Some planes they Got Right.

What a slow death is has been. I mean, around years 2000-2001 when Airbus got a lot interest from potential customers for the just announced A380, Boeing received exactly zero interest in the proposed B747 stretch. At that time, no one could have imagined that a new B747-8 would still be in production in 2020, granted…

Profile pic checks out.

I flew a Pan Am 747 from JFK to Frankfurt on my way to Istanbul in May 1970 at age 10, thought it was cool as shit. Back to JFK on one July 1973. Next time I flew on one was on Lufthansa from Kuwait to Frankfurt in December 2008. Even 35 years later, still enjoyed the experience.

The first plane I ever had the pleasure of flying in(Christchurch to Sydney) Goodbye to the Queen of the skies

‘Tis my namesake!

I was late for my military charter 747 flight from Oakland to Okinawa (I don’t remember a stop) in 1986. They thought I was a no-show and all the enlisted seats were full. Got bumped upstairs to sit with Generals and Admirals! 4 years later on my return the 747 broke down and was replaced by two 707's, it was awful,…

The earlier variants haven’t been made for years now. The only ones that have recently been on the line is the 747-8i and 8F, and as XT6Wagon mentions, only 8Fs are being made. They’re producing at a rate of one every 2 months, and there are 16 orders remaining, so it will be a little over 2 years before the line…

Hope you managed to recover from that, Dan Cooper.

I was once upgraded and sat pretty far forward downstairs, I only went up the stairs to take a peek, never got to sit there. 

I can’t feel any emotion towards the A380 ending production. Its like getting emotional because a city bus isn’t being made anymore. It was a joke when its conceptualized and a joke when it flew and is still a joke now.

I was traumatized when they stopped making the 727.

The 747 is a historically important plane, but I’m not sure it’s demise is a huge loss for the flying public. Late last year, I did a round trip from Germany on Lufthansa. The way here was an A380 and the return was a 747. The a380 was a vastly superior experience to the 747.

I still see these relevant in cross continental flights. 

Are we talking the “base” 747, or every variant, including the newest 747-8 passenger jet, too? Sounds like were only talking about the earlier 747s (100, SP, 200, 300, 400, 400-F) and the 747-8 and 747-8 Intercontinental are still in production I mean they first flew in 2010...

End of an era.

One of the first planes I worked on after getting my A&P. Flying on one, seeing one through the gate... That’s one thing. To climb the landing gear, get inside the fuel tank, or take a boom lift to the top of the vertical stabilizer... That’s something else. You can't describe the size of it, the feeling of walking…

I’m going to miss the sight of a “jumbo-jet” on the tarmac. At least I got to fly in one, once. KLM in the summer of 1985. Return trip from Europe via Amsterdam, got me bumped into first class - a lone seat in the nose of the lower floor. One of the best flights I’ve ever had.

It was a winner when it was introduced, and it goes out the same way, gracefully, and in great style.

Goodnight sweet Prince... Also Max, could I be moved from the grey’s?