I've had the JF/CLS 747-200, a favorite of mine, since years ago, but though been aware of an upgrade (747-200/300 HD- High Definition) available on the JF website, I'd never thought of acquiring it. Today I read more, and it looks like this upgrade improved the textures, enhanced some of the visual features, and most significantly "...included a comprehensive set of 57 High Definition (HD) liveries of the 747 Classic on 24 different models that include the Passenger and Cargo version with three different engine types along with different flight models for the different versions..."...sounded good enough...especially if one is a fan of the Classic 747 (BTW, the officially designated 747 "Classic" includes the 747-100 and -200 passenger variants and the 747-200F cargo variant...)...

So, I picked up the upgrade today...which requires that one already has the base 747 (Classic) package. There is actually another reason I got triggered for this add-on, the modelling of the "-200M" variant of the 747-200, an Air Canada repaint for which, I recently came across while looking through the freeware library (see my previous post), the "-M" model been included in the (JF) upgrade. The "-M" is a Combi version of the base 747-200. The Combi 747 ("The Half Cargo Half Passenger Jumbo Jet") was once quite prevalent among the early adaptors of the Jumbo, who found the 747 simply too large for their pax needs alone. To cater to the need for flexibility, Boeing launched the 747 Combi, an aircraft that offered the combination of pax capacity alongside main deck cargo space and a proper cargo loading door. It was a unique proposition that proved popular with airlines from the 70s onwards. The first official Boeing-produced 747 combi was the 747-200M (featured in this post). This aircraft could carry freight in the rear section of the fuselage thanks to its side loading cargo door (see shot #1, below, with exits open). A movable partition separated passengers from the cargo section. The 747-300 and 747-400 variants were also offered in the "-M" Combi version. 

So, the exact model/livery, I liked (and have selected) to fly for this post is (C-GAGA) Air Canada Boeing 747-233B(M). Note the suffix "-B(M)" here, which indicates that this is a Combi (-M) version of the "747-200B", where "747-200B" is itself an improved version of the base 747-200, with increased fuel capacity and more powerful engines. C-GAGA Boeing 747-233B was delivered new to Air Canada in March 1975, one of five 747s (one of three 747-200s and the very first 747-200) that Air Canada flew in the 1970s. The aircraft faithfully flew almost its entire life with the airline, for over twenty years, with just a couple of brief leases out to other carriers. (C-GAGA) subsequently wore several other Air Canada colors, including "no Black Bib", but I recall images of the "Black Bibbed" (also called "Black Nosed") AC 747 well. It always stood out in this attractive Air Canada livery of the 60s through 90s (the eye-catching bright red and white look along with the airline's new logo - a maple leaf 'roundel'). BTW, besides the aesthetic appeal, the Black paint on the nose, below the windshields, is supposedly used to reduce glare too...

I fly, here, the (Black-Bibbed) AC 747-200B(M) from PANC (Anchorage) to CYVR (Vancouver). The JF version of this 747-200 model came with only a "Lite" FMC in the cockpit, so, instead, I have added one unit of custom CIVA-INS (see pictures below) for a slightly more authentic navigational experience, befitting the Classic 747. GPS based navigation has not been used at all (you've to trust yours truly on this...🙂...no (GPS) cheating allowed as one RW 747 pilot, here, had once told me....🙂...after all, the custom INS integration did work perfectly on this a/c...). I've lifted off northward from Rwy 32 PANC, activated INS after cleaning up gears/flaps, for a sweeping and climbing left bank, over the narrow channel of Cook Inlet, (see multiple images below, at this point of flight, from the cockpit and external views), then ready to track (southeast) along the rugged, cold, bleak, snowy, and glaciered coastlines of Gulf of Alaska (see images, below).

Here, during Part I, of my flight, I've reached 29,000 ft cruise altitude, at 28 nm from [WPT 1] (see [2D] cockpit shot with (inset) INS CDU), and then was forced to take a (virtual) break from the flight, for now, (due to the necessity of certain non-pilot duties...), just short of reaching [WPT 1], actually exactly 1 nm from it, see my 2nd from last shot, below, where I'm about to cross [WPT 1], as seen on the INS CDU. The INS WPTs of my flightplan mimic the airways waypoints, between PANC and CYVR (see MAP), of a SimBrief FlightPlan, which typically uses data from one of the RW flight-tracking websites. I've manually entered the LAT/LONG for the 8 (INS) WPTs into the CDU, while still on the ground, in my [2D] cockpit (see 3rd shot below).

Hope you enjoy this (Part I) collection of pictures of the Air Canada 747-200B(M) Combi (C-GAGA). Once the rest of the flight is completed, in my Part II, I will post another set of images including the arrival scenes into CYVR/Vancouver. So, please stay tuned. 

Thanks for your interest...!!

Great shots! 😉 

Grand shots of your Canadian Queen Sir !! . 

Alaska, johnb, and Dave: Thank you much.... appreciated... (True, john, a Canadian Queen and also the Queen of many countries...🙂...)

Superb screenies, P_7878 !! Luckily JF is working to bring this beauty also to MSFS.

Appreciated the comment, bernd...!!

I visited the JF website In Developments.... a few great Classics are in the pipeline...looks like the 747 Classic is listed there for P3D now, though...hope they bring it out...soon enough...for all the lovers of the Classic 747...!