Originally Posted by
Bergerie1
I flew the 747 for 14 years, it was a truly remarkable aircraft. It was not just its size, but its remarkably good handling qualities. In contrast to the earlier types I had flown, which all had some handling vices, the 747 had none.
From further back in the aeroplane: in the 1970s I was a fairly frequent, but very nervous, flyer. To dispel my anxiety, I read D.P. Davies'
Handling the Big Jets. This wasn't entirely a success, as it was full of knowledgeable critique of the flight characteristics of various widely used aircraft, analysis of the bad situations a pilot could get into, and a disturbingly frequent recurrence of the phrase "There is no point in further analysis of this case."
And then we come to the newly introduced airliner: the clouds part, the sun shines through. I can't remember the exact phrase, but words to the effect of "It is a pleasure to turn to an aeroplane like this." As I recollect, the only warning was to remember how high the cockpit was when going over the threshold.
For someone like me, part of the attraction was the sea of seats. In the centre block, it was easy to ignore the fact that one was in an aluminium tube, at over 30,000 feet, in an environment profoundly hostile to human life. In those days, too, there were often empty seats. And once I bungled my bookings and had to fly across the Tasman first class (on my own money). After the enormous Qantas g+t taxiing out to the threshold, my only reaction to the light turbulence on initial climb was "I hope he doesn't spill the champagne he is pouring into my glass." A like minded fellow traveller and I then climbed the stairs to the lounge, and had more Qantas gins, with, I assume, some tonic. By the time I reached Auckland, I was quite nicely; but on less exalted occasions, I always felt good in the 747, even in economy in the back row with the smokers and other disreputables..
Indeed, the Queen of the Skies.