Boeing 747-400 (9V-SFQ)

Great shot !

Another reason to go to Australia! perfect shot, Mike! Cheers!!
"Hundo"

C.W.

Don't think I'm up for a 25-hour flight.
I got me a TM this afternoon. N452TM! It will be posted for viewing tomorrow.
However, if someone sends me a ticket on Qantas to Sydney I'll be at JFK soooooo fast.

Rich

Rich
I think it'll be worth it! I also have New Zealand on my radar. ORD-AKL NON-STOP! Yeeeee-Haaaa!! Will be looking for 452TM. It'll be few days before I can respond though. Cheers!!
"Hundo"

Thanks Hundo and Dick!

I have visited that observation spot many times, might have seen you there Mike.
You can tell me all you like about wing shape and lift but I reckon this shot explains how it really works: those 4 big fans gulp in all that air and compress it between those huge wings and the ground so there is nowhere for the aeroplane to go but up.
Magic.

Lifting off? I don't think so! There is no way a B747-400F (it's a freighter) would get off the ground that soon along 34L at YSSY. It's landing.

Alan - what about "those flaps, and the angle of attack" ?

I'm with you, Viv.
If that bird was landing, she'd be dragging a lot more flap than that.
Beneath the nose on the sea wall is the end of the perimeter fence: that is just into the bay from the foreshore. 34L is 13,000ft long. Nearly half of 34L is on a reclamation into the bay. The distance from the South end of 34L to there is at least 6,000ft. The Activity Log (at the moment) shows two Sydney departures, both to Auckland: a step across the Tasman, so she is likely not going to be carrying a lot of fuel. Good work for Singapore Airlines if they can get a full load of cargo on every lift.
I have seen 747s on short hauls lift off from 34L at this point.
I would never flare a 747 to that pitch on landing: if that bird came down at that angle, by the time the main gear compressed, you would have a tail strike.
And at that altitude, the engines (if landing) would have been retarded and just about run down but if you look at full resolution, the engines are making some serious jet wash: take-off thrust.
Lift-off.

Thanks Geoffrey,Alan and Viv.The 747Fs often take off 'light' as this one must have been!