New York to London...Recalling the first ever 747 flight...

[P_7878]

Here is a remarkable milestone in the history of aviation that does not lose its appeal with passage of time, at least in my mind. Since the earliest days of my interest in this hobby, I've reviewed and studied this event, and also often replicated it for myself in our virtual world of aviation. I'd done it initially with the default 747s of FS9/FSX, and with JF's Classic 747s, and then later with the (trend-setter) PMDG versions of the 747 released for FS9 (in 2005) and for FSX (in 2007).

It's well-known that the first commercial flight of a Boeing 747 (a -100 variant) was on January 22, 1970, exactly 55 years plus a month ago from today (February 22, 2025), operated by the (legendary) airline, Pan Am. That (Jumbo) flight introduced us to the so-called new age of flight, and to yet another golden age of air travel in modern times. The first 747 (transoceanic) flight was not without some drama, however. The originally intended 747 (called "Clipper Young America") suffered technical issues just before takeoff. The a/c had actually already pushed back from the JFK gate but had to immediately return to the gate after issues with its #4 P&W JT9D turbofan powerplant. 

We note here that the first application of the JT9D engine (supposedly world's first high-bypass turbofan to power a commercial jetliner) was in the 747-100 types. The JT9D would then go on to power other (widebody) airliners such as the A300, A310, B767, and DC-10. Coincidentally, regarding 767 and JT9D, this past week, I got to watch on TV the (1995) film dramatization (Freefall: Flight 174) of the Air Canada 767 Flight 143 of 1983, commonly since known as the "Gimli Glider". I knew the story but never had seen this film. There, the brand-new AC 767 gets fuel-starved in mid-flight between Montreal and Edmonton, due to miscalculations in fuel-loading. Basically, due to a confusion between Metric "kg" unit and Imperial/British "lb" unit and noting that 1 kg = 2.2 lb, less than half of the required fuel was actually loaded into the 767 leading to loss of (both) the JT9D engines in mid-flight. It's a most heartwarming story of pilotage, bravery, good fortune and RL suspense...with a happy conclusion...rather well-portrayed in this film for us aviation enthusiasts...if you may exclude bits of (extraneous) romanticism and lovey-dovey...🙂...

So, with "Clipper Young America" out, Pan Am called in their (standby 747) "Clipper Victor". [BTW, I am always rooting for the standbys getting a chance to take the center stage and coming to the limelight when unexpected circumstances call upon them. I just happened to also watch yesterday a re-run of the 30-year-old sports comedy film, "Little Giants" where (spoiler alert...🙂...) the Cheerleader nicknamed "Icebox", my favorite character of the film, in the closing seconds of the game, comes to the rescue of the team, with the score tied at 21. Dropping her pompoms and putting on the Giants uniform and pads over her cheerleader's outfit, "Icebox" stops the opponents in a (pivotal) goal-line stand. With time remaining for just one final play, the Giants offence then scores a 99-yard game-winning touchdown...Oh well...what else can make you feel good for the day...🙂...]

Anyway, our (standby 747) "Clipper Victor" 747 came to the rescue, and finally departed New York, at 1:52 am EST, on that January day, bound for London (see my EFB Map in shot #1 below for a visual of this transatlantic route). The a/c had been quickly rechristened (and renamed) "Clipper Young America" in New York for the inaugural flight but was still left with some "Clipper Victor" markings (birthmarks...🙂...) on certain parts of its fuselage, on arrival in London. It's always interesting to know, for such historical firsts in (commercial) aviation, who are the Pilots, in command, that the airline handpicks (and puts faith on). The "Clipper Victor" was in the command of Capt. Rupert Weeks, 49, a veteran of 28 years with Pan Am having logged > 15,000 hours on Pan Am routes. He was Pan Am's NY based Chief Pilot and Check Pilot and had served in WW II with Naval Air Transport. He was also the Pilot of an earlier proving flight (aka non-commercial flight) of a 747 that had just occurred 10 days ago, on Jan 12, between JFK and LHR. 

I should mention that this post and flight of mine is carried out, not with a 747-100, but with the MSFS/Asobo 747-8, a favorite of mine in MSFS (we hope to see someday a 744, if not a 741 or a 742, for MSFS). The first commercial (pax) flight of the 748I, the pictures of which you see in my images below, occurred on June 1, 2012, operated by Lufthansa, 42 years after that Pan Am 747-100 flight. And just as Capt. Weeks was in command for that (historic) 747 flight, Lufthansa, for its maiden 748 flight, had chosen that it be commanded by the Chief Pilot of Lufthansa's 747 fleet, Capt. Elmar Boje...(interestingly) I noted Capt. Boje had a (previous) Master of Science degree in Mathematics and Physics...good to know...🙂...

I was fortunate to be among the first travelers on Lufthansa's 748s. This past week, while happening to apply for the renewal of my passport, I noted the (exact) dates of my (past) travel stamped in the old passports and found that I was most active with Lufthansa in the years 2012, 2013, 2014, having travelled at least 5 times through Frankfurt in those 3 years. 

So, on January 22, 1970, the "Clipper Victor" 747 took 6 hrs 14 mins to cross the Atlantic, mostly flying smoothly at 33,000 ft, with some (reported) encounters of turbulence over the ocean. Eventually, the huge Jumbo drew up against Heathrow's famous Pier Five at 8:10 am. The T-shaped Pier, a major development in the history and evolution of Heathrow airport, was added in the 1960s, anticipating the arrival of the Boeing 747 Jet.

Comments from a few passengers on completion of this inaugural flight:

1. "The flight was simply great. Flying in a beautiful plane like that was worth the delay."
2. "The delay didn't bother me much. We were given a first-class meal. It's a good plane."
3. But one passenger had said, "The plane is simply too big for anyone to be given proper service"... Oh well...now we have even the bigger Jumbo in service, the A380...🙂...

Please find, below, this collection of images of the 748, flying in the command of yours truly...🙂..., as I fly the same New York-London route here, while reminiscing about that significant 747 flight 55 years ago. I've chosen to fly at 31,000 ft. and the SimBrief Flight planner gave me ~3,300 miles, whereas I noted on FlightAware, today (Saturday Feb 22), that a British Airways 787-10 just arrived at Heathrow from John F Kennedy, at 9:00am (London time), having flown at 37,000 ft over an actual flight distance of ~3,500 miles. My (virtual) 748 flight today was fault-free till about 30 miles to EGLL, but then, on approach, the (cockpit) avionics blanked out (a commonly reported issue on this Asobo 748, since day one of MSFS2020; and after so many years and thousands of user notifications, apparently, it still remains an issue). So, I've supplemented my flight with an independent takeoff from (EGLL) Rwy 27R and touchdown into (EGLL) Rwy 09L (see my concluding images). To be true to myself, I've flown the flight at 1x sim rate (actually 2x caused some instability on my Xbox, and I didn't want to take a chance with loss of control of the 747 over mid-Atlantic...🙂...). As I flew today, I was constantly reminiscing my own few (RW) 747-8I flights across the Atlantic with Lufthansa as carrier.

This Jumbo 748 will also soon go down in the history books (if not already), just as the 747 Classics of the 1970s. The last (built) Boeing 747-8 was delivered to Atlas Air 2 years ago, on Jan 31, 2023. So, the iconic 747 family (-100 to -8) indeed has had a most remarkable run over 50+ years, from Jan 22, 1970, to Jan 31, 2023, shaping aviation history and commercial air travel.

The "Clipper Victor" (N736PA), a few months after that historic flight, in the same year 1970, would become the first 747 to be hijacked, when it was briefly (and inconsequentially) flown to Cuba. However, more significantly, for the final epitaph about "Clipper Victor" 747, I, unfortunately, have to leave you with a haunting memory (which you may or may not be aware of). This 747-100 that had performed the first ever transatlantic flight, as the star of the inaugural show, was also tragically the same 747 that, 7 years later, on Mar 27, 1977, would be involved (and destroyed) in the worst ever air disaster (and human fatality) in commercial aviation, colliding with another 747 (a -200 of KLM) at Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

It was not due to any fault of the a/c, but purely due to human errors. Tenerife disaster would introduce critical (safety) changes in ATC/Tower/Pilot phraseology e.g., involved communication such as "We are at takeoff" and "OK", between KLM Crew and Tower, on that fateful day in foggy and cloudy runway conditions; did it mean, "the a/c is still waiting at takeoff point for further clearance" or "the a/c has already released brakes, applied power, and started rolling full-power for takeoff"....? No one knew for sure that day until it was too late. From heroic triumph to ultimate tragedy, the "Clipper Victor" 747-121 is unlike any other airliner in the history of aviation. 

Thanks for viewing this collection of images from my flight today and I hope you enjoy these sightings of the Jumbo 748 QOTS (Queen of the Skies) ...while maybe also pondering a bit about the exceptional and remarkable (short-lived) life-story of "Clipper Victor" 747 that had once pioneered (modern) commercial flights across the same Atlantic route that I'm flying here...routes that we now take for granted with today's twinjet B787s and A350s...

Happy flying...with whatever SIM...you're flying today...🙂...!

Edited February 22 by P_7878

[pmplayer]

Fine set of shots, thanks for sharing !

Always like to still see the 747 in the sky..

cheers 😉

[Alaska738]

Nice shots! 😉 

[P_7878]

On 2/24/2025 at 10:53 PM, pmplayer said:

Fine set of shots, thanks for sharing !

Always like to still see the 747 in the sky..

cheers 😉

Thanks, pmplayer.

Yes, good to see the 747 once in a while ...🙂...hope to also get a 744 in MSFS...I had both the PMDG and the iFly versions in the old SIM...

 

On 2/25/2025 at 6:04 PM, Alaska738 said:

Nice shots! 😉 

Appreciated the comment, Will.