First 747-400 leaves for desert
Sep 26, 2009, 12:26 pm
#78
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: BA, bmi, USAir, Aeroplan, AirBerlin, Marriott, SolMeliaMas, BAAWorldpoints
Posts: 793
This really is the beginning of the end of an era, one which should have started in May, 1970 but which actually commenced a year later.
I can't imagine BA without 747s.
I remember my first 747 flight, on a BOAC 747-136, in July, 1972, as if it was yesterday. The size of the cabin! The IFE (including the movie "Hot Rock")! I was well and truly gobsmacked.
For me, though, it's the -136s especially (but also the -236s) which have a special place. Interestingly, I was flying BA 747-136s as late as the summer of 1999.
The day the last BA 747 is withdrawn from service will be a sad one. Let's hope at least one will end up in a museum.
I can't imagine BA without 747s.
I remember my first 747 flight, on a BOAC 747-136, in July, 1972, as if it was yesterday. The size of the cabin! The IFE (including the movie "Hot Rock")! I was well and truly gobsmacked.
For me, though, it's the -136s especially (but also the -236s) which have a special place. Interestingly, I was flying BA 747-136s as late as the summer of 1999.
The day the last BA 747 is withdrawn from service will be a sad one. Let's hope at least one will end up in a museum.
Dec 10, 2009, 6:07 pm
#79
Join Date: Dec 2006
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 1,212
http://www.airliners.net/photo//1623701/L/
Spot the BA 744 -- looks sad just sitting there in the middle of nowhere.
Spot the BA 744 -- looks sad just sitting there in the middle of nowhere.
Dec 10, 2009, 10:09 pm
#80
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: YYZ
Programs: BA Gold/Marriott Gold/HH Diamond/IC Plat Amba
Posts: 5,989
It's sad to see any 747 sitting in the desert. The 747 will always be my favourite airliner starting from the first one I saw(a Pan Am on approach to LHR while I was in Hyde Park as a kid in the summer of 1970) to my first flight on one(all I remember it was "Virginia Water" which I must have flown on at least 20 times before she was scrapped). It's hard to believe at one time LHR-YYZ was at peak times 3 BA 747's daily. Now we are down to 2 767's daily. 
Dec 11, 2009, 4:11 am
#81
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
Programs: Mucci of the Dominion of Maple and Moose; Keeper of Sir MightyMoose; BAEC Silver; AC MileagePlus
Posts: 1,311
Do planes ever come back out of the desert into service? I can't imagine all that exposure to the elements and dust and sand can be any good!!
It's a sad sight to see so many languishing there, esp. the wide-bodies, which I always have a soft spot for!
I miss the 744s! None next summer so far 
I may be crazy enough to detour and go via JFK or the west coast even - isn't that mad?!?
It's a sad sight to see so many languishing there, esp. the wide-bodies, which I always have a soft spot for!
I may be crazy enough to detour and go via JFK or the west coast even - isn't that mad?!?
Last edited by Capricorn70; Dec 11, 2009 at 4:20 am
Dec 11, 2009, 4:26 am
#82
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 862
I'd imagine they get the once over, but they'll be well protected with plenty of covers and sticky tape. You might have seen the odd plane on the sidelines at many airports with the jazzy little covers over the jet engines.
Dec 11, 2009, 4:31 am
#83
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: LHR
Programs: BAEC GGL & CCR / QF LTG
Posts: 829
Jase.
Dec 11, 2009, 10:20 am
#85
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Programs: BA bronze
Posts: 51
http://www.airliners.net/photo//1623701/L/
Spot the BA 744 -- looks sad just sitting there in the middle of nowhere.
Spot the BA 744 -- looks sad just sitting there in the middle of nowhere.
Pretty sure I parked next to its pilot in Waitrose yesterday
Dec 11, 2009, 2:14 pm
#87
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Home: East Mids UK - Work (Base): Accra, Ghana.
Programs: BAEC: Silver - Marriott: Titanium
Posts: 12,086
She looks so sad out there... I nearly said lonely, but she has plenty of other planes to talk to, but still sad...
Maybe we can just think of her having a nice holiday in the californian sun..?
Maybe we can just think of her having a nice holiday in the californian sun..?
Dec 11, 2009, 2:19 pm
#88
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: London, Sydney
Programs: Muccihood de la Rotisserie Doree, BAEC Gold, SAS Eurobonus basic, Ansett Golden Wing :-(
Posts: 3,114
Dec 11, 2009, 2:50 pm
#89
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold, SQ Gold, KQ Platinum, IHG Diamond Ambassador, Hilton Gold, Marriott Silver, Accor Silver
Posts: 16,348
Dec 11, 2009, 3:25 pm
#90
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland
Programs: BA gold
Posts: 3,902
Are these places just temporary storage until the airline needs them again or until the airline finds a buyer when the market picks up? I ask this because there seems to be no attempt at salvage or taking off the livery from any of the planes.
As for tape and duct tapes to keep the dust out, I'd love to know what tapes exactly because I'd like to keep some out of my office in the Libyan desert!
As for tape and duct tapes to keep the dust out, I'd love to know what tapes exactly because I'd like to keep some out of my office in the Libyan desert!