Originally Posted by
tdracer
Just shy of 142k hours would definitely put it in the running for high time - that's ~13.6 hours/day, every day, for 28.5 years.
Part of me thinks it would be somehow fitting that the high time aircraft would be the 747-400 that was nearly lost in a volcanic ash encounter when new.
Perhaps, someday, the high time aircraft will be one of those new-fangled carbon fiber 787s or A350s - carbon fiber doesn't fatigue the way aluminum does. But it'll be a couple decades before that can possibly happen.
142 thousand hours is the highest I’ve heard, impressive, if I remember correctly after that volcanic ash encounter that aircraft required significant repairs, rework and general ‘TLC’ to restore it to flight status
Perhaps that was a factor in its longevity, being brought back to a fairly new standard ?
Curious to know about the highest time DC8’s as well, the re-engined CFM airframes went on a long, long time