[ashivas89]

I have flown in nearly every one of the popular modern widebodies available today. While birds like the A350 are certainly more comfortable and quieter, there is simply nothing out there quite like a 747, that has emotional appeal. I was around 8 when the movie Air Force One hit theatres. Have been a big fan of the classic 747 shape since then.

I've flown a few times in the Lufthansa 747-8 between BLR and FRA.

Here are a couple of pictures I have taken of the legend (never bothered taking pictures of the other aircraft I have flown in ).

[SR-71]

The most recognizable airframe in the history of aviation! How many of you remember flying a 747 with a central cinema screen in the economy class. I had the (mis)fortune of flying a dowdy United in 2010 in such a configuration, thanks to Lufthansa bungling up my connection. Sadly, that's the last 747 ride and that is what I will remember!

[Jeroen]

In my earlier post I mentioned a few things about my enthusiasm and experience on the 747. This very last 747 produced, has gotten quite a bit of exposure all around the world. Threads like these are popping up all over the Internet. For many people, not necessarily aviation enthusiasts, the 747 is a truly iconic plane.

Reading through the various posts and articles on the internet I had a look of what is left of my 747 documentation and books. Funnily enough, although I have owned all sorts of 747 related stuff, I have never ever, not even as little boy, owned a 747 model, be it ready made or kit. Never!

As I went through the various books, binders, charts and so on, I relived some of my memorable moments with the 747. Although the 747 held a huge fascination for me, even as a little boy, through my interest in the 747 I have also had the pleasure of meeting with lots of people. Most of what I will show here, was given to me or there is a story about it.

As I said, always been fascinated by aircraft, aviation and the 747 in particular. I wanted to become a pilot, but in those days you needed pretty much 20-20 vision, and I had very thick spectacles. So I went to naval college instead. Which probably, with hind sight, was the better choice for me anyway.

I was one of the early Flight SIM enthousiast. I got every Microsoft Flight Simulator update and many add ons. Some of you, especially those who collect aircraft models, are familiar with the Aviation megastore near Amsterdam airport. A fantastic shop for aviation enthousiast, they sell anything from kit models, ready made models, books, magazines and just about everything when it comes to flight Simulation.

https://www.aviationmegastore.com/en...ation-276.html

These days this a huge store, but in the early days it was tiny. It was started by a KLM pilot, who brought all sort of hard to get models, decals, books and magazines with him from all over the world. He also collected all the old manuals and charts from his colleagues and sold them second hand in his shop.

I have been coming there since I was a teenager with some mates. We used to ride our bicycle all the way to Aalsmeer and spend hours roaming around the shop. In those teenage days I was an avid aviation model builder.

Fast forward to the mid 90s. I had been fiddling around with Flight Simulator for quite a while. One day I decided to stop by at the Luchtvaarthobbyshop as the aviationmegastore used to be called.

They had a couple of guys that knew anything and everything about desk top computers and flight simulation. So we got talking as usual. They showed me a new type of Simulator, Precision Simulator by Aerowinx. They basically told me, this is a real system and procedure training simulator. There is no scenery, just instrument, switches, handles, dial and it all works and interacts correctly. You are going to love it. I bought it on the spot. It was hugely expensive compared to Flight Simulator.

Back home I fired up my desktop and installed it. This version was still DOS program! It came with a very elaborate manual. I became very frustrated at first. This SIM thing worked just as the real thing. So starting up from what is known as a dark and cold plane took quite a while and you had to use the correct procedures, check list and so on. It took me days to simply start up a 747.





Although I was impressed, I did not spend too much time on it afterwards. It was just way to complicated for me. A few months later I got very ill. I can’t even remember what I had. But I was off work for about 6 weeks or so. After some two weeks I felt a bit better and started to fiddle with my Precision Simulator again. I had plenty of time on my hand and I spend 8-10 hours per day trying to figure out how to operate a 747. The internet was in the early stages, and Aerowinx had a very simple website, with also a forum. Couple of dozen guys, either enthusiast such as me, or pilots or aviation engineers. Through the forum chat function I got to know another Dutch guy, Ton and he happened to live very close by. So we met a few weeks later. And we started flying together and discuss 747 system and so on.

Over the years, both Ton and I acquired quite the aviation 747 library. We shared a lot. We became friends with some of the other guys on the PS forum. Some we met. At the time there were three Indian guys as well. During my years in India I met up with one of them on a regular basis. He has a home build 747 cockpit (a real cockpit cut from an Air India 747). All the system are powered by the successor of this amazing 747 simulation software PSX.

Ton and I ended up renting the Full motion 747-400 of both CargoLux and Lufthansa. As one of the simulator technicians was also a PS forum member, we actually got some free of charge time as well. So that is how I clocked up my real 747-400 Sim hours, my PS hours run into the thousands!

Let me share some of my 747 memorabilia and some of the stories/memories that go with it.

One of the things that always fascinated me is that Boeing, being the manufacturer, publishes a huge number of different manuals, documents and so on. Some carriers use the Boeing documents in the cockpits too. Others (Eg. KLM, BA, Lufthansa) rewrite everything themselves. Ton and I spend many hours pouring over the differences between a Boeing Manual and say a KLM manual. Why did they phrase it differently, why a slightly different procedure. Good fun and hugely interesting (well only, if you are a complete 747 nerd like we are)

So here is my original Honeywell Boeing Flight Management System Pilot’s guide.





As you can see, it was an aircraft copy. In this case of the CargoLux LX-NCV (Cargolux by the way is one, if not the largest, 747 cargo operator in the world). So obviously, Ton and I knew a few pilots and some guys living near their home base in Luxembourg. This FMS guide we actually fished out of a skip. Cargolux was getting rid of a lot of old paper documentation at the time. Nobody was watching, so we figured the bin men would not miss a few copies.

The FMS is one of the essential cockpit instrument. It interacts with a huge number of different system. It has a complete database of all the world airfield and all airway. Airway are basically highways in the sky. So the flight plan is loaded into the FMS. It can calculate all sorts of clever things, it accommodates for winds at different flight levels etc.

But we usually called it the “FMS manual for dummies”. It was pretty basic. My KLM aircraft operating manual has more detailled information on the FMS than this original Honeywell manual.

The real McCoy when it came to the Flight Management System and the Flight User’s Guide was the FMC user’s guide by Bill Bulfer and Skeet Gifford. Every 747 pilot slept with this manual under their pillow! I am not quite sure, but I think I bought my copy at the aviationmegastore. I visited them a few weeks ago and you can still get it. They also have a 737 FMC guide.





This book is all about the internal works, tips and tricks on what you can do with this bit of magnificent kit. Interestingly enough the whole FMS/FMC runs on a very rudimentary and simple hardware. To this date I might add. Never the less it is a hugely expensive bit of kit, due to among other the enormous reliable in performance and certification.

I don’t know if Bill is still alive. But in those day I regularly emailed him with questions and he was always quick to respond.

A very different kind of book, but still very enlightening is the Unofficial Boeing 747-400 Simulator and Check ride procedures manual written by (captain) Mike Ray. Mike is a so called ex-Stoof driver, which means he is an ex Grumman S2Tracker pilot. One of my all time favourite military planes. It flew with the Dutch navy too! Once Mike left the US navy he became a commercial pilot. A very common career path in the USA especially in those days. Not so much anymore as there are far fewer naval and airforce pilots than a couple of decades ago.



He has written a whole host of these kind of books. They are meant to assist pilots to prep for their mandatory check rides on simulators. Have a look at his store:

https://utem.com/

Two other gems I would like to share. There is a whole series of these books: From the flight deck. They describe in detail how a flight is planned and executed from the cockpit crew perspective. It really details how the pilots plan the flight, prep the plane, what happens during the start in the cockpit. How they deal with emergencies etc etc. These two issue are both about well known 747-400 routes. The Heathrow HongKong is still with the old HongKong airport. So the checkerboard approach is discussed in detail.





Another treasure of mine is the 747-400 Component Locator. It is a little booklet describing where various components are located. E.g. you want to know where to find the drain module of the heat exchange installation, or you need to get a the EGT shunt junction box, this little manual will tell you. It was used primarily for maintenance training I believe. And of course, by nerds such as myself!



Another Boeing manual with a bit of special story. This is the Boeing Dispatch Deviations Guide. (DDG). I have shown some examples of this manual in some of the other aviation related threads we have. As most of us are aware many systems on aircraft have dual, triple or sometime quadruple redundancy build in. This manual describes what systems and or parts can be out of action/missing and what actions and or procedures need to be observed in order to still fly the plane with this defect.

This Boeing version was/is quite rare. I came across it in the late 90s on bay.com from an American seller. Both my wife and myself often bought various bits and pieces for our hobbies from Bay. In those days, we just agreed the price and then went to our bank, exchanged Dutch guilders for the necessary dollars. We just send the dollars in an envelope by regular mail. Never any problem. So that’s what I agreed and did in this case too. But the seller claimed to have never received my envelope stacked with dollars. A couple of guys on the PS forum knew him, and told me he was reputable. And I really wanted this manual. So I got more dollars, another envelop and this time within a week I got a mail from him, he had received the money and the manual was on its way. So in the end I had paid double on what I had bid for, but that was okay.

About 6 months later I get an email from this same Bay-seller; guess what, he wrote, your original envelope with dollars has arrived! And he returned the money to me!! Very pleased with that and it confirmed to me that most people are honest.



Another very useful manual to aspiring SIM enthusiast is the Boeing Crew Training manual. I actually have a few different versions of this training manual. It deals with all aspects of how to fly the 747, including emergencies and some unusual configurations.





I already mentioned checklist. Cockpit crews use checklist!! I love checklists! Anorak fact: in the merchant navy we also used checklist in both the engine room and on the bridge!

I have a whole collection. But the first ones I got from my friend Ton. he had got himself various manuals of various carriers and he gave me some.







Most of the time I “flew” my Precision Simulator I simulated either Cargolux or KLM 747-400s. One of my true treasure troves is a complete KLM Aircraft Operations Manual , three volumes. I found these, second hand, at the aviationmegastore at the time.



In the pre-9/11 days I often managed to talk myself into the cockpit and I was often allowed to stay in the cockpit during the whole flight including take off and landing. I always carried my PS1 manual with me (see the very fist image). I would hand it over to the purser and ask him if he could check with the captain is he was familiar with this software. That nearly always got me an invite to the cockpit! Often the cockpit crews would hand me their old documents, flight plans and so on. Below one of cherished and much used NAT chart. A BA captain on an actual 747 that was taking us to my inlaws on Barbados gave it to me and showed me how they used it. The North Atlantic Tracks (NAT) are predefined routes across one of the worlds most busy and congested air spaces. Also, most of it is without radar coverage. So there was a special procedure on how to enter the NAT system, the active route changes ever so often. In those day you had to punch in the actual track that you would be flying into the FMC yourself. These days it is all a lot more automated.



Let me be clear about one thing, you don’t become a pilot by sitting behind a desktop/PC, studying documents, manual and flying some PC simulator, not even a simulator as advanced as the Precision Simulator by Aerowinx. But that was never my goal as such. I just enjoyed figuring out how such a hugely complex plane works. So I will say that on some of these system I had more detailled knowledge than a pilot. Simply because I was interested in it and it might not have been relevant for a pilot to have such an in-depth knowledge.

I kept a very elaborate diary of all my simulated flights. I wrote down the details of the flight, what went wrong, how I handled it, question I had and needed to figure out later etc etc. Than I would discuss with Ton, or on the forum or by email with various other enthusiast or pilots I knew.











If you are interested in understanding how to operate the 747-400 I do recommend this fantastic piece of software PSX. Have a look here:

https://aerowinx.com/

You can download a free preview of the operations manual, which is fantastic to just glance through if anything. Even if you don’t know that much about aircraft it will be fascinating just to begin to understand the level of complexity that goes into flying and operating these aircraft.

Or you can have a look at some of these videos:

https://aerowinx.com/board/index.php/topic,2583.0.html

The author, britjet, is a retired BA 747 (training) captain. He put all these training video’s together on his home PC using PSX.

I would like to leave you with one final epic story by a pilot called Mel. J.Ott.
His story about the inaugural flight of the 747 by NorthWest Airlines in 1989 is a must read for everybody interesting in the 747. It was published in the first Precision Simulator Manual as an addendum. Mel was also involved in the development of PS. When I read Mel’s story I was hooked on the 747. From then on, I wanted to learn more!


From the PS manual:

This chapter describes the preflight and departure procedures of the first Tokyo - New York flight on a 747-400. This "Inaugural Flight" was flown with Northwest Airlines in 1989.
While this chapter presents the preparation and departure in detail, it doesn't attempt to explain all details of the following cruise and arrival portion of this particular "Inaugural Flight" but it rather discusses general aspects of flying and operating the 747-400.
The author of this chapter, Mel J. Ott, has used the fictitious name of "Cap'n Tarmack" for the past 15 years, representing a "character" pilot that when not flying, is either writing or pontificating about aviation experiences gathered over the span of a 35 year professional pilot career. Comedian Johnny Carson, host of the NBC "Tonight Show" for over 20 years often presented a character known as "Carnac the Magnificent". This character knew all, saw all, and often could "divine" an answer even before he heard a specific question. The character wore a long robe complete with a "turbin" head gear and afforded Mr. Carson the ability to step out of his personal character and become a bit ridiculous while at the same time presenting a very entertaining new character. Additionally, almost every news story about an aviation incident or accident contains the word "tarmac" as a description of the runway surface at every airport. With that rather convoluted reasoning for a choice of a name, Cap'n Tarmack became a very familiar name throughout the Air Line Pilot Association (ALPA) group due to a monthly magazine column written by Mel, entitled "Another Crossing with Cap'n Tarmack". This column presented the world of the tragic, intermixed with the world of humor of an airline pilot's life, if that pilot did not take himself too seriously.

Gentlemen,
Welcome to the world of the 747-400!
As a new owner of Precision Simulator 1.3 (short: "PS1") you are about as close to as "real as it gets" as you ever will be!
I would like to first, before we begin the "nuts and bolts" of flying this airplane to use some words to describe what THIS airplane meant to me, and to so many other pilots. So, please take a few moments to read this recall of an airplane that is still able to create GOOSEBUMPS in an old pilot!
The 747-400 is a massive airplane that really put the meaning into "The Aluminium Overcast". An airplane, that due to its size, "tricks" the mind while watching it fly an approach that seems to be way TOO slow for physical flight.
While flying at 160 knots it LOOKS like it is flying at a 100 knots. While landing at that same 160 knot speed, to the PILOT, in the cockpit, it looks as if he is landing an airplane only traveling at 100 knots due to his almost 8 story height above the runway at touchdown.
With FOUR HUNDRED TONS OF AIRPLANE under his seat, the pilot can use finger tip pressure to change her direction. While in "shirt sleeve" comfort for hours on end that airplane is plying her way through temperatu- res of MINUS 70 degrees or below and that, at times, cold soak her fuel in the tanks to temperatures that threaten to "gel" that fuel and turn it into slush rather than a burnable liquid.
After a 12 hour ocean crossing with over 400 passengers on board, it can "loiter" for another hour or TWO, in a holding pattern at the destination and the Flight Attendants can offer an "hitherto" unplanned "snack" to those same 400 passengers, (and cockpit crew of 4!) if so authorized by the Captain. Grin.
Having already served 1200 meals while en route the galleys can be asked to provide "one more round" of meals!
The most visible demonstration of her power and majesty on a fully loaded takeoff is at an

airport in the winter. While the runways have been plowed full length and width and while those runways have been in use for hours by smaller 757's, 737's, 727's, etc., when the "Queen" takes her position onto the far end of the runway for takeoff, few ground workers, few off duty pilots, and few Control Tower personal are NOT watching.
Her initial acceleration from the runway end will be unremarkable, again due to her size. She will begin to "lumber" down the runway at a speed that would allow any old Edsel to easily beat her in the Quarter mile.
However, at about 100 knots she begins to get serious!
Her wings have now come to life and they are causing a span-wise flow of air off of those wings into a "vortex" that continues out from those wings to the runway edges, and further, that begins to "swirl" the snow that has been deposited there by the snow plows.
Continuing along now at 140 knots her engines have finally been able to GET air into their frontal zones, for free, rather than have to SUCK air into that same area. The "ram" of her forward speed allow those engines to now really put out some "mustard". Grin.
At about 150 knots, and with 8000 feet of runway behind, the airplane is getting very impatient about wanting to fly. Her "ground- speed" at this time is such that she COULDN'T, even if she wanted to, in the remaining 4000 feet of runway be able to endure an "aborted" takeoff. She is now committed for flight and as the pilot "gently" pulls back on the control column those wings take a bigger bite of that cold and thick air.
By now, on the far end of the runway where she began her takeoff roll an observer can only see a "snowstorm" at her present position. The vortex from her wings is now approaching tornado force and snow that is more than a 100 feet from either wingtip is now in motion and is creating a cloud that obscures her view from either rear quarter and to her rear.

She initially begins her ascent with her nose rising and gaining altitude while her main body remains firmly on the runway. The wings are now at a feeding frenzy with the abundant air and the engines have changed their tone to a deep growl as they also gobble delicious gulps
of air.

She finally rises off of the "tarmac"(!) at an almost impossible angle of climb that will exceed 14 degrees of pitch when at full gross weight. She will seem to hang there, almost suspended in slow motion flight, as she continues to gather speed. The obscured view from behind now changes into a sparkling view of a leviathan taking her rightful place into the atmosphere while leaving behind a visible record of the work that was needed to gain that position and to enable flight.
The "snowstorm" left behind will be her last visible and physical notice at that airport until she returns in about 28 hours and after crossing the Pacific Ocean twice, and while transporting 800 human beings over 12000 nautical miles.

On her landing she will announce her presence to all of those that have been "ground-bound" since she last departed with the same "snowstorm" on her arrival as those wings relinquish their lift and slow to speeds that finally end their vortex generation.
She will return to her original departure almost as if she is "tip toeing" back home, after being out too late at night. She will almost "whisper" her way back on to the runway. Her engines will be at levels that produce only a fraction of the growl that they were required to generate on her original departure.

She will turn off the runway, most times, onto taxiways that are yet unmarked by other aircraft tires. She will actually land shorter, at her arrival weight, than will many DC-9's and 727's. She will seem to creep to the ramp at a speed that make many think the pilot's are "padding" their flight times and eventually their wallets. Grin.
But, that taxi speed of a maximum of 20 knots is to ensure that she does not slide off of that taxiway due to slippery spots created by the "horde" of smaller airliners that have brought into the hub another huge "loading" for her return to the air.
With over a million and a half dollars, in revenue, generated for EACH of her two legs, the outbound and the inbound, she will be allowed a maximum of 2 hours on the ground
to have her tanks re-filled, her engines topped off with oil, and for the ground cleaners to prepare her interior for a new set of fresh passengers, before she is tasked with doing all over again.
After the 12 hour inbound flight, her inbound flight crew will be in various boarding areas, in attempts to "commute" back to their respective homes. If they are lucky enough their, "views" from that boarding area, will allow them to watch the next "snowstorm" as she departs and for that same and very tired Captain to experience one more GOOSEBUMP!

Okay, with the "flowery" words out of the way, let's get to the airplane and setup for a flight that I flew on June 2nd, 1989, which was the Inaugural Flight of the 747-400 between Tokyo Narita and New York's John F Kennedy airport. I was the Senior pilot on this crew and have a picture to prove it! That picture is published in the first page of this chapter.

I have prepared a flight plan, with routing that attempts to take the same path as did that flight, the only thing that might be different are some of the names of some waypoints that have been changed over the years by the FAA Route authorities.

The first section of this Chapter will attempt to take you through a complete cockpit preparation with as little distraction as possible. In other words, I will keep the stories and "bull sessions" to a minimum. Later, as we get to cruise altitude and have about 10 to 11 hours ahead of us to either "twiddle our thumbs" or take a small nap, I will get into more in depth discussion of this airplane and her systems. And, hopefully there will be enough time left over, before landing, to get some of my most favourite stories told to you also. One of the best parts of Airline flying was that you often got to fly with a new copilot, or at the least an old copilot that you hadn't flown with for some time, and therefore your favorite stories could either be told for the first time, or repeated again with the hope that the First Officer had forgotten that he had heard them before!
So now....let's get to the airplane! I suggest that you load up PS1 and follow along with the various clipping panels as we prepare for departure.

For the full story click on :

https://aerowinx.com/downloads/MelOt...uralFlight.pdf


In all honesty I don’t use PSX anymore. In 2009 I got my private pilot license and an IFR rating. the knowledge I had build up during all those years pouring over the 747, its operation, its systems, its procedures came in very handy!!

I also have some medical problems which make it difficult for me to actually fly these day, even on a simulator. But I did meet with old friend Ton only last week and he is going to take me for a couple of hours Flight Simulation during Christmas on our beloved 747.

Jeroen

[fhdowntheline]

My personal favorite is the B747-200, which to me felt even sturdier than the B747-400. My first B747 flight was on the age old flight number, LH757 from BOM-FRA. For the aviation nut that I am, I flew the 747 on just two airlines, Lufthansa and Air India (but extensively). Did some interesting landings like the Canarsie approach at JFK with stiff crosswind, some god-awful turbulence over Iran/Turkey during some of the flights. But never ever felt a moment's trepidation. The big bird just swallowed it all in its stride. At this time, it would be good to remember Joe Sutter and his team who created this magnificent bird, truly one of the wonders of the modern technological age. For nostalgia. I would recommend a nice book series " Flying the Big Jets" by Stanley Stewart", which has B747 and B777 as individual books.

[Anduril]

Flew in the 747 only once from Hong-Kong to San Jose with Cathay Pacific. Must say it does look very majestic and distinct, with that well-known hump at the front.

A quick question for all the aviation experts in our forum, any idea/thoughts on what will happen to the 747 used as USA's Air-Force One ? I believe like cars, these planes will also have spare-parts availability for another decade or so. Read somewhere that secret-service mandates a 4-engine airplane for redundancy in case of multiple engine failures and they can't go for A380 since it's based out of Europe. Other than 380 and 747 I don't think there is any other 4 engine plane in service.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Anduril

A quick question for all the aviation experts in our forum, any idea/thoughts on what will happen to the 747 used as USA's Air-Force One ? I believe like cars, these planes will also have spare-parts availability for another decade or so. Read somewhere that secret-service mandates a 4-engine airplane for redundancy in case of multiple engine failures and they can't go for A380 since it's based out of Europe. Other than 380 and 747 I don't think there is any other 4 engine plane in service.

Expect parts/service support for atleast 20 years. After that, parts can be picked up from an aircraft boneyard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_boneyard

[vignesh207]

While I haven't had the luck to travel on board a 747, I've witnessed numerous take-offs and landings up close at Chennai Airport - Mostly Cargo 747's from Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, SF Airlines and Aerologic. I still remember how Chennai Airport, which can handle only one 747 at a time, made arrangements to handle 2 747s in parallel during the visit of the Chinese President to Mahabalipuram. It was a sight to behold to see 2 747's parked next to each other.

I'm sharing a few clicks taken by me near Chennai Airport.

Farewell to the Queen of the Skies!

[sameer_vwagner]

Originally Posted by Anduril

Other than 380 and 747 I don't think there is any other 4 engine plane in service.

IL-96s are still in operation i think. Cubana flies them. But this aircraft is nowhere close to being as famous as Boeing and Airbus' aircrafts.

On a separate note, this truly marks the end of an era. I remember flying on this aircraft from Mumbai to Delhi as a kid on-board Air India. The flight commander was a kind gentleman who allowed me to visit the cockpit. This was way back in 1994 so it was ok for the pilots to say yes to pre teen kids. B747 looked majestic and was loved for a very good reason.

[mclarenracer]

I love the 747, only replaced by the 777 in my heart, but it still holds a special place; the first ever International flight for me was on the 747 and walking up to the gate as a youngster and watching that behemoth of a thing while pilots were still going through pre-departure checks is etched in my memory.

Come to the present day; I saw the last 747 at the factory this morning and had the joy of visiting it up close a couple of days back. Not much I can say or share about it, but I get to work with people every day that have spent their whole life supporting 747 and are retiring about the same time as the program comes to an end, and they share equal joy about 747 as every aviation fan out there does.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

. For nostalgia. I would recommend a nice book series " Flying the Big Jets" by Stanley Stewart", which has B747 and B777 as individual books.

Absolutely! Obviously, I have a copy! The other very interesting book is “Handling the big Jets” by D.P. Davies.



Flying the Big Jets is a detailled explanation on the operation of large aircraft.
The author, Stanley Stewart, is an mechanical engineer, who via air training school, became second officer, navigator and ultimately captain on a 747 for British Airways.



The other, much more detailled and engineering orientated is “handling the big jets” by D..P. Davies.

Davies is a very well respected name in aviation, if not to say a bit of a legend. He flew as a pilot in the UK Fleet Air Arm during WW2. He was Chief Test Pilot of the UK air registration board, later the Airworthiness Board. He was the guy carrying out certification test flights on just about any commercial aircraft. He has flown anything from ultra-lights to the largest plane on the planet. In all he flew on 175 different kind of aircraft.



On both these books you want to make sure you get the third edition as it deals with the 747-400. I am not sure they are still in print, but I see copies on Ebay regularly.

Originally Posted by sameer_vwagner

This was way back in 1994 so it was ok for the pilots to say yes to pre teen kids. .

It might be difficult to imagine for those who started flying after 2001. But prior to 2001 it was not unusual for pilots to leave the cockpit doors open during the whole flight. On long flight, during cruise the cockpit would be open for passenger to come and have a look. Those were the days!

Ever since 9/11 it has become very difficult to get into the cockpit, certainly during flight. As I have a pilot license I have been able to sneak in on the odd occasion. I have only managed one full flight in the cockpit after 9/11. I was waiting at the gate at Heathrow or Gatwick for a flight home. I noticed the captain came up to the ground staff to talk to them. I moved in a bit closer to hear what they were saying. The flight was overbooked and they needed to dump a few passenger. The captain was upset. So I introduced myself to him, showed him my pilots license and told him I would be happy to ride jump seat with him in the cockpit. That would free up one seat in the cabin. At the time I was also living next door to the chief pilot of his airline. He gave him a quick call and I got my ride in the cockpit! Nice experience and I got to watch a night landing at my home airport. Flying through Europe’s airspace is an interesting experience. These are usually pretty short flights, anything from say 45 minutes to a few hours. But the pilots are busy almost constantly. My neighbour always told me, if you ever find yourself not doing anything for more than 20 seconds enroute in Europe you have forgotten something!

Jeroen

[vignesh207]

Originally Posted by Anduril

Other than 380 and 747 I don't think there is any other 4 engine plane in service.

Originally Posted by sameer_vwagner

IL-96s are still in operation i think

There is also the Airbus A340, which is closer in size to a 777, but still is a 4 engine aircraft.

[pannags]

Awesome thread. Rekindled my memories of the flying the super jumbo.

Have had the opportunity to fly on both the classic 747-400 as well as the refreshed 747-8 versions. It was an exhilerating experience just to even think of flying on the legendary jetliner, especially after having read and watched it featured in so many aspects of commercial aviation, across magazines, documentaries and movies.

Here are a few memories from my albums.

Waiting to board "Hamburg" on the BLR-FRA route on my way back from Helsinki (2008)



Full view of the Jumbo while taxiing from the gates to the runway (2008)



A Cathay B747 Cargo taxiing to the cargo hold in Chennai (2019)

[Siddarth_Ramani]

Since no one has posted, I'm gonna add it here. The first and last B747. Source : Reddit r/aviation

[vigsom]

I've had the privilege of flying my first international flight on board the 747-400, documented here. I followed this round trip with another 747-400 round-trip to the US (BOM - FRA - JFK - FRA - BOM). I never got an opportunity to see the cockpit but understand that despite the size, this was a rather simple aircraft to fly. I've flown the A380 too but nothing comes close to the macho feel of the B747. Occupying the rear 2 seater rows was indeed premium!

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by vignesh207

There is also the Airbus A340, which is closer in size to a 777, but still is a 4 engine aircraft.

Especially the A340-200/300 which has hair dryer engines and gets airborne owing to the curvature of the earth
But jokes apart, one of the quietest, smoothest big jets. 747s werent exactly " quiet". 2-4-2 in economy was one of the more comfortable configurations.