What's your favourite 747 memory?

[jb747]

One of the retired management Captains kept all sorts of records over the years, and he was able to work out how many pilots had flown the 747 in some capacity whilst in QF service. The grand total, over the better part of 50 years, and in all ranks, 2581 pilots. Of that number, approximately 500 would have had commands.

 

[Beano]

This is a non-memory. I flew on 747 fairly late after enjoying domestic UK flights on BAC 1-11s, That was when I was 28 and my first long haul LHR-SIN. I was so pleased to just be flying that I remember very little of it. I was definitely towards the rear, just in front of smoking and in an aisle seat. The latter hasn't changed much but in 40 years flying I get (sorry, post Covid 19, got) to sit at the front and choose my seats.

 

[UP4014]

My first 747 flight, Sydney to LA in May 1991. In economy back in the those days and all I remember is despite the yellow haze coming in over LA I remember thinking I would love to rip the door open for some fresh air. The smoking days on international flights really put me off long haul.

 

[ChrisGibbs]

@jb747 Of those 2581 747 pilots / 500 of those 747 command pilots would the majority of those been Boeing only and/or 747/767/707/737 only drivers from their first to their last day having gone from FE and/or SO to FO to Command?

Reason I ask is that I connected with Greg Fitzgerald a few weeks back for last commercial QF747 flight out of Canberra and he said he had completed nearly 35yrs all on 767/747.

Apart from the TAA A300 QF was all Boeing until around 2005 with the introduction of the A330-300/200's. Presumably these tech crews would have come off the 767's?

 

[openseat]

One memory is from the early 2000s flying SYD LAX fairly regularly. That was the way the plane would shake on rotation as the wheels left the ground - sometimes more severe than other times (from memory the ERs didn't really do it as much as the earlier 400s).

Another memory is hearing the 300s start up when they were using them on transcontinental flights. It was great to hear the rumble of the RB-211s in the Qantas Club at Melbourne while the 300s would be starting all the way over in the 20s gates pier.

 

[Beano]

As a flight bunny I took pictures of the 747 from the departure lounge. One was called Longreach, which for years I thought was something to do with long haul, but now I know better. Although not a bad pun.

 

[jb747]

Of those 2581 747 / 500 command pilots would the majority of those been Boeing and/or 747/767/707/737 only drivers from their first to the last day having gone from FE and/or SO to FO to Command?

F/E was it's own category, and not an avenue into being a pilot. Most FEOs were originally QF ground engineers. Some did ultimately retrain though, but I only a very few ever got a 747 Command. Age was against many of them.

The numbers don't allow me to work out who took what career path. Up until quite recently, even most of the Airbus people would have had substantial Boeing time. Of that 2500 people, about half are already long retired. Probably at least a thousand of them would have been Boeing only, simply because QF didn't have any AB prior to about 2003 (and yes, I know about the TAA A300s).

As a flight bunny I took pictures of the 747 from the departure lounge. One was called Longreach, which for years I thought was something to do with long haul, but now I know better. Although not a bad pun.

It was something to do with Long Reach...and yes a pun on Longreach. It was on the side of all of the original -400s. I don't know if it was still used at the end.

 

[OATEK]

My first encounter with a 747 was on the ground at the Sydney Jet Base circa 1972 - an inspection organised by a family friend for a group of us. I remember climbing the stairs to the upper-deck lounge and thinking about how unattainable it was.

My last encounter was VH-OEG HKG-SYD on 30/01/2019 up a similar staircase sitting in Seat 15B - attained at the last!

Edit: Last flight
View attachment 221430

I mentioned before that my first encounter with a 747 was on the tarmac - well I finally found a photo from that day.