TPG climbed into the dusty hangar of aviation history to find out about two-floor aircraft: Some that pioneered international air travel, some that were one-of-a-kind and some you still can fly today.
I’m a total AvGeek, and I happen to hold a very unique world record: I’ve flown on more inaugural airline flights of the “first of type” of a new commercial aircraft than anyone else in the world. This isn’t a record that I originally set out to claim; it’s thanks to good fortune, good timing and good planning that I was on board the first-ever Boeing 747, Airbus A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus A350 and Bombardier C Series flights.
The sun is setting on the planet's most recognizable jetliner. The very last Boeing 747 passenger jet was likely delivered in July -- a jumbo for Korean Air Lines -- and on November 7, 2017 United Airlines is retiring its Boeing 747 fleet with a retro-themed farewell flight from San Francisco to Honolulu.
It’s been 44 years since the first 747-100 was delivered to Air Canada, in February 1971. That was barely a year after the industry-changing wide-body aircraft entered service with launch airline Pan American Airways, and just two years after the 747’s first flight. In Canada, different versions of the 747 transported passengers on Air Canada, CP Air/Canadian Airlines, Nationair, and Wardair for over 30 years.
The very first Boeing 747 took to the air February 9, 1969, barely four months after the airplane rolled out of its then new factory in Everett, Washington. The prototype, “Queen of the Skies,” was known by her serial number RA001. She was soon joined by additional test aircraft, all working towards the airplane’s entry-into-service in January 1970 with Pan American World Airways. Since then, over 1,500 747s have been delivered.
Joe Sutter is a giant in the history of commercial aviation. And he’s also not the least bit reserved about speaking his mind! Sutter, now in his ‘90s, graduated from the University of Washington’s College of Aeronautical Engineering in 1943. After World War II, in 1946, he joined Boeing’s aerodynamics group and was assigned to work of the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, a four-engine propeller passenger plane that would enter service in 1949. Sutter would go on to a life-long career with Boeing, and is famously known as “The Father of the 747.”
