Aviation Geeks unite?! Anybody else care about planes here?

[Marc]

I guess a good bunch of 747's will continue to fly as cargo aircraft, can't remember where I've seen or read about that but seems the 747 is quite popular in that respect.
parting out aircraft is a lucrative business as well of course.

There are something like 120 sitting in storage at the moment which means there's a lot to chose from when it comes to parts but we all know how supply and demand hits things.

KLM, QANTAS, BA have all phased out their 747 fleets.

As to there use for Cargo - that could the the one thing to keep in the air for years to come. The following link gives a break down.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/747-who-flies-it-how-many-left/

4 of the top 5 operators are purely cargo. The other is Lufthansa which is operating a mixture of 744s and 748s though the 400s are due to leave service by 2025 according to wiki.

But wiki seems to be a bit behind. Two LH 747s were sent to Holland for dismantle and scrap at the start of last month with 3 more to follow (so have probably gone by now).

Lufthansa have also grounded all their A380s, 7 are set for scrapping, the remainder stored in Spain at a location where if they don't return to service they can dismantled in situ.

 

[publiusr]

I wanted to fly on a 747 and/or A-380 once before I die. That and meet Grant from Mythbusters.

Time to change tactics.

I really like twinjets and Justin Bieber!
Hear that God?!

I said...

 

[Marc]

I wanted to fly on a 747 and/or A-380 once before I die. That and meet Grant from Mythbusters.

Time to change tactics.

I really like twinjets and Justin Bieber!
Hear that God?!

I said...

So you'll have to fly Lufthansa for the 747 and Emirates for an A380

 

[Mysterion]

And the USAF looks to be operating the 747 for the foreseeable future. They've got six 747-200B aircraft (two modified as VC-25A and used as Air Force One, and four modified as E-4B Nightwatch NAOC "doomsday planes". The two VC-25A aircraft are due to be replaced by two 747-8 aircraft which will be modified as Vc-25B.

 

[Marc]

And the USAF looks to be operating the 747 for the foreseeable future. They've got six 747-200B aircraft (two modified as VC-25A and used as Air Force One, and four modified as E-4B Nightwatch NAOC "doomsday planes". The two VC-25A aircraft are due to be replaced by two 747-8 aircraft which will be modified as Vc-25B.

I can remember there was a lot of argy-bargy over the replacement over the VC-25A - whether they would go with 747-8 or an A380.

Had a squizz at wiki and the conversion work on the VC-25Bs started in March this year.

Though they don't seem to get brand new fresh off the line aircraft for Air Force One. The current one is built on the 747-200B which entered service in 1971 and the current airframe entered service as a VC-25A in 1990 so it's probably 40 years old. The aircraft for the VC-25B sat in a desert for sometime after the airline that purchased them went bust.

If the new aircraft gets 40 years life out of the airframe it will probably take them through until the 2060s.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Wasn't a 747 fitted with some weapons system for research and testing?

 

[Mysterion]

Wasn't a 747 fitted with some weapons system for research and testing?

Yep, the YAL-1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1

There have also been proposal in the past for a 747 modified to carry a crap-load of cruise missiles, or as a carrier for small fighter aircraft.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Yep, the YAL-1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_YAL-1

There have also been proposal in the past for a 747 modified to carry a crap-load of cruise missiles, or as a carrier for small fighter aircraft.

The cruise missile idea is interesting...

 

[XCV330]

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He's made better ones since, but Peter's first real electric airplane was amazing as a viewer to watch him design build then fly it.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

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He's made better ones since, but Peter's first real electric airplane was amazing as a viewer to watch him design build then fly it.

That's kind of neat.

 

[J.T.B.]

I grew up a few miles from the plant that makes them in Everett, WA and was lucky enough tot have taken the factory tour once. Very impressive plane and facility all around.

When I went there you could tour the 74, 76 or 77 lines, whichever came up next. I crossed my fingers and got the 74, yes! It was a 748 freighter IIRC.

I guess a good bunch of 747's will continue to fly as cargo aircraft, can't remember where I've seen or read about that but seems the 747 is quite popular in that respect.

Yeah, the cargo carriers seem to be able to afford more engines for longer. A FedEx MD-11 flies over my house every afternoon, and UPS flew their stretched DC-8s long after twinjets completely dominated domestic US passenger service.

I can remember there was a lot of argy-bargy over the replacement over the VC-25A - whether they would go with 747-8 or an A380.

There was no way the president of the US was going to fly around in a non-US-made aircraft. Never, ever going to happen, and Airbus decided not to bid.

 

[Marc]

Yeah, the cargo carriers seem to be able to afford more engines for longer. A FedEx MD-11 flies over my house every afternoon, and UPS flew their stretched DC-8s long after twinjets completely dominated domestic US passenger service.

I suspect being able to pick up the DC-8s fairly cheaply was factor as as well - plus not having to wait for new aircraft to come off the production line.

There was no way the president of the US was going to fly around in a non-US-made aircraft. Never, ever going to happen, and Airbus decided not to bid.

wasn't quite that simple.

The requirement was for the final assembly to be done in the U.S and Airbus said that it wasn't financially viable for just 3 aircraft.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_VC-25#VC-25B

 

[J.T.B.]

wasn't quite that simple.

The requirement was for the final assembly to be done in the U.S and Airbus said that it wasn't financially viable for just 3 aircraft.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_VC-25#VC-25B

Yeah, there you go. It was a political non-starter. Whatever requirement or specification it took to poison the deal for Airbus was going to happen.

 

[Mysterion]

Here's a video about the 747 as aircraft carrier idea I mentioned up=thread:

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[Gingerbread Demon]

Here's a video about the 747 as aircraft carrier idea I mentioned up=thread:

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I watched that a few weeks back very interesting idea. How skilled would the pilots of those fighters have to be to dock with that though, it would be nerve wracking.

 

[StarCruiser]

Nowadays - you could probably automate that process...

During the tests for the XF-85 "Goblin", there were incidents involving the canopy getting smashed during docking tests. Just too dangerous.

 

[Marc]

Nowadays - you could probably automate that process...

During the tests for the XF-85 "Goblin", there were incidents involving the canopy getting smashed during docking tests. Just too dangerous.

Would image the approach would have to be planned careful to avoid the wake turbulence from the carrier 747.

 

[Santaman]

Lufthansa just dropped 6 of their 747's off on a former military airfield in my neighborhood, they're parked there either for a long period of storage or to be dismantled by a company that is located on the airfield.

 

[Marc]

Lufthansa just dropped 6 of their 747's off on a former military airfield in my neighborhood, they're parked there either for a long period of storage or to be dismantled by a company that is located on the airfield.

unless you're a hot dry climate, I think they're for scrapping.

According to wiki, they had 8 747-400s in the fleet so you'll need to pay a visit and recount in case you missed some

 

[Santaman]

I'm in the Netherlands so hot and dry isn't usually what the weather is like here. But on the news they said that they could easily last a year or so without any problems, they're being properly sealed up and mothballed.