The Boeing 747 Begins Its Final Descent

ddbl000 3 days ago 35 commentsRead Article on theatlantic.com

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Discussion (35 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

thesumofall•about 2 hours ago

It’s such a beautiful plane. Despite having worked for Airbus, the 747 triggers emotions for me that the A380 simply doesn’t. It represents an era of aerospace engineering that will not come back (in many cases probably for the better - but still!)

microtonal•20 minutes ago

As an aside, if anyone is going to Southern Germany, it's worth going to Technik Museum Speyer, where you can really go into the guts of the 747. They also have a Russian Buran space shuttle.

The next day you could go to Technik Museum Sinnsheim, which is about half an hour from Speyer, and has both a Concorde and a Tupolev Tu-144 (both of which you can go inside).

All truly marvels of engineering.

selimthegrim•11 minutes ago

Don’t forget to top it off with a visit to the Hermann Oberth Museum near Nuremberg.

d_silin•about 1 hour ago

1969 was truly the pinnacle of US aerospace industry - Concord, Boeing 747 and Apollo 11 all happened during this year.

ceejayoz•about 1 hour ago

The Concorde wasn't made in the US. It was a UK/France partnership.

d_silin•about 1 hour ago

My bad! Global aerospace industry then.

AnimalMuppet•about 1 hour ago

Concorde wasn't the US aerospace industry.

mrcwinn•38 minutes ago

This is such an absurd statement. What US aerospace has created post 1969 is nothing short of remarkable in comparison. (And we can be proud of the Apollo era too.)

A_D_E_P_T•7 minutes ago

> This is such an absurd statement.

Oh come on, it's hardly "absurd."

> What US aerospace has created post 1969 is nothing short of remarkable in comparison. (And we can be proud of the Apollo era too.)

What are you referring to?

If you want to chart progress over time, consider this: In 1919, people were still flying biplanes and civilian aviation barely existed. Fifty years later, in 1969, you've got the 747 -- consider the progress made over those fifty years! Fifty years from then, in 2019, you've still got the 747 -- alongside, as the article notes, smaller and less remarkable aircraft "that are more efficient, but far less majestic and memorable."

So what, pray tell, is so remarkable?

anovikov•3 days ago

But really, it was just about four-engine planes becoming too expensive to run. Two-engine planes won. 777 burns 30% less fuel per passenger and has almost the same cabin width. And top level became a flop because it's too narrow for a first class cabin by today's standards and all other uses for them make no sense. Top floor existed at all because it was Boeing's entry for a heavy cargo plane competition in which C-5 Galaxy won: it was meant to be a cargo plane with a small - top floor - passenger cabin.

SoftTalker•about 1 hour ago

I'd guess they'll continue in cargo service for many more years, just as the DC10 and MD11 did (despite the grounding after the Louisville crash, I expect they will fly again before finally being retired).

loeg•26 minutes ago

Fedex continues to fly the MD11; UPS retired their fleet.

topspin•about 1 hour ago

Yes. There are recently built 747-8's that will in service for a couple more decades.

addaon•27 minutes ago

> Top floor existed at all because it was Boeing's entry for a heavy cargo plane competition

Yes, but it turns out the hump is great for area ruling (aerodynamic drag reduction at transonic speeds), as observed by the 747-300's extended hump giving lower drag (but higher weight, of course) than the short-hump versions.

pfdietz•3 days ago

I think the top floor is there because the crew cabin has to be high so the nose can swing up. The cables and wiring from the cabin can't be easily disconnected to allow such access. You will notice other large cargo variants of airliners load cargo only through the side of the fuselage.

cucumber3732842•about 1 hour ago

Yes and no. The C5 has an upper level too. The whole setup solves a lot of problems at once. Opening nose makes for faster cargo operations which the military cares about for a bunch of reasons. There are usually people associated with military cargo so might as well seat them up there.

pfdietz•20 minutes ago

I understand that for the 747, they initially just had a cockpit bulge atop the fuselage. However, this created too much drag, which they reduced by extending the bulge aft. They didn't need this space for flight operations, so it was naturally then used for additional passenger space.

lstodd•29 minutes ago

Any large cargo aircraft has primary loading inline with centerline, side doors just aren't efficient. It's either via front, via rear or both.

Me321/323 was I think first heavy cargo with nose clamshell doors, but after that everyone settled on nose rising up, clamshell rear. It also had the top deck.

moojacob•25 minutes ago

Didn’t read the full article but it starts with

> The jet was perhaps the pinnacle of American engineering excellence. Its retirement signals an end to an era of American culture—and ambition.

End of American ambition? SpaceX landing is rockets… today! That’s apples to apples also, both aerospace. In other fields we have literally taught computers how to talk.

robotnikman•about 2 hours ago

Guess I probably wont get a chance to fly on one, flying on the 747 was on my bucket list.

vimalbhalodia•about 2 hours ago

Lufthansa still has a number of 747-8 and 747-400 in active operation - while there's evidence that the routes are scaling back, there's at least a few more years to fly one. They're even refurbishing the interiors to have a more competitive long-haul business class offering.

Korean Airlines has a handful of 747-8 in active operation but they're making moves to retire them especially post Asiana merger.

Air China also operates a handful of 747-8 and 747-400 on both international and domestic routes.

FlightsFrom is a great resource to find routes for specific aircraft: https://www.flightsfrom.com/explorer/FRA?aircrafts=747 https://www.flightsfrom.com/explorer/ICN?aircrafts=747

robotnikman•about 1 hour ago

Oh nice, that makes finding a flight on a 747 so much easier! Sounds like I have an excuse to visit Germany next year.

exmadscientist•about 2 hours ago

Somehow I only managed to end up on one of these gorgeous birds once. In seat 64K, NRT-DTW (or was it NRT-MSP?). The main cabin is... nothing to write home about. I was in no hurry to book another 744 leg. Upper deck, perhaps a different story.

Great seat number though.

SoftTalker•about 1 hour ago

Yeah economy class on a 747 sucks as much as it does on any other airliner.

wiredfool•10 minutes ago

One time I got an entire center row of 5 seats going from Seattle->Heathrow overnight.

apelapan•42 minutes ago

On the A380 you get to enjoy the higher ceiling also in economy. It does make quite a difference for how cramped you feel, even though the leg room might be the same.

And both B747 and A380 fly much calmer than the smaller, lighter widebodies, which is equally nice for passengers on all classes.

technothrasher•about 1 hour ago

> Upper deck, perhaps a different story.

I only ever flew on the upper deck in coach configuration, and the last time I did that was about twenty five years ago on SAA. It wasn't anything special, but it was a little quieter.

philjohn•35 minutes ago

I've flown upper deck on a 747 in Business (BA Club World).

It felt like a private jet up there, very cool. And that's even with the awful club world seats where you had to step over your neighbour to get to the aisle.

giobox•about 2 hours ago

They are beautiful things, but the last few I rode on with BA were absolutely starting to show their age inside prior to BA retiring them in 2020. I think the last passenger models were produced in 2011 and most of BA's 747 fleet was from the mid-90s. The experience was probably better on other carriers towards the end.

toast0•about 2 hours ago

If it's something you want to do, this is your call to action. (There have been several already)

There's still a few of these in passenger service, so you can easily get it done if it's important to you.

Otherwise, you'll need to figure out how to get on a cargo flight.

naturalmovement•about 2 hours ago

You can fly on one tomorrow Frankfurt to Tokyo.

dboreham•about 1 hour ago

Flying on one in August, upper deck, courtesy of a lowball points redemption through United.

ck2•44 minutes ago

we'll always have QatarForceOne (747-8)

well as long as Congress doesn't let him keep it, hopefully

BILLION dollars stolen from nuclear missile maintenance program to refurbish it

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_VC-25B_Bridge

exe34•2 minutes ago

It was a private bribe, he's not giving it back. He's probably not even leaving the White House in 2 years either.

NetMageSCW•about 1 hour ago

Paywalled.