Goodbye BA Jumbos
So they must have let it out of the hangar occasionally.
Gnome de PPRuNe
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AA 767 for me, Gatwick - Miami and return. All my subsequent trips were on 747s or A340s, not because of nerves, they were just all with Virgin! Haven't been for nearly two decades now.
I'd be surprised if much planning has gone into that yet - BA has more important things to worry about at the moment.
In normal times, I would expect the retirement of a type to be marked by one or more commemorative flights, but these days I wouldn't take that for granted.
It may well be that the only remaining flights will be to wherever the airframes are going to be scrapped. That will certainly apply to the 9 aircraft currently at LHR (because BA no longer scraps aircraft in its own backyard); the five at Teruel may well be broken up there (as some have been previously); ditto some or all of the 14 at Cardiff (or possibly down the road at St Athan).
So the final BA 747 flight will likely be when the last of the 9 makes its final departure from LHR for wherever. I expect that to be a very emotional event, and I'll certainly be there to witness it.
In normal times, I would expect the retirement of a type to be marked by one or more commemorative flights, but these days I wouldn't take that for granted.
It may well be that the only remaining flights will be to wherever the airframes are going to be scrapped. That will certainly apply to the 9 aircraft currently at LHR (because BA no longer scraps aircraft in its own backyard); the five at Teruel may well be broken up there (as some have been previously); ditto some or all of the 14 at Cardiff (or possibly down the road at St Athan).
So the final BA 747 flight will likely be when the last of the 9 makes its final departure from LHR for wherever. I expect that to be a very emotional event, and I'll certainly be there to witness it.
Paxing All Over The World
The comparison of being in Y on the Triple was particularly painful - as my previous crossing had been on (registration) G-BOAC. 
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The wing was basically unchanged on the -400 (aside from the added winglets - and the winglets didn't really do much) - it was the -8 that got an aerodynamically re-profiled wing. The passenger 747-400 (and -300) had slightly better cruise drag relative to the -100/200 because the longer upper deck resulted in better area ruling at higher Mach numbers. Between about Mach 0.82 and 0.87 it all boiled down to fuel burn vs. speed.
During the 747-8 flight testing, I looked at flight test data from the flutter testing at Mach 0.98+ (presumably in a shallow dive - that was SOP for high speed flutter testing). I don't remember the altitude (it wasn't relevant to what I was looking for in the data - I was just interested in very high Mach number data). I was also on a 747-8 flight test where we cruised for over an hour at 37k/Mach 0.84 with an engine shutdown (granted, we were fairly light).
During the 747-8 flight testing, I looked at flight test data from the flutter testing at Mach 0.98+ (presumably in a shallow dive - that was SOP for high speed flutter testing). I don't remember the altitude (it wasn't relevant to what I was looking for in the data - I was just interested in very high Mach number data). I was also on a 747-8 flight test where we cruised for over an hour at 37k/Mach 0.84 with an engine shutdown (granted, we were fairly light).
One of my old mates when asked why he had always flown four engine aircraft, repiled, "Because no one has built one with five engines."
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In the late 70's, I flew on a BA B747 LAX-LHR , after t/o we had an engine fire.
The Cpt. explained all & advised it was now out and we could still continue direct to LHR.
An hour later , he announced we would divert to JFK , as maintainance there would be in a good position to change the engine.
We landed safely & smoothly there, and were hoping for a min. 6h delay..........
This proved too ambitious , so ground customer services staff efficiently arranged overnight accommodation for all.
We received a memo under the hotel room door, stating that at 8am-9am approx there would be a quick buffet breakfast available,
and then would we all please proceed to the awaiting buses for the by then fixed a/c 's continuation to LHR
As expected, huge queues for the buffet !
I just made myself a coffee, grabbed a doughnut & looked for somewhere to sit .
I minute later I was approached by a lovely BA customer service agent , who said " Sir , are you ready to go, because a bus is going now ? "
I said " yes , eh , sure " ...I was directed to the BA check in desks with my LAX-LHR boarding card stub - and given my new boarding card ON CONCORDE !!
A great result - but I must say , after having flown in the B747 ( all versions incl. SP - excluding freighter ) 3m+ miles since 1971 , I have never felt safer in the air.
She will be truly missed
The Cpt. explained all & advised it was now out and we could still continue direct to LHR.
An hour later , he announced we would divert to JFK , as maintainance there would be in a good position to change the engine.
We landed safely & smoothly there, and were hoping for a min. 6h delay..........
This proved too ambitious , so ground customer services staff efficiently arranged overnight accommodation for all.
We received a memo under the hotel room door, stating that at 8am-9am approx there would be a quick buffet breakfast available,
and then would we all please proceed to the awaiting buses for the by then fixed a/c 's continuation to LHR
As expected, huge queues for the buffet !
I just made myself a coffee, grabbed a doughnut & looked for somewhere to sit .
I minute later I was approached by a lovely BA customer service agent , who said " Sir , are you ready to go, because a bus is going now ? "
I said " yes , eh , sure " ...I was directed to the BA check in desks with my LAX-LHR boarding card stub - and given my new boarding card ON CONCORDE !!
A great result - but I must say , after having flown in the B747 ( all versions incl. SP - excluding freighter ) 3m+ miles since 1971 , I have never felt safer in the air.
She will be truly missed
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There was a meaningful improvement in cruise drag due to the stretched upper deck and it's area ruling improvement. When they retrofit a few -200s with stretched upper decks they actually got enough fuel burn improvement to more than offset the additional weight. Apparently the improvement in cruise drag with the stretched upper deck was a bit of pleasant surprise - they hadn't looked at it that closely during the development of the -300, but it made it a no-brainer to include it on the -400...
Gnome de PPRuNe
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Although the winglets had looked good in the wind tunnel, the real world performance was so disappointing that there was a serious proposal from the aero types to simply get rid of them.
Apparently the improvement in cruise drag with the stretched upper deck was a bit of pleasant surprise - they hadn't looked at it that closely during the development of the -300, but it made it a no-brainer to include it on the -400...
