There is an article in Smithsonian's Air & Space magazine - dated April/May 1990 entitled Countdown - When American Airlines decided to inaugurate 747 service ahead of schedule, the company cut itself a short fuse. By John Flanagan.

I was hoping to find it archived at their website, but no luck.

Maybe I can bring it to this thread in installments. There are some outstanding photos; I wish I had a scanner, so I could share them.

At any rate, the article begins:

The night of Tuesday, February 24, 1970, was bitter cold in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a steady wind blew across the ramp at American Airlines' maintenance base. Around midnight a crowd outside Hangar 5 strained to see a 747 on approach. The airplane was arriving straight from the Boeing factory near Seattle, Washington, where hours earlier it had been turned over to American. Finally, the 747's distinctive outline could be discerned, and shortly after, the airplane touched down and taxied to the ramp. As the giant hangar doors rumbled open, the four enormous Pratt & Whitney JT9D fanjet engines shut down and a tractor pulled the 747 inside. The doors closed behind it, and crews pulled power carts and stands into position for the squads of technicians poised to swarm over the airplane.

To be continued........