Posted on 12/08/2022 7:26:20 AM PST by Salman
An aviation era has come to an end as Boeing's last 747 has taxied out of the Everett, Washington factory, punctuating the jumbo jet's 54-year production run.
The final craft, a 747-8 freighter, will be delivered to airplane-cargo biz Atlas Air after final tests in early 2023, Boeing revealed. While the 1,574th 747 will be the last one assembled, the familiar bulbous silhouette is hardly going to disappear from the skies overnight, according to Boeing VP and GM for the 747 and 767 programs, Kim Smith. "We are proud that this plane will continue to fly across the globe for years to come," she said.
While there are not many still in service as passenger planes, 747s will likely be flown for at least another decade or two.
The jumbo is a four-engine behemoth that began production in 1967 and, at 250 feet (76.2m) from tail to tip, is the longest commercial airframe in service. Boeing's Everett Production Facility, which the flying machine maker claims is the largest manufacturing building in the world, was specifically built to manufacture the 747. It will now be used to assemble Boeing 767, 777, and 787 aircraft.
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The first time I flew on a 747 was from JFK to Heathrow as a 12 year old kid on Pan Am.
I had never been in JFK or flown internationally. I was in complete awe of the seemingly endless gates with Pan Am 747’s in front of glass walls. To top it off we were in the Pan Am lounge on an extended layover and outside the lounge were two parked Concordes.
There will never be such a glorious era of aviation in terms of aircraft wonderment, luxury, service and standards exhibited by passengers on those flights again.
My first flight was on a DC-10. Massive behemoth.
The flight I was on crashed a week later killing over 300. I assume it was the same aircraft.
I always tell people that one of the things the Seattle area has is the biggest building in the world (enclosed volume); the Boeing 747 assembly plant in Everett, WA. Now I’ll have to call it the “ex-747” assembly plant.
New, schmew. Whether they are hulks being modified or newly produced, they were repurposed to the new CONTRACT and therefore new WHEN completed.
Interesting.
Why not?
I have a type rating on the 757/767, MD-11 and the 747. I flew the MD (Mad Dog) or 13 years, I love and miss that jett! It’s the nicest wide-body I’ve ever flown. The Technology on the 747 is not even close to what the MD has. Boeing was so concerned about having to have a different type rating (cost for training) for the 747–8 compared to the 747–400 (I fly both) that they didn’t put in the technology that was available. The MD blows them away in terms of technology.
Haha - so a bunch of people are dying to fly a 747 - but you’re just like *shrug*.
That’s awesome.
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