BA Lumps Are History.

[Georgeconna]

LHR will be a strange sight without the BA 747's traipsing in and out during the day, An endangered species it seems all over the world, The 4 engined leviathans will be a rare sight in the skies in the not too distance future.

I remember being in LHR for the fist 747-400 delivery in 1990,a Pairs Landing, I worked in a 4 Story building right next to 27R with a Fab view of the Threshold too. The final Take off was meant to be a pairs Take off, Weather was pants though, Talk of Negus being preserved in Kemble. I was lucky enough to have a few flight in them including being bumped up to 1st class on one occasion to Chicago. Missus still thinks I paid for it! LOL! always dress well for a flight

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=371159750917818&ref=watch_permalink&t=11

 

[RANGERMOUSE]

I flew on one once from Singapore to London. It was awful, tatty, worn and outdated compared to the QANTAS 747 I flew out on. I had booked with QANTAS but it was when they were sharing bookings. 
As bad as that was it is still a shame. After Concorde they must be the most iconic commercial aircraft built. It looks like 4 engined passenger aircraft days are numbered. Heathrow will seem strange without them. Can't be too many airlines using them now. Lufthansa still have some but for how much longer

[Noel]

42 minutes ago, RANGERMOUSE said:

I flew on one once from Singapore to London. It was awful, tatty, worn and outdated compared to the QANTAS 747 I flew out on. I had booked with QANTAS but it was when they were sharing bookings. 
As bad as that was it is still a shame. After Concorde they must be the most iconic commercial aircraft built. It looks like 4 engined passenger aircraft days are numbered. Heathrow will seem strange without them. Can't be too many airlines using them now. Lufthansa still have some but for how much longer

Had a memorable jump seat KIAD-EGLL in a brand new 400. Yea worst business section on the transatlantic route, whereas 20 years ago they were one of the best. Their opposing flat business seats were a disaster. ETOPs the 777, A350 and 787 changed the world, no need for super jumbos anymore, hence the A380 is also out of production and already being retired young by airlines. A retired A380 was dumped at EINN only a few months ago. Why use 4 engines when 2 will do it on less fuel. Air transport as we once knew it may never fully recover from CV-19, next up is climate change carbon taxes. We may be get getting more ferries and trains in 20 years time than flying now. Will Dublin airport have a high speed rail link to Connolly and Heuston by then? Will it need it? Pre-2020 the trajectory suggested yes, post CV-2020 not so sure.

PS: For aviation enthusiasts suggest watching the documentary on BA 009's greatest escape in aviation history over 35 years ago now but a legend "I used to think the sweetest sound on earth was the sound of a robin chirping and singing on the window cil of cornish cottage of a spring morn along with the dawn song bird chorus, as the sun pieced the bronze early morning dew, but I tell you truly the sweetest sound on God's earth that day to my ear was the sound of a Rolls-Royce RB211 jet engine spooling up" (a passenger onboard Speedbird 9).

Edited October 8, 2020 by Noel

[Broithe]

As much as I spent my early years surrounded by aircraft, I've never seen a 747 close to - the nearest would have been around 1980, when I ventured to the lofty summit of Arderin and one sauntered over fairly low, presumably running into Shannon, perhaps?

Other than that, I may never have seen one under 25,000 feet.

Maybe I never will now...

They were a massive leap forward when they first arrived on the scene, but that is fifty years ago now - nearly half-way back to the Wright brothers..

[RANGERMOUSE]

13 hours ago, Noel said:

Had a memorable jump seat KIAD-EGLL in a brand new 400. Yea worst business section on the transatlantic route, whereas 20 years ago they were one of the best. Their opposing flat business seats were a disaster. ETOPs the 777, A350 and 787 changed the world, no need for super jumbos anymore, hence the A380 is also out of production and already being retired young by airlines. A retired A380 was dumped at EINN only a few months ago. Why use 4 engines when 2 will do it on less fuel. Air transport as we once knew it may never fully recover from CV-19, next up is climate change carbon taxes. We may be get getting more ferries and trains in 20 years time than flying now. Will Dublin airport have a high speed rail link to Connolly and Heuston by then? Will it need it? Pre-2020 the trajectory suggested yes, post CV-2020 not so sure.

PS: For aviation enthusiasts suggest watching the documentary on BA 009's greatest escape in aviation history over 35 years ago now but a legend "I used to think the sweetest sound on earth was the sound of a robin chirping and singing on the window cil of cornish cottage of a spring morn along with the dawn song bird chorus, as the sun pieced the bronze early morning dew, but I tell you truly the sweetest sound on God's earth that day to my ear was the sound of a Rolls-Royce RB211 jet engine spooling up" (a passenger onboard Speedbird 9).

I ventured out last Monday, with the threat of level 5 looming, and took this pic of the Air France A380 in Knock.
I remember seeing the first flight of the A380 on the news and said to my dad it'd be a white elephant. I wish I'd done the lotto that week. I flew direct from Heathrow to Perth on the QANTAS 787 and back 2 years ago. No need for 4 engines. We actually landed an hour early into Perth so our family hadn't arrived to meet us yet.
Way back in Dec 1987 we flew on an Aer Lingus 747 from Dublin to Heathrow. I was only 6 at the time but thought the safety announcement on screen was the coolest thing ever not to mention the stairs.
Incidentally, that time I flew with BA was the only time I've ever flown with them and it was the only time I ever had luggage go missing. It was dropped home to me here in Leitrim by Aer Lingus that evening after I got home

[Georgeconna]

They will be still used a tramp Freighters for a while yet so fingers cross you will get a close up at some stage. Still visit SNN Regularly too.

The production line for the A380 in Hamburg was Amazing to visit, the size of the beast up close and the cross sections you could view, you think layout wiring is bad!, Our guide for the couple of hours was the Jig designer, He was close to tears telling us everything will be scrapped.

I think the A380s went into Knock for Scrapping Noel, 4 are due to be torn apart there.

I would of though the 380's would of help on emission reduction given the capacity they could carry, Takes out 1 flight as opposed to the 2 jet twins. Also in Japan where they have super dense routes. shame really but they were flipping ugly yokes.

 

 

 

[Noel]

Hard to believe such a long runway got built in the middle of nowhere just because a plucky local priest blagged a visiting politician and hung him on his own promise.  Yes George I did indeed get Shannon mixed up with Knock. Hard to believe after only 10 years of service life they may be cut up. Boeing got it right, hubs are dead, passengers want to fly direct point to point. Not good for climate change though unless one day they can build a fusion reactor the size of a large suitcase weighing not more than a ford focus. As a pal of mine used to say when ETOPS were first permitted, 4 engines doubles the amount of things that can go wrong compared to modern efficient twin turbofans, and so it proved, more efficient, safer, more reliable. IMHO, post covid, climate change measures are the next shock wave the aviation industry is likely to face. Long distance trains could make a comeback.

[DiveController]

I'm sorry to see the 747s go from passenger traffic and the A380s also. Despite their 'ugliness' you have to admire the engineerings marvels of both aircraft. The A380s will persist in the Middle east and Asia for a while. There is no question the large twins are very reliable but large and small twin engine aircraft have still has some issues with double engine failure due to icing issues in the 777s and dual flameouts due to birdstrikes (US airways and Ryanair immediately spring to mind). As for high speed rail, it is not really feasible in the US. I'm contemplating whether to drive 2.5k miles to ski in the rockies this winter (might still fly tbh)  

[DJ Dangerous]

11 minutes ago, DiveController said:

double engine failure

Requiring some DiveControl...

[Broithe]

Quadruple engine failures do also occur, although rarely, of course.

The World's Biggest Glider incident must have been quite exciting at the time...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9

 

Nothing is certain.

[Noel]

 

1 hour ago, DiveController said:

I'm sorry to see the 747s go from passenger traffic and the A380s also. Despite their 'ugliness' you have to admire the engineerings marvels of both aircraft. The A380s will persist in the Middle east and Asia for a while. There is no question the large twins are very reliable but large and small twin engine aircraft have still has some issues with double engine failure due to icing issues in the 777s and dual flameouts due to birdstrikes (US airways and Ryanair immediately spring to mind). As for high speed rail, it is not really feasible in the US. I'm contemplating whether to drive 2.5k miles to ski in the rockies this winter (might still fly tbh)  

True. Both an Air Canada and an Air Transat wide body made successful landings after fuel starvation occurred at cruising alt but both glided safely to asphalt. Air Transat was mid Atlantic when their engines flamed out. Air Canada was over land. BA 009 was fortunate that the crew got 3 fans running again, and then their second miracle was landing successfully with opaque cockpit windows.