Love Letter to the 747

727 was the most fun…seventies and eighties…757 was a thrill to fly…and the 747-400 was my dream to fly after I took a tour of the first one at KBFI.

I have always loved the 747 but have had only one flight on one. It was outstanding though. Way back before deregulation, when airlines were guaranteed a profit no matter how inefficiently they operated, I caught a Northwest 747 from Minneapolis to Seattle that had a total of 14 passengers onboard. Up at cruise the flight attendants set up an open bar in the back and then went upstairs and closed off the steps for the rest of the flight. I sat all over that airplane checking out the ride. The very farthest seat forward in the nose almost felt like being in a cockpit with the somewhat forward view. The very last seat in the back was also a unique ride. I remember watching the wings bank and then a second or so later the tail end would follow. The twisting of the fuselage amazed me. I sat everywhere else on that plane and there were no bad seats in my opinion. Of course a drink in my hand may have influenced that opinion a little even though I was still a little young at the time for it. Thank you Northwest and the beautiful 747 for the memory!

I thought the design history of the 747 taking just 28 months from scratch to a flying airplane is still impressive.

I think I also read that way back during an evacuation of some sort something like 1,500 people were stuffed into that 747 and then flew away on a nearly 4 hour flight. Talk about standing room only.

Personally when I flew the 747 I found it little less stable then some other Boeing jets but a very good airplane just the same.

Spent most of my career on the 747. As Flight Engineer on the 747-100/200 then as Co-Pilot and as a Captain, Check Pilot, APD and TCE giving type ratings on the 200. Finally as a Captain and check pilot on the 747-400. Love this airplane and hate to see it slowly go away.