End of the road for the 747.

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To keep this in perspective, BA are only retiring their 32 747s. There are over 400 currently in airline service, plus freighters and other derivatives. So there will be 747s around for some time to come yet ;)

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That would be right - it’s ability to get off the ground from short, high-altitude, high ambient temperature runways meant it was a bit of a hotrod in normal conditions which is one reason the pilots loved them.

By contrast, a pilot friend of mine told me years ago that the only reason the original Airbus A340's could actually get airborne was due to the combined effects of the length of the take-off roll and the curvature of the earth ;):D

What I find strange is the Fact that no-one has mentioned the Seating Layout of the VC-10?
 
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Sorry, I'm mistaken. Just looked up its operational history and I couldn't have flown on a VC-10, it had ceased to operate commercially by the time I began taking business trips in 1984. Strange, without looking it up, I was quite confident I'd been on one. My loss I guess.

Perhaps you were thinking of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 (later upgraded to MD-10)?
 
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What I find strange is the Fact that no-one has mentioned the Seating Layout of the VC-10?
AFAIK, civilian examples were all single aisle with two rows of two (business) and two rows of three (economy), so nothing unusual in that. But...

ISTR that (at least some of) the RAF ones had rear-facing seats. Is that correct?
 
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AFAIK, civilian examples were all single aisle with two rows of two (business) and two rows of three (economy), so nothing unusual in that. But...

ISTR that (at least some of) the RAF ones had rear-facing seats. Is that correct?

Yes the Seats were all Facing the Tail, one of a small number of Aircraft that had the Seats Installed Correctly! 🤔
 
ISTR that (at least some of) the RAF ones had rear-facing seats. Is that correct?
That’s correct.
there was a large area with loading rails and webbing at the front, and then all passenger seats faced the rear.
Flew to Laarbruck then Decimomanu in the nineties to install a computer system in the NATO base there.
That’s where I saw the Italian airforce show off the incredible climbing ability - with afterburners- of the Starfighter they were still using.
 
To keep this in perspective, BA are only retiring their 32 747s. There are over 400 currently in airline service, plus freighters and other derivatives. So there will be 747s around for some time to come yet ;)

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Especially until Prezza gets round to replacing Air Force One .

Doesn’t The Donald want a Dreamliner ( or two ) ?
 
AFAIK, civilian examples were all single aisle with two rows of two (business) and two rows of three (economy), so nothing unusual in that. But...

ISTR that (at least some of) the RAF ones had rear-facing seats. Is that correct?
Yes , that’s right
 
Yes the Seats were all Facing the Tail, one of a small number of Aircraft that had the Seats Installed Correctly! 🤔
And some had a huge side cargo door : I remember a PR photo showing a RR Phantom being driven out !
 
First flew in one of those to New York courtesy of Freddie Laker in 1976. (Missed the hot summer in the UK!)
Initial thoughts were amazement that something so big could actually take off.
I believe that a fully laden early 747 only just about made it into the sky!!
 
Earlier posts on “if they look right, they fly right” 😁

A380s only get off the ground because they’re so ugly, the earth repels them.
😂😂😂
 
Earlier posts on “if they look right, they fly right” 😁

A380s only get off the ground because they’re so ugly, the earth repels them.
😂😂😂
There used to be a similar saying about helicopters 😊

And I still think that , despite its faults , the Comet was one of the nicest and cleanest looking airliners ever built .
 
....and the beginning of a new era?

More like a cul-de-sac, IMO.

However good the automation, I don't think there are many people who would get on a commercial flight with no flight-qualified crew in the cockpit. I know I'd rather trust someone with their own life on the line to get me back on the ground safely when something unanticipated goes wrong rather than rely upon someone having anticipated the situation and coded for it perhaps many years beforehand.

As the old saying goes, by their nature, pilots come from a long line of survivors ;)
 
....and the beginning of a new era?

More like a cul-de-sac, IMO.

However good the automation, I don't think there are many people who would get on a commercial flight with no flight-qualified crew in the cockpit. I know I'd rather trust someone with their own life on the line to get me back on the ground safely when something unanticipated goes wrong rather than rely upon someone having anticipated the situation and coded for it perhaps many years beforehand.

As the old saying goes, by their nature, pilots come from a long line of survivors ;)

Despite self-driving capability being around for 30 years, they don't even run trains without a backup driver on board, so I can't see it happening for planes. I reckon this will just lead to pilots being less involved with normal flying but still there for when they are needed.

That said, there is already a risk that planes with complex autopilot systems lead to pilots who cannot recognise what's happening when it all goes wrong. AF447 makes for a fascinating case study. Air France Flight 447 - Wikipedia
 

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