Map of the week for the first week of February 2023 is not really a map in the sense that someone made a map, but the way we saw what emerged from an event was across a map, and the tool of production was pretty impressive.
The first few months of 1969 were quite something (for me anyway). On February the 8th 1969 I was born. Less than 24 hours later so was the Boeing 747 as the first aircraft made its maiden flight, and entered service almost exactly a year later in January 1970. As a kid with a fascination for geography, far flung places, Concorde (whose maiden flight was only a month later on March 2nd 1969), the QEII (whose maiden voyage was May 2nd 1969), and Whicker’s World I enjoyed watching these incredible vessels reach across the globe. The sheer size, power, and beauty of these three machines, often through the wonderful lens of Alan Whicker, held my fascination, and I recall dreaming of a time when I was able to make my own journeys. As a child my 50p pocket money just wasn’t enough to get a ticket at the time.
Sadly I never managed to fly Concorde, or sail on the QEII, but I did eventually fly the Queen of the Skies, and I wasn’t disappointed. Up close, the Boeing 747 is not only huge, but such a stunning looking plane. The engines made a wholly unique noise! Every time I could get to fly somewhere vaguely long haul I’d ensure it was on a British Airways 747. I’ve enjoyed many flights since, and on a couple of occasions I’ve managed to find a way up the small staircase, and onto the top deck for a real Club World treat!
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing. On a trip to the 2009 International Cartographic Conference in Santiago, Chile I booked a BA 747 from London to Sao Paulo for the first leg. I was sat in Economy with a window seat (because every geographer has a window seat and tries to keep the shade open as much as possible to the annoyance of all those who think there’s nothing to see) just behind the left wing next to an engine. As we throttled-up to begin take off there was a large explosion, flash of fire, and billow of smoke out of the engine I was next to. The captain paused, and to the surprise of those around me who had also seen it we went again, took off and began the journey. The announcement came 20 minutes or so later that the engine had been damaged but ground staff had determined it was safe to continue. Seemed an odd thing not to just taxi back to the gate but there we were.
Things were to get worse. Hurricane Ida was the strongest tropical cyclone of 2009 and we had to fly through it across the Atlantic Ocean. We encountered turbulence the likes of which I’d never experienced. The wing I was next to was effectively flapping up and down the whole way in a manner you’d have thought impossible. Wings, after all, are quite critical to flight, and surely they shouldn’t flex that much (turns out they’re built to flex to a ridiculous extent!). The crew abandoned several service rounds and when they could we were all served triple shots with our G&Ts. One crew member told me it was the worst storm she’d ever flown through. But we made it. I should be clear – the magnificent Boeing 747 made it. What a feat of engineering to be able to withstand such a battering, with one engine already lost. Passengers on BA flights rarely break into a round of applause upon landing but we did on this occasion, for the crew and the aircraft that safely delivered us.
So, long after Concorde, the QEII, and Whicker’s World had come to an end, on January 31st 2023 the very last Boeing 747 took to the skies flying from its home in Everett, north of Seattle to Cincinnati. The 1,574th aircraft to be built, and destined to be a freight aircraft for Atlas Air, it received a water cannon send-off, made a low pass fly-by of Everett, then to the east it did a little bit of skywriting en route.
Just shy of 54 years of new aircraft taking to the skies, the last 747 fittingly drew a perfect crown, monogrammed with 747 in the sky over east Washington state. I took this screengrab from the Flightradar app. The map’s quite nice but it’s what the aircraft drew over the top that makes it interesting, that and the owner is named Atlas of course.
It’s my own 54th birthday in a few days. I’ll raise a glass to the Queen of the Skies from seat 53B at the back. Sadly British Airways has retired its fleet of 747s but I hope to find a way to take another flight on her at some point. But I’m down to only Lufthansa, Korean Air, Air China, and Asiana as the remaining operators flying passenger versions of the 747. I might have to send myself freight.
