Airclues: That's a hell of a long time to be on one type! You must have got to know it very well. I like your first departure/last landing symmetry too!
Possibly my earlier post sounds rather derogatory - while I've never flown an aeroplane that I didn't find something to like, in fact I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Queen of the Skies. The B744 was cursed with too much fuel, and most of my time on this was spent on ULH, so I never regarded it as a career highlight, but I really liked its three crew predecessors (the -200,-200F & -300). You had to be on your toes (do you remember heavy departures with just a few knots between the VFE for that flap setting and the maneuvering speed?) but it was very rewarding indeed to fly well. Rather like (of all things) the F.27!