This post is triggered by a bit of (aviation) news, I read today, "This week, on Wednesday, Oct. 5 (2022), Atlas Air took delivery of a Boeing 747-8 Freighter (Reg. N861GT). This unit is the second of four new 747-8 Freighters ordered by the Cargo company in 2021, which are also the last 747s ever to be produced by Boeing, putting an end to the "Queen of the Skies" assembly line.... after 54 years and a total of 1,572 units produced (including prototype) ..." This means Atlas Air just took the 3rd from the very last 747 Jumbo ever to be newly-built, with just two more 747s to go...(and in fact when the last two 747s are built and delivered by the end of this year, that would be the end-of-line for Jumbo of any kind, considering that, last year, on 16 December, 2021, the Final (end-of-line) Airbus A380 (serial number 272) was delivered to Emirates).

When the first Jumbo, the iconic Prototype RA001 (#1), Boeing 747-121, christened City of Everett, see one image of it below (shot #1), flew its maiden flight on February 9, 1969, it had ushered in the Jumbo era, but no one had anticipated that the 747 would end up logging more than 57 billion nautical miles - the equivalent of 137,293 trips from the Earth to the moon, and fly more than 5.9 billion people...! On that cold (winter) February morning, more than half-a-century ago, as the RA001 had lined up on the runway for takeoff, at the command of the three seasoned Ws' (Wadell - Pilot/Left Seat, Wygle - Co-Pilot/Right Seat, Wallick - Flight-Engineer/Back seat; please note that the 747 (-100, -200 and -300) all required a three-man flight crew), Joe Sutter, the legendary Boeing Engineer, regarded as "the father of the 747", the man (and driving force) behind the creation of the Jumbo, had mused, “There was no doubt in my mind that the 747 would fly; the only question was how well...A quiet thrill of elation buoyed me as I chatted with our three-man flight-test crew..."

I've often read about Joe Sutter. Sutter was native of Boeing’s birthplace, the city of Seattle, who grew up on a hilltop overlooking the manufacturer’s plant. He was a well-loved and remarkable gentleman, known for his "incredible" determination, of which the 747 is a solid testament. Under his guidance, the team of "Incredibles" produced what was then the world’s largest airplane in record time, 28 months from conception to rollout, and 10 months from first flight to certification. As if prodded by the success of his 747 Jumbo, just 5 months later, in the same year, the first man would land on the Moon...

Sutter had once remarked, “My friends all wanted to fly airplanes, but I set my heart on designing them..."...Oh well...Here is another statement attributed to him that has always remained with me, where he is trying to explain the concept of redundant systems, "I was determined to give an airplane the ability to survive bad circumstances. Everything won’t be great all the time. That’s why the 747 has four flight control systems, four hydraulic systems, four landing gears. You know things are going to happen and sometimes it’s going to be severe. You still should be able to come home...” Yes, indeed, "You still should be able to come home", that's the bottom line...! There is no better way to explain the design concept of redundant systems on the a/c...🙂...

Long before I knew there was a thing called a "Microsoft Flight Simulator", it was the (first sight and first love...🙂...) of the (close) sight of the massive (RW) B747 Jumbo, that had got me interested in exploring aviation...as a "hobby". The 747 was a worthy example (bordering on technological miracle) of advances in commercial aviation. So, I feature in this post the most popular 747 variant, the 747-400, in the Atlas colors (please excuse, though, this is no 747-8F). This collection of pictures shows the Atlas 744 lifting off from the runway, up into the sky, until and after the LNAV/VNAV navigational guidance is activated on the MCP, to follow a pre-uploaded flightplan on its FMS/CDU (see close-up shots).

Until the Super-Jumbo (six engined) An-225 Mriya is rebuilt from the ruins (a fresh new one, it must be), the Atlas B747-8F will have to do as the last flag carrier built of the type and nickname..."Jumbo"...given to the very selective few a/c in aviation. Hope you enjoy these pictures of this iconic Jumbo, a symbol of Modern aviation, that will be always cherished by the aviation community (enthusiasts and pilots), as an endearing reminder of Joe Sutter's dreams, brought to reality. Sutter lived to see the unveiling of the last version of his beloved 747, the 747-8, on February 13, 2011, and, surely, during the event, his mind must have drifted back to that eventful (also) February morning, 42 years ago...Sutter would pass away, 5 years later, in 2016, at the age of 95...

It was great fun flying this 747...in my own make-believe world. Hope you share my excitement for it...! If you wish, I invite you to watch (and hear) this 2m:32s video clip of a (RW) Atlas Air 747-400 taking off. Please search for "{TrueSound} MASSIVE Atlas Air Boeing 747-400 Takeoff from Ft. Lauderdale".

Thanks for your interest and good flying, yourselves...!!

[iFly 744V2 (GE-CF6 Engines), Atlas Repaint by Community]

Fine shots, i love this kind of airplanes !

cheers 😉

Sad news indeed , I flew on a 747 once from Vancouver BC to Honolulu in 1986 . I never had the opportunity 

to fly on the A-380 . Thanks for the memories kind Sir . 🙂

Thanks, pmplayer and John...!

Agree with your sentiments about this iconic plane...!! Unlike most, here, who might have started with DC-3...B727...DC-8...or even VC10...🙂...the 747 was my very first airplane...I started big...🙂...unforgettable memories...I recall pressing against the glass window of the lounge area, at that huge bulbous nose....and wondering how it would really go up and then stay up there...

Long-hauls became 2nd nature to me later on...flew a couple of times in LH's 747-8Is when they replaced the old Queen with the new Queen ....

The 3-4 engines will be now gone from pax travel for ever...it'll be all twin-engined...with those massive powerplants, surely efficient, but not sure about being aesthetic... (like the ones we see here in these pictures...) ...

 

The Queen is dead.  Long live the Queen!

Excellent shots!  I've flown on many and it still remains my all-time favorite aircraft to ever grace the skies.

Very nice set of shots! 😉 

14 hours ago, overspeed3 said:

The Queen is dead.  Long live the Queen!

Yes, now the Queen will be left only in our memories and only in our virtual world ...!

 

13 hours ago, Jack_Sawyer said:

Excellent shots!  I've flown on many and it still remains my all-time favorite aircraft to ever grace the skies.

Thanks much, Jack...! True feelings for this aircraft...!

 

12 hours ago, Alaska738 said:

Very nice set of shots! 😉 

Thank you for the comment, Will. Appreciated...!

On 10/8/2022 at 6:08 PM, Jack_Sawyer said:

Excellent shots!  I've flown on many and it still remains my all-time favorite aircraft to ever grace the skies.

+1. The ones I flew most were the 747SP (United across the Pacific) and the 744 (LH and Singapore from Asia to Europe)

iFly 747. Lovely rendition of a lovely bird. Nice pictures!

The first one (the 741) is Posky, right?

On 10/10/2022 at 1:02 PM, bernd1151 said:

The ones I flew most were the 747SP (United across the Pacific) and the 744 (LH and Singapore from Asia to Europe)

Thank you, bernd, for chiming in. I do recall you have on more than one occasion, featured the United 747 in your posts here....🙂...

 

On 10/11/2022 at 7:40 PM, Luis Hernandez said:

iFly 747. Lovely rendition of a lovely bird. Nice pictures!

The first one (the 741) is Posky, right?

Appreciated the comment, Luis...!! This first Boeing 747 Jumbo, City of Everett, image #1, is the only one I did not fly for this post, so I believe your guess could be on the mark (I do clearly recall that Posky folks had created a model for it)...However, I also recall I picked up this (specific) one from a JF/CLS B747-200 model rendered (by a repainter) in the color of the 747-100 Prototype...I'll check...thanks for your interest...!!

Great story and series of screenshots!

Joe Sutter is one of my favorite aviation icons, right up there with Kelly Johnson, Chuck Yeager, Scott Crossfield, Greg Boyington, Paul Tibits, etc. 

I was painting the PMDG 747 for P3D at the time of Joe's passing, and added a tribute to him with each livery release:

I plan on keeping the pics of him in my release screens when I start painting the 747 for MSFS.

Hey Steve: How are you...? Hope the 737NG paintings are not keeping you awake too much....🙂...

Appreciated you chiming in here.... surely miss your 747 repaints (have tons of them still) .... And as I'd understood, without the Sutter marking your 747 paintings would not get past your painting hangar...🙂.... Anyway, two more (RW) 747s to go, Steve, with the Atlas 748 carrying the baton as the Final Jumbo to be built new....it will be then only in our virtual world...and your hangar, hopefully...

Thanks...!