Then There Were Only Six ....

[G-CIVA]

The last Qantas RR powered 747-438 VH-OJU Lord Howe Island departed Sydney yesterday evening on its final revenue service as QF99 to LAX.  From there it will have its titles painted out before a short ferry flight to Mojave on Wed 16 Oct 19.  Probably the last ever RR powered 744 departure from SYD too.

https://youtu.be/Jj04alKo320?t=79

This leaves only six 747-438(ER) aircraft in the Qantas fleet .... all to be retired within the next 12 months or so.

[martin]

Moderator: Should not posts on such subjects better be suppressed?
They make us feel old! 
The Mojave is nice, though...

[John Golin]

 

[Avi]

When summer season ends in two weeks, El Al will retire its last two 744s: 4X-ELA & 4X-ELC (they serve now only BKK and BCN).

They plan a special flight for special guests on Fri Nov 1 to Rome and the return flight on Sun Nov 3 will be the very last El Al 747 passenger flight.

They even retired the freighter 744 (4X-ELF) but they do lease another one (not sure if dry or wet lease).

At least we have CAL.

Sad

[John H Watson]

This leaves only six 747-438(ER) aircraft in the Qantas fleet .... all to be retired within the next 12 months or so.

Interesting. I wonder which aircraft will be flown from Sydney to Haneda (Tokyo). It seems to be an ideal size. It always seems to be 85%~100% full (so A330's will be too small and A380's too big).

[Markus Vitzethum]

Luckily, Lufthansa still has 13 aircraft in the fleet (747-430) (will probably be replaced by the 777-9X) and with an extra of 19 airframes of the 747-8i, there will be hopefully many more 747 years with Lufthansa.

And BA has a a fleet size of 33 744s remaining...

Markus

[G-CIVA]

Perhaps for some there is life after retirement ...

http://theqantassource.com/withdrawn-qantas-b747-400-vh-oju-positions-to-moses-lake-for-rolls-royce-test-bed-conversion/

[Sebastian]

I was recently at the window seat of a 77W while boarding @ PVG T2, when suddenly I heard a massive roar approaching in the background. I turned around and saw one of LH's 744 just after lift-off from RWY 34L departing for FRA into the night - big, big, big smile on my face!
What a distinct sound, but even more: what a majestic view!!! Silly me was too slow to capture the moment for eternity...
So sad, that we'll see her less and less in the future, but nice to see that VH-OJU will live on!

Cheers,
Sebastian

[Adrian FW]

I'm fortunate to live about four miles from Manchester EGCC and offset about a mile to the north of the centreline to 23R.  Normal westerly operations means a good view of aircraft on approach with little or no noise as any wind takes it away.
 
Easterly departures off 05L/R are another matter.  Aircraft heading to the US flying a Monty 1S/1Z, Nokin 1S/1Z or Wal 1S/1Z SID start the turn to 300 degrees at 2 DME and are typically in the turn over my house.  I've watched departing aircraft for years and I can accurately guess most types before I can see them from the noise.  I also like to rate the departure.  Virgin 747's off to KMCO, KATL and KJFK are often a little wider in the turn while turboprops are a little tighter.  All great fun to see while pottering in my garden.

I'll miss Virgins 747's when they go and maybe a little more than the L1011's, BAC1-11's, 737-200's and A300's of years gone by.

I've not seen a Qantas 747 at EGCC for years, they used to do an annual special charter but that stopped in 2012 I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgMA7RJq1rc