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Recursion

(56,582 posts)
Sun Sep 30, 2018, 10:00 AM Sep 2018

Happy 50th birthday to the 747

The plane that transformed the world in the way very few vehicles have. Possibly only the Model T, Dutch cargo fluyt, and lateen-sailed dhow compare. While most of us think of the 747 as a passenger vehicle, in terms of the flight hours and economics that use is just a rounding error compared to its use as a cargo vehicle. This is the plane that made the globalized world we are currently burning down possible.

Here is an old James Burke "Connections" episode that starts with a comparison of the 747 to earlier cargo vehicles. Fascinating stuff.

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Happy 50th birthday to the 747 (Original Post) Recursion Sep 2018 OP
First boarded one benld74 Sep 2018 #1
My first trip on a 747 was Chicago to Frankfurt in 1971. greatauntoftriplets Sep 2018 #2
My first flight on one was 1972 malaise Sep 2018 #3
I rode in the upper deck of a 747 on a military charter to my posting in Germany. Aristus Sep 2018 #4

greatauntoftriplets

(175,694 posts)
2. My first trip on a 747 was Chicago to Frankfurt in 1971.
Sun Sep 30, 2018, 11:30 AM
Sep 2018

Plane was half empty and I was able to occupy an entire three-seat row that let me lay down during the flight.

malaise

(267,797 posts)
3. My first flight on one was 1972
Sun Sep 30, 2018, 11:58 AM
Sep 2018

Air India - New York to London. It was magnificent - the flight, the food service and the passengers.
I was traveling alone to visit my aunt, her hubby and my cousins. I struck up a conversation with a family sitting next to me. These total strangers offere me a drive to Victoria station where I had arranged to meet one of the cousins. Those were the days.

Aristus

(66,075 posts)
4. I rode in the upper deck of a 747 on a military charter to my posting in Germany.
Sun Sep 30, 2018, 12:07 PM
Sep 2018

I was on my way from leave at home with my family to my first duty station in Germany. It was just luck of the draw that I got a seat in the upper deck. As a military charter, everyone on board got roughly the same service. But at least those of us on the upper deck got more comfortable seats for the nine-hour flight.

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