At a personal level this is a somewhat sad day for me. Over the years the 747 line has been good to me, carrying me reliably all over this blue orb. It has also supported me professionally, bringing me work on integration and certification projects across the entire product line, from the short and stubby 747SP through to the goliath 747-400, from cargo and combi freighters to high density people transporters to VIP airplanes and Air Force One.

I won't quickly forget the sensations of sitting in the pointy end, landing on 10,000 feet of concrete and thinking about how near the other end of the runway looked from so high up in the air just as the main wheels touched.

It has indeed been a very good run. What an incredible airplane, built, flown and maintained by incredible people. The 747 truly changed the world.

Same here. The projects we did for the Air Force VIP fleet and the private 747-8s boosted my company to the next level.

I made one trip with one of my daughters a couple years ago where we got to sit on the upper deck. I hope it's something she remembers.

A sad day indeed, but there is good news included. There will be 747s flying much longer than any of us and there will be opportunities to ride on one for a long time to come.

Is there a way to track the tail number and find out who got it?

Used to fly top deck in Business Class on the BA 747's going to South Africa from Heathrow back in the days when they used to fly us out for film work (now they want us to walk there). Remember seeing the African continent come into light outside those sloped windows (with the huge boxes next to you where you could store all your books and headphones).

Great, majestic aircraft. Glad I got to ride on it.

About 15 years ago the Audi A5 was being introduced to the US market. General Managers and Dealer Principals from the US dealer body were invited to Mallorca, Spain to experience the new car which was to be a significant part of the Audi rebirth in North America. All the US dealers were flown from their local airport to Detroit were we rendezvoused. Once everyone was in and accounted for, we were escorted to a chartered NWA B747 for the flight to Barcelona where we spent one night. Fabulous flight with about a third of the seats taken! We all selected our own seats and I recall having a row of 3 all to myself. Next morning it was back on the 747 for the short flight to Mallorca. I remember seeing an abandoned Convair 990 Coronado wasting away on one of the ramps as we were taxiing in to our parking spot.

When we were returning to the USA, someone told me the cockpit door was open. Since this was a charter, there was no restriction on cockpit access. I worked my way up and introduced myself to the flight crew. We yakked for about a half hour - I wanted to learn about the magnificent 747 and they wanted to learn about my Baron. It was an experience that I will never forget. Wish I could post pics but this was before we had canera phones!

The pilot told me that this was that planes final revenue flight. After returning us safely to the USA the crew was taking that beautiful airplane to a boneyard somewhere. Sad…

I read somewhere that it was a freighter going to Atlas.

I was fortunate enough to fly the -400F a few years back and ride on the -8F often. I was never that guy that wanted to fly a 747, and was actually displaced to it from the 757/767. It is my third favorite (biger) airplane to fly, behind the MD-11 and the DO328. It flies like a big 172. However, I have three complaints: They are ungodly noisy inside (-8 is better), the cockpit is tiny, and if I could find the engineer that designed the galley on the -8F I'd punch him/her because you are in everyone's way when trying to take care of the galley before departure.

FYI, current AF1 is a -200 IIRC.

I had a flight on Der Taag Angola 747 from JNB to Luanda, where I was the only person on the upper deck.

My favorite seat was always row 1 (UA upgrade to first from business), as I could actually look forward on take off and landing.

I am trying to think which airlines I rode on 747s. UA, Asian, JAL, Lufthansa, KLM, BA, SAA, AF, Cathay Pacific, KAL, ANZ, Qantas, and a few more.

Our upper decks were great places to hang out at enroute stops, and when we double crewed some flights it wasn't that bad for the second crew.

The main deck cargo loading system was motorized, with the rubber wheels sticking up through the floor propelling the flat aluminum 8 feet by 8 feet pallets in two rows operated from a station at the back near the main cargo door.

Evergreen flew the 747 Dreamlifters for Boeing for the first 5 years carrying 787 wings and fuselage sections for US assembly.

FYI, current AF1 is a -200 IIRC.

Remember the WINGS Documentary on it years ago?

The truck with the pilots position way up high to learn how to taxi.
The wing deflecting 29ft(?) before it snapped...
Building the shop.

Great stuff.

Remember the WINGS Documentary on it years ago?

The truck with the pilots position way up high to learn how to taxi.
The wing deflecting 29ft(?) before it snapped...
Building the shop.

Great stuff.