The pandemic has ended a long era of freewheeling global travel. It is already certain, no matter what the ‘New Normal’ after this will look like, it will be without the most recognizable airplane in our skies: the 747 Jumbo-Jet will be no more. The ‘Queen of the Skies’ is phasing out. And I have to admit, I am a bit sentimental about that.
Johannesburg Airport 1982
Our first flight with a Boeing 747 was in January 1982. Francien and I emigrated to South Africa and said good bye to friends and family. When I boarded the plane, a few tears welled up. From Amsterdam it took two stops to reach Johannesburg: Frankfurt and Isla de Sol (Cape Verde). An 19-hour flight. Via a spiral-staircase we saw a few passengers entering the First-Class section in the upper-deck. Back then the crew in the economy section hung an A4-size paper route-map next to the toilets to inform the passengers about the flight path to the southern tip of Africa. The smoking section was in the back of the plane. We had pneumatic headsets and the stewardess announced that she would start the movie after she pulled down a screen mounted against the middle toilet block. We got airmail envelops with airline logos to mail back home when we had reached our destination. Francien and I snagged two empty middle rows (four seats) to sleep on. I agree with you: those days are long gone.
Economy class – Business class – First class: yes, I have used them all for private and business. Nonstop flights up to 14-hour, crossing up to ten time zones. Francien breastfed our first-born while crossing the African continent. We enjoyed Business class service in upper-deck together with the children on our way from Amsterdam to Houston. When upgraded to First class I was pampered like a king. Numerous times our (small) children slept on the floor between the economy class seats while this iconic plane was safely cruising at 35000 ft.
Flight path Houston - Hawaii in 1993
I always felt safe, yes homely. Familiar hearing the ‘click’ when the pilot released the brakes and he/she gave full throttle to all four engines with a mighty roar, pushing me back into my seat. The ‘bang’ when the landing gear retracted after take-off; the hum of the four engines; the boring safety instructions; the voice from the cockpit. Familiar when the fasten-seatbelt signs came on in case we hit a patch of turbulence; the blankets; the eye covers; the headsets. The flaps being opened before touch down making a howling wind-noise. No other plane has such high ceiling, making it feel spacious.
You want to know if I experienced some exciting moments flying in the Boeing 747?
Just minutes after take-off from Johannesburg, the plane flew through a thunderstorm. The plane suddenly dropped and some overhead bins opened. Loose items tossed around in the cabin and some passengers screamed. You guessed it: I felt that horrible stomach drop feeling. I did not expect that to happen in the biggest passenger airplane (at the time) in the world. I clenched my armrests and looked through the window. It was dark and when the lightning illuminated the wings, I saw these wobbled and bended upwards! While the plane was violently shaking up and down and left to right, those huge wings seemed to flex up and down. It only lasted a few minutes, but those I will not easily forget.
Impressive nose - 1985
On another trip in Athens, Francien, the children and I could not board the plane, because there was a problem with one of its many doors, causing a 15-hour delay with our small kids sleeping on the floor of the departure gate.
Three times we put our dog in a travel box in the huge cargo bay, taking her from USA to Germany and a few years later to South Africa and back again. Anxious about her, fortunately the 747 proved also kind to her.
Once I was allowed a few minutes on the flight deck (long time ago!) to be impressed by the array of knobs and instruments. Our daughter Winnie (13 years at the time) flew as an unaccompanied minor from Seattle to Frankfurt. On a flight to Seoul, Francien and I were the only passengers in the upper-deck and the steward asked if we wanted to mingle a bit downstairs. A few times I unexpectedly met friends and acquaintances 35000 feet above an ocean. I had many interesting conversations with passengers who I had never met before, like that United Airlines 747 pilot who taught me so much about this plane, the soldiers who returned home to the USA from the battlefields in Iraq, the mother who proudly flew halfway around the world to attend the graduation of her son, the couple who urgently returned home to their house which was destroyed by hurricane ‘Ike’ in Texas. All in the comfort of this spacious airplane.
Yes, I also have sad memories when I see this plane: when I arrived in Houston from a business trip in the Middle East I received a text-message: my mom was dying in The Netherlands. Within 24 hours I flew back across the Atlantic and those 12 hours in the plane seemed to be frozen in time. It was all in vain, I arrived too late.
Many thousands of miles ahead of us - 1989
Are you surprised when I tell you that I found my own recipe against jet-lag? And what is more, despite its gigantic size, I endured many scrums to get on board, rummaging for room with hundreds of other passengers in the overhead lockers and waiting for ‘the last two remaining passengers’; this taught me patience. Sounds familiar?
I prefer the window-seats, because I enjoy gazing at the world moving slowly below. In this aircraft I must have sat on every window seat at some point or the other. My favorite seats where the very front once with forward-facing windows giving me a fantastic view. The Boeing 747 is the only airplane with such windows. Business seat 1A in the upper-deck was the one!
What is still etched in my mind? Two de-icing machines spraying the aircraft in Calgary before take-off, the endless Pacific Ocean, the many sunrises over the Atlantic Ocean, the scorched sands of Arabia, the icy Artic, the New York skyline approaching JFK airport, crossing the red colored Namib desert, the star sprinkled nights over Africa, the Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, the moon reflecting on the shiny wings and not to forget the nightly lightning inside the thunderstorm clouds on the horizon.
I dare say, some emotions I will forever associate with this plane. The excitement when returning home after being away for business or visiting parents and family after a long time away. The anticipation when visiting a new destination, going on the next home-trip, our next holiday. Picking up family visitors from airports around the world. But also, the sadness when saying good-byes to family and friends and the stress when the flight was delayed and I was about to miss my onward connection.
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From inside the airport terminal, looking at the nose of the plane, it always was an extraordinary sight. Every time I boarded, somehow it was impressive for its sheer size and graceful shape. And foremost, it gave me that feeling of Fernweh.
Enjoying a first class upgrade on our way to Hawaii - 1993
That feeling of Fernweh - 2004
Not quiet as adventurous as it used to be - 2016
You’ll gather: I did enjoy flying and still do. I am never tired of looking at landmarks below, clouds alongside and stars above. I have collected so often my luggage, hauled in the belly of a Jumbo-Jet, from carousels at airports around the world, but no more. - The corona virus killed the B-747 since most commercial airlines have stopped using them during the pandemic -. Francien and I look forward to fly much more in the future. But no doubt, there will be a time of flying with and without the ‘Queen of the Skies’. This time no tears in my eyes, but I will miss the silhouette with it’s unique ‘hump’.
“Life is like a book. One has to know when to turn the next page”