The era of the jumbo at Boeing is over: after more than 50 years, the last Boeing 747 produced left the company’s factories in Washington, thus finally closing the last production line of the “Queen of the Skies”.
Kim Smith, vice president of Boeing and manager of the 747 and 767 aircraft programs, wrote in a press release: “For more than a century, tens of thousands of dedicated employees at Boeing have worked on this wonderful airplane that truly made a difference in the world. We are proud that this airplane will continue to fly around the world for years to come.” .
The production of the 747 aircraft began in 1967. The last model in the series, the 747-8 which was not as successful as they had hoped it would be, was supposed to be used as a passenger plane, but in the end was converted to a cargo plane due to lower than expected demand from the airlines that preferred for economic reasons to switch to two-engine planes two engines and abandon the planes with four engines.
The 747 has a glorious and impressive aviation history. When it was first introduced, it was considered groundbreaking mainly due to the fact that it has two floors, and throughout history it has undergone many different configurations, including a special configuration for flying space shuttles, and another configuration designed to allow the plane to carry a huge space telescope for NASA.
In Israel, the plane operated in El Al service as a passenger plane and a cargo plane, and as of today, the Israeli cargo company Challenge Airlines is the only one that still operates the plane with Israeli registration. Several world records are registered in the name of the giant 747, among others an Israeli record that has not yet been broken – you flew the most passengers in a plane during Operation Solomon in 1991, when the plane took off with 1,086 passengers – and landed with 1,088 after two babies were born in the air.
For a certain period of time, the plane’s manufacturing and assembly plant in Everett in the state of Washington was considered the largest building in the world in terms of area, and the Boeing company boasted that the plane had more than a million screws, nuts and various parts.
The aviation age of aircraft with four engines allowed companies to reach longer ranges, and in a safe manner, but in light of the enormous progress that has taken place in the last decades in the field, it is possible to fly more safely and more economically with only two engines.
For anyone who still wants to experience flying in a 747 and remember the nostalgia of the jumbo era, the plane in passenger configuration is still active on a limited number of lines and companies, including Lufthansa, which previously flew with it to Israel several times. In short, it is still possible to board a plane to Germany and from there fly with one of the last 747 passengers still in existence in the world.