Feeling old yet?
Yes. Yes I am....
The first passenger Boeing 777 built is being flown to a museum today, having spent the last quarter of a century ferrying bods from A to B. Boeing is still building the 777 long-haul airliner to this day, albeit with more than a few tweaks to the original 1990s design. Techies, particularly those in the APAC region, will be …
Huge improvement over what? I hate the standard configuration of most triple 7s - just one long cabin front-to-back on teh -200s and a bulkhead or perhaps some lavatories breaking up teh endless tunnel on the -300s.
The 747 is infinitely preferable as a long-haul aircraft - more space, more visual variety, etc.
"I remember waiting to catch sight of a 777 when they were new at O'Hare."
Not long after 777s had been launched (about a year) I flew O'Hare to LAX on a two week old one that still smelled of new carpet. There were only 5 passengers on that leg (more crew than that), and a lot more when it flew on to Beijing. Meantime I got to take the Coral Route.
Although slightly more modern aircraft were the norm - Britannias, Comets, VC-10s etc, I'd occasionally still see DC-3s flying overhead, often on their way in to Stansted, in the early sixties.
One memory, that is still vivid, is of lying in bed at night and listening to them slowly drone past, and seeming to take an age to do so - it was a lot quieter then, due to much less road traffic, both in general, of course, but especially overnight, and there was no double-glazing then either, so you'd hear them from a lot further away as they approached where I was, and then for a similar length of time as they passed overhead and carried on their way. I always wondered where they'd come from, where they were going and what the people on board were doing as I lay there in my bed - to the very young me it was all part of the wonder of the world, and somehow, just a little bit comforting.
On a different note, with 20,519 flights totalling 49,687 flying hours we seem to be looking at an average flight time of ~2.5 hours, which seems low for a long-haul aircraft.
>Personally I'm glad that enviromental nightmare is gone.
The device you wrote that misspelt rant on is made out of used recycled toilet paper and powered by magic beans yes ?
As a member of the human race you are an environmental disaster, no such thing as zero emissions.
Did you take a flight for your holiday or did you walk ?
'On a different note, with 20,519 flights totalling 49,687 flying hours we seem to be looking at an average flight time of ~2.5 hours, which seems low for a long-haul aircraft.'
I wonder if that's in part due to its test role with Boeing? I don't think Cathay have many short haul routes.
Cathay has some of those quite big airplanes servicing the Manila - Hong Kong route, which takes about 2.5 hours, so my guess is it's been running there. Those flights are always fully booked, and quite a pain to ride. I always look forward for the next part of the flight (usually Hong Kong - London) where there's something resembling service, good manners and civilized behaviour ;)
@LeeE
One memory, that is still vivid, is of lying in bed at night and listening to them slowly drone past, and seeming to take an age
This one is vivid for me too, lying listening to the twin engine aircraft cruising over with their synced props beating together a slowly modulated hum. I would imagine what it was like sitting in the cockpit, where it had come from and where it was going. To this day anything in our busy skies still gets my attention.
Inspired me to go into flying as soon as I was old enough and had the cash.
" I'd occasionally still see DC-3s flying overhead, often on their way in to Stansted, in the early sixties."
I remember as a child seeing passing in the sky a B-17. They were used by the National Geographical Institute to map the country.. The sound was awesome.
"I'd occasionally still see DC-3s flying overhead, often on their way in to Stansted, in the early sixties."
At least one of them was a regular visitor to Hurn airport in the late 70's early 80's, when my mum would take me there plane spotting. It, along with the Handley page Herald,ran freight to the Channel Islands, if I recall.
A much rarer visitor was the Vickers Vanguard. I saw it at Hurn one time, parked far away, and apparently it was not due to leave for several days. The next week I was playing on the green outside our house when I heard an unfamiliar aircraft noise (I could recognise the "regulars" by their sound) and over it flew, nice and low, as if just for me.
All ghosts now, these memories.
Dan-Air comets anyone?
They were regulars into Cardiff well into the 1970s - I've recently scanned a few old photographs of my dad's which prove it :-)
At least, I think it's Cardiff. Mostly looks like Cardiff, but being dated 1976 I don't really remember, some of it doesn't look like Cardiff. Several Britannia and Aer Lingus 737s, a Transeuropa Caravelle, even a Hercules in the background in "camouflage" paint (odd) and a Dan Air Comet 4C, the "doesn't fall out of the sky" version.
There's a Comet 1 at Cosford. James May's "Airfix" Spitfire is there too. Well worth a (free, apart from the car park) visit with some extremely well-displayed aircraft. My favourite is probably the Lightning - hung vertically so you can stand underneath and look up the pipes.
M.
Never flew on a comet but I did a few times on the Nimrod variant which I worked on at BAe Woodford, such a shame to see them take chainsaws to them the other year - I fitted the flight refueling probe to many of them.
Dan Dare used to fly the first HS 748 for many years (G-ARAY).Gary was housed in the back sheds at Manchester airport.
Old yep
First ever flight was a 707 on Lufthansa as an unaccompanied minor ..
Sydney Singapore Bangkok New Delhi Athens Rome Frankfurt. Still remember the awful stench about an hour out of New Delhi, forced to disembark at Athens for 3 hours so the toilets could be fixed and cleaned, but the stew who assigned to look after me was stunning bit of German engineering
Home a year later same stops but a DC9 no issues
Also remember being on beach near RAAF Sale when they still flew Neptunes as maritime recon. The sqn flew right over us, mum grabbed the 2 of us from 5m away, has a shell scrape dug and was on top of us shaking like a leaf in the time between the first sound and them going over - mum was a 10yo in Hamburg during Gommorah
It's like one of Watson's monologues from Sherlock Holmes. "I remember it was back in the year of '82."
It's just that I didn't imagine it would be me saying stuff like that. Still I've got a few more years on me, in which I can bore these young people, who ought to get a bloody good haircut and start talking properly! And stop listening to these modern music hall ballads...
And stop that incessant snapping of their whips. Bloody keeps me awake all day.
The wing deformation test on the first prototype was both spectacular and reassuring. They clamped the undercarriage down, then put a hydraulic jack under one wing tip. The wing was at around 45 degrees to the horizontal before it finally failed.
It was also reassuring to know that the 777 could fly for a couple of hours on a single engine, especially when my wife and I were on a Chicago to London flight that was suddenly diverted to Bangor, Maine after the captain had to shut down one engine. Having seen the documentary, we weren't in the least worried about making a safe landing.