Sad day for me, an aviation geek. Boeing pulled the plug on the 747. For a plane geek, frequent traveler, son of immigrants, and someone who has been to the factory (incredible - visit the Everett Boeing facility), this is super nostalgic. 1/many bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
The "Queen of the skies" really changed air travel, and I'm a bit sad that they won't be flying much longer. The economics, size and scale of travel were drastically different before the 747. Before the 747, only the richest folks could really cross the globe at will. 2/
The 747 changed everyday notions of distance and ushered in the age of travel that we get to enjoy today (me more than most!). This plane shrank the world and allowed for the middle class to explore the world in a way that they never could before.
When my parents came to the US, they came on a 747. Before the 747 they probably would have had to make 5-6 stops, instead of the 2 that they came on. Crazy enough, the 747 was designed with obsolescence in mind because when it was developed in the 60's, we thought...
all passenger jets would be flying supersonic... so they made the 747 with this hump to easily convert them into cargo jets (cargo would continue to fly subsonic even though passengers wouldn't).
That supersonic world has continued to elude us, but the queen of the skies won't be flying with us much longer. I snagged a top floor seat on one of the last domestic 747 flights a couple of years ago and we had a 747 party SFO-LHR!
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