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When was the last time you flew on a 747?, plus your general opinion on some Aircraft.


Butch

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For me it was ,ironically, the Aircraft I have had my best and worst flights on one . South African to Cape Town direct, seats squashed in as tight as they could, awful service and the plane was packed. That was about 2007 and an experience I want to forget. I've had a few cracking flights though, on the old EVA 747 combi's out of LHR in the late 90's (where the Cabin crew would get a round of applause and would all bow to the passengers when stopped) to the Sultan of Oman's 747SP a few times. We also have been to Hong Kong on one (and back) when we first started flying to the Philippines. I also flew on the Thai "Phimara" once, again a very dated cabin but a great experience.

Seems that those 747 days are now very much over and done with sadly.

My favourite aircraft remains the Lockheed 1011 Tristar. Did many a trip on them back in the day, plenty of legroom in economy and all in all a very pleasant trip across to the Middle East on Gulf Air , with the added bonus of passively smoking 200 benson and hedges as people lit up the moment the no smoking light went out. I remember looking out of the window at the RB211's for hours, just staring into the engine and the ground beyond and listening to the "buzzsaw" sound as the engine note changed. They also lit up at nightime like a christmas tree.

Never went a bundle on the A380, we flew on Malaysia's MH3 A380 on its second trip out of LHR, all I remember is being very ill indeed and bloody cold the whole flight as we were near the stairwell, and we all know what happens to cold air. It seemed to me to be a boring, uninspiring experience, despite the incredible piece of engineering that I was sat in at the time.

B777-3 EVA's are equipped with the high powered GE90's, I honestly can't fault the end user experience on these planes, even if Econ is slightly cramped the PE is awesome, I've flown Cathay PE on their 777 as well as econ, and it is a really good value for money option on the long haul flights. Same for Thai, the 777 never fails to impress.

A340 - Again, I loved flying on this. I went on Virgin's to the USA, nice cabin, not very quiet but a very smooth journey with a nice roar coming from the engines. sad I only got to do it once though.

Dreamliner. Awful, we flew on Norwegian Air's Dreamliner to Boston. Seats had a poor recline, noisy, bumpy and quite disappointing overall.

How about you guys?.

 

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I really enjoyed flying BC on the upper deck of the 747's. With only 14 seats it was a lot quieter and easy to forget you were traveling with 300+ other passengers. Flew in the 747 up until Delta retired them in 2014.

Had chance to fly a 380 one time. Was impressed with how quiet the plane was. Flew many other aircraft types over the years, but can't remember anything that stood out about them.

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At least 12 years ago on a KLM 747 from Schiphol to Bangkok.

The most uncomfortable seat I have ever had the misfortune to endure for 10 hours and thus my worst ever flight. Never flew KLM again for several years by which time they had replaced the 747's.

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Flown so many 747s over the years and one thing was clear (whatever airline) economy is uncomfortable,  Business class acceptable especially in the dome but whether it was BA, Air India, KLM, Qantas, Air France, TWA, Pan Am or the other many airlines being in economy was really uncomfortable as nearly all long flights.

Best 747 experience was Philippine Airlines in 1987 in First Class.  In those days they had the first class seats downstairs and for the same passengers the upper dome was their sleeping area (sky beds), real luxury.  It was also the true meaning of a direct flight as opposed to a non stop flight, in those days planes actually stopped en route and PAL flew Manila, Karachi and Frankfurt before landing at Heathrow.

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Many years ago, I fles first class from Detroit to Frankfurt on a 747, and there were less than 30 passengers aboard. After the drinks and food, I went back to economy where I could get 4 middle seats and slept.

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6 hours ago, Mrmango said:

Many years ago, I fles first class from Detroit to Frankfurt on a 747, and there were less than 30 passengers aboard. After the drinks and food, I went back to economy where I could get 4 middle seats and slept.

The days when 4 empty economy seats could give you a true lie flat bed experience vs the the angled lie flat seats in BC.

2004-NW_WBC_A330.jpg

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I used to regularly fly London to Orlando with Virgin on their 747 - i actually used to book economy as back then (2010ish to 2014) in their 747 you could select a 'bubble' seat - and get a really great seat for economy price. 

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I loved the EVA Evergreen Deluxe cabin in the 747, right up in the nose of the plane. It really was a separate cabin, with its own toilets and galley. When they switched to the 777's and rebranded it as Elite it went to the dogs. Not a proper cabin and no galley, just a bit more seat space, but for some reason it was very popular. On one early flight not long after the Elite class was introduced, the seats were packed out, even with the extra space there was no peace and quiet. I went to the back of the plane to stretch my legs and get a beer from the main galley there, and I noticed that a row of three economy seats was unoccupied. so I sat down there to drink my beer and soon got another and another - much easier than in Elite class as I was sitting very close to the galley. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, with three seats to myself I could even lie down, though I couldn't stretch out. Either way, it was more comfortable and quieter than in Elite. I stayed there for the rest of the flight, and that was the last time I ever paid over the odds for EVA's dodgy Elite class offering, I saved myself a load of money by flying economy and always getting a seat near the galley at the back of the plane, 63G I think was my favourite. And it stayed that way until I decided to start flying business class around 5 or 6 years ago, I was very happy with EVA's economy class offering, as long as I could get the seats I liked.

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7 hours ago, Toy Boy said:

I loved the EVA Evergreen Deluxe cabin in the 747, right up in the nose of the plane. It really was a separate cabin, with its own toilets and galley. When they switched to the 777's and rebranded it as Elite it went to the dogs. Not a proper cabin and no galley, just a bit more seat space, but for some reason it was very popular. On one early flight not long after the Elite class was introduced, the seats were packed out, even with the extra space there was no peace and quiet. I went to the back of the plane to stretch my legs and get a beer from the main galley there, and I noticed that a row of three economy seats was unoccupied. so I sat down there to drink my beer and soon got another and another - much easier than in Elite class as I was sitting very close to the galley. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, with three seats to myself I could even lie down, though I couldn't stretch out. Either way, it was more comfortable and quieter than in Elite. I stayed there for the rest of the flight, and that was the last time I ever paid over the odds for EVA's dodgy Elite class offering, I saved myself a load of money by flying economy and always getting a seat near the galley at the back of the plane, 63G I think was my favourite. And it stayed that way until I decided to start flying business class around 5 or 6 years ago, I was very happy with EVA's economy class offering, as long as I could get the seats I liked.

I flew EVA premium economy out of Vancouver for years, and that was the last west coast route they used the 747 on; I liked the old layout with PE up in the nose because it was quieter up there and one could get up in the middle of the flight and do exercises in the open area at the bottom of the stairs. Once I managed to upgrade to business and got to sit upstairs and I really loved that, so quiet it was like being in a space ship and I was the first  guy off of the whole plane when we landed! I couldn't understand why they changed it later to put business in the nose, PE in the middle and the upstairs for part of economy. Anyway, I liked the old 747's - the seats seemed to agree with my body shape and I never had a bad flight in them. 

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My last flight on a B747 was probably with EVA from Bangkok to Amsterdam about Feb. 20 2010.

As for my opinion on some aircraft:

B747 - Noisy (engine sound inside the plane)

A340 - Quiet compared to B747, smooth flyer

A380 - Quiet compared to B777, smooth flyer

B777 - Not as noisy as B747, noisier than A340 and A380

 

Best flights were with Philippine Airlines, A340, upgrade to BC in November 1995 or 1996 FRA - BKK and next April BKK - CDG.

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On 4/27/2021 at 10:28 AM, Toy Boy said:

I loved the EVA Evergreen Deluxe cabin in the 747, right up in the nose of the plane. It really was a separate cabin, with its own toilets and galley. When they switched to the 777's and rebranded it as Elite it went to the dogs. Not a proper cabin and no galley, just a bit more seat space, but for some reason it was very popular. On one early flight not long after the Elite class was introduced, the seats were packed out, even with the extra space there was no peace and quiet. I went to the back of the plane to stretch my legs and get a beer from the main galley there, and I noticed that a row of three economy seats was unoccupied. so I sat down there to drink my beer and soon got another and another - much easier than in Elite class as I was sitting very close to the galley. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, with three seats to myself I could even lie down, though I couldn't stretch out. Either way, it was more comfortable and quieter than in Elite. I stayed there for the rest of the flight, and that was the last time I ever paid over the odds for EVA's dodgy Elite class offering, I saved myself a load of money by flying economy and always getting a seat near the galley at the back of the plane, 63G I think was my favourite. And it stayed that way until I decided to start flying business class around 5 or 6 years ago, I was very happy with EVA's economy class offering, as long as I could get the seats I liked.

I've found EVA Elite to be almost empty each time I fly. I did always prefer the Deluxe on the 747 though, plus we got upgraded to Biz once and went upstairs which was great. If I remember Deluxe worked out around £500 - £650 back in the late 90's early 00's over around £300 - £400 for an econ seat depending upon the month, so it was a no brainer. (forgive my hazy memory if I'm wrong)

I flew a fair few times on the 777 in econ, the 3-3-3 arrangement was fine, but as I got older and my shoulder kept giving me gyp I moved over to PE. The product has changed over the years, like everything else has in the airline business and not for the better.

Nowadays the 3-4-3 on the 777's which I think is pretty much rolled out across the fleet by now also just isn't doing it for me, plus there's one less set of bogs which makes life even worse, so I'm always going to fly PE now. Cathay's PE offering is better than EVA's I guess, we use that as a gateway to increase our Marco polo mileage and then bump up to Cathay's Biz  (a very good product indeed). We were due to go direct with PAL in their PE last year but that got kicked in the bollocks sadly.

Getting back onto the subject of the old EVA 747 Combis, I couldn't get my head around why the cabin was smaller, I honestly thought the rear of the plane was for the passengers going to Taiwan...what a muppet lol.

The old L1011 takes some beating in my book though.

Edited by Butch
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40 minutes ago, Butch said:

[...]

Getting back onto the subject of the old EVA 747 Combis, I couldn't get my head around why the cabin was smaller, I honestly thought the rear of the plane was for the passengers going to Taiwan...what a muppet lol.

With KLM you had a good chance of finding some extra horse power there 😉

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My last 747 flight was my phone tells me, Tue 20th August, 2019. 

Here I am scowling in 1K because my buddy switched us around so he had 1A at checkin when I wasn't paying attention.

We were booked in on a 747 in 1A/K again flying home a few days later but one of the RB211's was NBG, flight cancelled and we were pushed onto a 777 a couple of hours later. 

Little did i know that i'd never fly on BA's Queen again. 

Lufthansa and Korea both still operate the 747-8 though and I plan to take a flight ASAP.

I was once on BA10, one of the last 747 ops, in 64K. we came into LHR and the weather was HOWLING. We got hit by shear at about 100ft well inside the perimeter and over the 27L threshold, the PIC thought sod this and as I heard the RB's throttle up I thought OH f**k YES as we went up and around on full power at what must have been 250,000lb thrust Vs 450,000lb all up weight. The dolly i'd been chatting with said that it was the most intense go-around she'd experienced in 15 years on the job. I have searched YT ever since but it seems no spotters were there to capture it.

 

 

747.jpg

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Other aircraft - 

DC-10 - Lpud, spacious, rattly af, I was on the last ever DC-10 operated out of the UK.

A380 - BIg, boring. Love the huge upstairs fwd toilets though and the UD mid bar/lounge that some operators have.

777 (all variants) - Hate them.

A340 - Like these, quirky, smooth, spacious, loooonnnnnnnnnngggggggggg. Good for getting mid-flight walks to stretch ones legs.

787 - Love them, it's true, the fresh air and lower cabin alt. pressure really do make a difference. The chromatic windows are shit though.

A350 - Nice, real sense of openness and spaciousness, best Airbus effort. 

757 - Loved these, with the RB211's, a real sport plane.

BBJ - I worked for an org. once that bought two of these brand spanking new, based on 737-800 i think. Made Global's, G5/6's, Falcons etc seem tiny.

BAC/Aerospatiale Concorde - Peerless. Perfect. 

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One thing about the B777 is that apart from the Malaysian ones getting shot down/going missing I don't recall any fatalities  from any other incidents/accidents.

When you think that includes the Asiana San Fransisco accident then that must be one strong airframe.

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7 minutes ago, coxyhog said:

One thing about the B777 is that apart from the Malaysian ones getting shot down/going missing I don't recall any fatalities  from any other incidents/accidents.

When you think that includes the Asiana San Fransisco accident then that must be one strong airframe.

There was at least one fatality at the Asiana San Fransisco accident, but it can't be blamed directly on the incident as she was run over by a firetruck after escaping the plane.

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18 hours ago, Freee!! said:

There was at least one fatality at the Asiana San Fransisco accident, but it can't be blamed directly on the incident as she was run over by a firetruck after escaping the plane.

Cant believe this got broadcast but it did

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On 4/27/2021 at 9:47 AM, maipenrai said:

I flew EVA premium economy out of Vancouver for years, and that was the last west coast route they used the 747 on; I liked the old layout with PE up in the nose because it was quieter up there and one could get up in the middle of the flight and do exercises in the open area at the bottom of the stairs. Once I managed to upgrade to business and got to sit upstairs and I really loved that, so quiet it was like being in a space ship and I was the first  guy off of the whole plane when we landed! I couldn't understand why they changed it later to put business in the nose, PE in the middle and the upstairs for part of economy. Anyway, I liked the old 747's - the seats seemed to agree with my body shape and I never had a bad flight in them. 

I took the same ride from 2007 till 2019 . The seats up in the nose were the best .

Now they use the Dreamliner out of YVR and have eliminated the Economy deluxe all together .

So it's either a $1000 seat or a $5000+ seat now . 

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8 minutes ago, Pillow Biter said:

I took the same ride from 2007 till 2019 . The seats up in the nose were the best .

Now they use the Dreamliner out of YVR and have eliminated the Economy deluxe all together .

So it's either a $1000 seat or a $5000+ seat now . 

Oh yes, I am well aware of this - when I was booking my last holiday in the summer of 2019, I couldn't make the return leg work for premium economy and finally in frustration I called EVA's YVR office and was told that as of February 2020 they were changing to the 787 with no more PE; I then booked with Cathay Pacific instead in premium economy but didn't like it as much as EVA's, and ended up flying home on KAL anyway thanks to COVID. 

Oddly enough, though, I booked a trip in March from YVR on EVA in PE for this December and the ticket shows all flights as being on the 777 so maybe they changed their minds yet again - I have a feeling I may end up postponing or god forbid, cancelling anyway the way things are going...

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3 hours ago, maipenrai said:

Oh yes, I am well aware of this - when I was booking my last holiday in the summer of 2019, I couldn't make the return leg work for premium economy and finally in frustration I called EVA's YVR office and was told that as of February 2020 they were changing to the 787 with no more PE; I then booked with Cathay Pacific instead in premium economy but didn't like it as much as EVA's, and ended up flying home on KAL anyway thanks to COVID. 

Oddly enough, though, I booked a trip in March from YVR on EVA in PE for this December and the ticket shows all flights as being on the 777 so maybe they changed their minds yet again - I have a feeling I may end up postponing or god forbid, cancelling anyway the way things are going...

I was booked for March last year . Between the time i booked and my departure date of course the world 

went for a shit . Eva phoned me a week before i was to fly out and told me they couldn't gaurantee me 

a ride back in a month's time . And here we still sit 😑

Can't believe EVA ordered those planes with no PE seating . I hope they dump it on this run.

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28 minutes ago, Shaksey said:

Think this is the last time I was in my favourite daytime 744 seat - UD 62K. My birthday in 2018. Yes, I was suitably congratulated by the entire BA crew. 🙂
62K.jpg

Was it a bit chilly in that seat? I've found seats next an exit to be cold due to the seals on an exit door are not 100% airtight. That little bit of air escaping the cabin makes the area around the door colder than the rest of the cabin.

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11 hours ago, Shaksey said:

Think this is the last time I was in my favourite daytime 744 seat - UD 62K. My birthday in 2018. Yes, I was suitably congratulated by the entire BA crew. 🙂

 

62K.jpg

That looks more like 62A (left side of the cabin).

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