SEP 30, 1968 Happy Birthday Queen!

[underfire]

747 turns 50!

[Carbon Bootprint]

I have always loved the bird, always felt rather treasured to be on the top deck.

Satute

[svhar]

I flew the Classic just over 3.000 hours. Love at first sight and I still miss her.

[Tandemrotor]

Absolutely, unquestionably, the most significant and successful civil jetliner in human history.

Bar none!

She’s a beaut.

[inducedrag]

I flew the Queen for 4000+hours as F/O and after flying B777 as Captain again fly the queen Classic for last 4 year and enjoying it even more

You Tube

[Wannabe Flyer]

"gain fly the queen Classic for last 4 year and enjoying it even more"

May I ask who you fly for? Did not know any classics were still flying commercially.

[Max Angle]

Nice set of pics on the Guardian newspaper website this morning.

747 at 50

[RufusXS]

Originally Posted by Tandemrotor

Absolutely, unquestionably, the most significant and successful civil jetliner in human history.

Bar none!

She’s a beaut.

Not to pick a fight, because I love the Queen too, but "most significant" is a subjective measure. Some people might point to the 707 as ushering in the age of jet travel for the masses, as an example. But it was an absolute paradigm shifter, that's for sure. As far as "most successful," if that equals deliveries, I believe that current gen 777s have been delivered in similar quantities to all versions of the 74, and they are still being built until the 77x is ready, and that's not even counting 77x numbers as part of all "77s." Again, just another example.

But she was and remains a beaut, that's for sure.

[jubilee]

According to the Boeing production list on Plane Spotters Net some 747- 200 are still active.
USAF
Iran Air Force
Air Georgia 4L-GNK
Caspian Air
Fly Pro
Fars Air Qeshim

Plus others listed as active.

J

[Wizofoz]

I guarantee we won't be celebrating 50 years continuous production of the 747s rival, the A380!!

[Tandemrotor]

Hi Rufus

i wrote that the 747 was the world’s most significant jetliner, since it is said it has carried 3.5 billion passengers. Equal to more than half the world’s population.

I’m not aware of any other aircraft that comes close to that.

Being in production for 50 years, also means it has been with us for almost half the period since the Wright brothers first took flight at Kittyhawk. It will continue for many years yet.

So to me, the claim looks pretty straightforward to support.

[treadigraph]

Originally Posted by Max Angle

Nice set of pics on the Guardian newspaper website this morning.

747 at 50

Good old Guardian - captioning the BOAC 747 as "taking off from Heathrow". They've certainly levelled the landscape considerably and removed a lot of trees since then... My guess would be King County/Boeing Field.

Wonderful aeroplane - can't be many other types that have been continuously in production in more or less the same form for 50 years or more.

[Old Fella]

50 Years continuous production

Originally Posted by treadigraph

Good old Guardian - captioning the BOAC 747 as "taking off from Heathrow". They've certainly levelled the landscape considerably and removed a lot of trees since then... My guess would be King County/Boeing Field.

Wonderful aeroplane - can't be many other types that have been continuously in production in more or less the same form for 50 years or more.

Not many in civil service I know, but the Lockheed C130 Hercules has been in continuous production for 62 years and still going. It is without doubt the greatest airlifter ever built, bar none.

[RufusXS]

Originally Posted by Tandemrotor

Hi Rufus

i wrote that the 747 was the world’s most significant jetliner, since it is said it has carried 3.5 billion passengers. Equal to more than half the world’s population.

I’m not aware of any other aircraft that comes close to that.

Being in production for 50 years, also means it has been with us for almost half the period since the Wright brothers first took flight at Kittyhawk. It will continue for many years yet.

So to me, the claim looks pretty straightforward to support.

So the 737 has carried 16.8 billion passengers as of 2014, was debuted before the 747, and has been produced in vastly greater quantity. So by your standards it would blow away the 747, no?

[treadigraph]

Originally Posted by Old Fella

Not many in civil service I know, but the Lockheed C130 Hercules has been in continuous production for 62 years and still going. It is without doubt the greatest airlifter ever built, bar none.

Very good call! Bonanza I'd suggest is another, plus the 737? Anything else?

[dixi188]

I like the throttle stagger in the flight deck photo. (That's the engineer in me!)

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by RufusXS

So the 737 has carried 16.8 billion passengers as of 2014, was debuted before the 747, and has been produced in vastly greater quantity. So by your standards it would blow away the 747, no?

It depends entirely on what measure you choose. A B744, for example, typically generates around 5 times as many RPKs per day than a B738, but the latter will carry nearly 3 times as many passengers daily.

[RufusXS]

Originally Posted by DaveReidUK

It depends entirely on what measure you choose. A B744, for example, typically generates around 5 times as many RPKs per day than a B738, but the latter will carry nearly 3 times as many passengers daily.

My point exactly, depends on how you measure it.

[Aelkobi]

Brilliant Guardian photo of the Queen carrying the shuttle over New York.... and also over Concorde and blackbird and others on the aircraft carrier museum below... all-in-one photo.

[CRayner]

My dad flew on the inaugural Pan Am flight from NY to London. When I was clearing out the house following his demise I found the souvenir pack he was given on boarding.