The last Qantas 747-400 will do a "joy flight" out of Canberra this friday before flying to the USA to be scrapped. I'm hoping to get some photos of it landing and/or taking off, but being a work day, I may not get the chance. I'm glad that I did fly on one coming back from Japan in January - I paid for a business class and got to fly on the upper deck.
The first international flight I ever had was from Sydney to Auckland on a Qantas 707. The last of those will hopefully become part of the HARS collection in Wollongong; it has been donated to HARS by John Travolta. My first flight on a 747 was a British Airways flight from Sydney to Singapore, which I think was a 747B. I think my first flight on a Qantas 747 was actually from Honolulu to Sydney on a 747SP. My first flight on a 747-400 was from Paris to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific, and had the experience of that radical approach into Kai Tak. The plane hit the ground so hard that some of the overhead bins popped open. I know lots of people say that the 747 is the best, but honestly the A380 is quieter and more comfortable unless you are in a middle seat for a long haul flight and the jerks on either side of you think they should have the armrests. It's sad that the A380 is also being retired quite soon. I've flown on the 787 and the window technology is interesting, the higher cabin pressure does seem to help, but in terms of comfort, a larger aircraft gives a greater sense of space. A smaller fuselage means that the walls curve in more, creating a more claustrophobic feeling.
HARS also has the oldest of the Qantas 747-400 aircraft as a static display. It's the aircraft which made a record-breaking delivery flight from London to Sydney non-stop. It will be a sad day when the last Qantas 747 flies to the USA never to return. The future of aviation will be smaller, lighter, and more fuel efficient, but it won't have the same feeling as those big double-deck aircraft. We're going backwards in a way, like when they retired Concorde. Sadly, especially now, the older and less efficient aircraft aren't cost effective to fly. Farewell 747-400!
I'll post photos if I manage to get some.
