On one trip I had to the flight deck, I was informed that I could only remain there while the Captain was not there. He was not there when I was escorted there by one of the FAs. She came back after an hour or so to tell me that I had to return to my seat as the Captain was returning to the flight deck.

Never saw him/her. Maybe they were someone I knew who I had scrubbed at some earlier stage!

All the Qf jets will feel right at home amongst rattlers. The snakes in Coward St are far more dangerous!

Can't thank you enough for the pics.

Excellent video from Sam Chui of the last flight of VH-OEJ.

Must admit i had a tear in my eye towards the end...

Yes, a ripper video. :D

I liked his -200 B T-shirt.

The high point of my career, that aeroplane. I never flew with Qantas (they knocked me back when I was 19!) but I completed both my classic 747 and 744 command training with them. I found their courses excellent and all their Instructors first class.(Shaun Gibb, Ray Dempsy, and on the 400, Pettingell and Jones). 15 years on type with two different operators and on reflection, the safest aeroplane I have ever flown. All the systems were so well designed. If you flew by the book you were always covered. Easy to fly and one of the nicest aeroplanes to land. Fast and great in turbulence, plenty of fuel, you could not ask for more. My only criticism, was no cockpit windows that could be opened and the cockpit itself was no larger than the 727/737.
I have just recently finished my long career on the 737. Typical Boeing, almost idiot proof, but a dog to fly in comparison. Pitch sensitive and very busy for some reason and painfully slow. I salute the Queen, nothing will ever replace that aeroplane. End of an era. Even though I miss line flying, nothing currently flying as the 'latest and the greatest' interests me in the slightest. Plastic fly-by-wire aeroplanes with no soul is the future. The next step is pilotless aircraft (I'll be going to the old folks home via electric bus). So lucky to be in the right spot at the right time. Good Bye Queen and thanks for the memories and thanks to the Boeing Engineers, they got that one just right.

The best part about this whole thread is reading all the past experiences of those who flew them.

I like the Airbus, but no one can deny that the 747 really was THE aeroplane that defined aviation for many years. From the very first 747-100 that was the giant leap in world aviation, through to the ground breaking 747-400 that apparently filled all the gaps of the previous models, and finishing with the 747-8, what an aeroplane.

There was a post on the HARS Facebook page around the time they were about to receive -OJA, about the massive leap forward in technology and capability of the -400 compared to the classics, an interesting read.

My boys couldn’t care less about my aircraft, they only know the 747 :ok: