Save the 747

To my profound sorrow, that glorious empress of the skies, the Boeing 747, seems fated to go to the scrap yard of aviation history. Boeing Aircraft has announced it will cease production of the 747.

I fell in love with the mighty 747 the very first time I flew in her in 1970  from New York to London. The spaciousness, comfort, and elegance of this great bird entranced me after having become used to the workmanlike Boeing 707 and DC-8s, both fine aircraft but ones with no romance. Compared to them, the 747 seemed like a flying palace.

But my biggest thrill was when the 747 set down at London Heathrow. It landed with the delicacy and poise of an elephant – gingerly feeling its way down to a gentle halt. I was amazed that anything so huge and weighty could land so gracefully. 

In fact, modern air travel recalls Dr. Johnson’s wonderful quip in the 18^th century about travel by sailing ship: “is being in jail, with the chance of being drowned.”

Of course, passengers who expect to fly long distances for the equivalent of bus fares get what they deserve. The advent of low-cost air travel has made regular fliers miserable and causes increasing air pollution. Twin engine aircraft have mostly driven off safer four-engine aircraft from routes across the Atlantic and Pacific.

Aristocrats of the skies, like the 747, the lovely French Caravelle, the beautiful Lockheed Constellation, and the 990 km an hour Convair 990, could not compete. The new, jumbo Airbus A380 appears fated for the same unhappy end. I flew one of these big boys from Singapore to London two years ago. In a splurge-worthy of my generous father, I took a private cabin with a full bed. But again, I couldn’t sleep!

While on the subject of aircraft, one must give a 21-gun salute to Switzerland and its intrepid aviators, Bernard Piccard and Andre Borschberg. They recently completed the first round the globe flight of their entirely sun-powered Solar Impulse experimental aircraft, a feat that required great courage, high piloting skills and endurance worthy of a Charles Lindbergh.

At least Russia plans to buy the new 747-8 cargo version. The Ruskis prize robust, reliable aircraft, something our penny-pinching airline bean counters clearly do not.

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