see it in the header. I missed it in the article as I usually I skip the often redundant first sentences and read down. So the flight to HNL was it’s last UA passenger flight unless a salvage company takes it from there.

[bgill]

The first plane I ever flew on was a 747 from NY to Norway. Beautiful plane. That was back when passengers were treated well. The menu for coach was gold embossed with embroidery thread. There was a piano bar and aquarium in the back. Talk about luxury.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Wow !

[DungeonMaster]

That loud? Bummer. I suspect they’ve figured out how to make piston powered planes more quiet but then there is the vibration. Turbines don’t vibrate.

[central_va]

Don't worry the 747-8 is still in prodution.

Link here

[TexasGunLover]

Your numbers simply don’t line up with the published data from both the FAA and the NTSB

I'm just actually telling you with how the events are reported at one of the largest airlines. It's not at all unusual. I have no idea how those are reported by the NTSB.