It is rare because 747s usually takeoff from Runway 28 instead of Rwy 1. Go to 5:01 to skip taxiing. It gave us an opportunity to see the beauty up close. The flight was BA 284 bound for LHR.
This brought tears to my eyes. These beautiful, iconic aircraft are incomparable and will be much missed. It is criminal to scrap them for short-term expediency and this decision will be sorely regretted. What class! What power! What grace! They will always have a special place in my heart. ♥️✈️
Just flew from London to NYC in that same exact plane. It is a beautiful experience. And to think that the 747 was introduced to the world in 1960s is ever more incredible
Congratulations on flying the QUEEN of the skies..sorry Airbus. I flew a United 747 when they had the SFO-Chicago run in 2016. Bucket list item crossed off.
@@operabilia Yes Atlas Air call sign GIANT will be receiving the last 747 ever built next air. Over 50 years of continuous 747 service. Meanwhile, some A 380s are already being scrapped.
Love the RR Engines especially those RRMs in the SFs Especially during the Blitz 1940 always felt safe when you heard our boys up overhead not 2 or 3 but a squadron of 20 thundering over the roof tops letting us know that they’ve just finished their mission and pushed the invaders back over the channel and back into France
Took the words out of my mouth! I work on the ramp at an airport, so I see planes everyday. The bigger ones always catches my attentions. Crazy how humans can engineer something so big and fly to 30,000 ft in the sky!!
What a gorgeous aircraft -- the 747 far out-ranks the Airbus in terms of being the Queen of the Skies, forever! Thank you for letting us see her once again in all her glory -- taking off! (Even on the ground, that big bird can almost turn on a dime!)
I have flown on a 747 numerous times but seeing it taxi, landing and taking off is something for our eyes to behold. I am saddened to see this majestic "Queen of the Skies" being retired.
@@fuhkangliao1 And to add to yur satisfaction ,, yur choice of Her majesty's take off ,, Boeing 747. of course ,, was spot on., no other plane could master a take off.,, with such elegance ..
These iconic aircraft have been retired from commercial service by British Airways today. Since the retirement of Concorde, the 747-400 has become the icon and unofficial flagship for the airline. It's going to be very sad no longer seeing these in the skies over London. I'm glad I got the chance to fly on one. Still, this amazing aircraft is of another era, and the writing was sadly on the wall for quad jets the moment the pandemic struck. Farewell BA 'Queen of the Skies: 1971-2020
What a beautiful plane...and how effortless it takes off. Love the airport at SFO, used to live in the Bay Area for 27 years and flew in and out of SFO to Europe a lot.
Thank you! It was a perfect combination, great aircraft, great livery, great airport and great light. You could check out my other spotting videos for more 747.
I certainly shall, Liao Fukang! I meant to compliment you on your videography skills, which are an indication that your other videos are definitely worth watching!
For me, it doesn't matter what bigger/faster/quieter/efficienter airplanes they make in the future. 747 will forever be the Queen of the Skies! We have a saying in Portuguese: once you've been king, you will never lose the majesty.
Amazing and awesome video. Thank. Made me twice happy. Boeing 747 and British Airways. Love them both. By the way, I used to be frequently on the tarmac doing security check of ba 747. I felt like being a child opening his presents at Christmas.😙😙😙❤❤❤❤❤
I flew only a few months ago on one of these planes from SFO. If you think it's impressive from the outside, you really want to be on the inside! The roar from those engines is amazing, the adrenaline running through you thinking "something this big cannot fly" when you take off... It is just amazing and I loved flying there and back. The refurbished models too are actually really nice too, remote control does your TV and a reading light. All entertainment is on demand. They have WiFi (which you have to pay for) which is at an ok speed and the graphics showing you the cockpit information is really good too. I really hope I can fly on one of these again.
You can really see how huge this 747 is when it comes directly towards you...that wing span is incredible. It still amazes me how this huge plane ✈️ can get off the ground and do it so effortlessly. I really like this video maybe because this is my favorite airport has something to do with it. Thanks for sharing!
I have no idea how many times I’ve flown on the 747 (the 200 thru the 800 and the SP) from 1982 to 2016 (way too many to count), but each time we’d roll down the runway, I still could never fathom that we actually defied gravity and got off the ground. It didn’t feel like we were going fast enough to get lift-off. My favorite seat was 1A. One time, back in the late 1990’s, Qantas pilots let me sit in the jump seat for landing in Sydney. I told the pilots my next goal was to take off in the cockpit. However, not to be due to 9/11 happening. The most beautiful aircraft ever made! 😄 I just loved the sounds from the Rolls Royce engines, too. 👍🏼
Wow! What a fantastic capture of that Boeing 747. I flew 1st class from St Lucia Caribbean on a British Airways 747 it was awesome. This is my favourite aircraft followed by the Airbus A380
Majestic, regal, magnificent, or just simple beautiful. What other words can describe the sight of a 747? it's amazing that from any angle she shows off her beauty.
I watched this video over a year ago and was impressed by the quality. I have always loved 747’s because there is something so special about the Queen of the Sky...the way she lifts off so easy from the runway she just seems to float away. It is really sad that nowadays most of the 747’s are being used as cargo planes however, some airlines like Lufthansa still use them as passenger planes and it is wonderful to still see them in ‘spotting’ videos. I do enjoy your videos...keep up the good work! This video is really special to me since you took it at my favorite airport...SFO is home.
As often as I've seen and flown in a 747 (including BA to LHR two times), I never EVER get tired of looking at them! Living under the flight path of Seattle-Tacoma Int'l Airport was great for a 747 lover like me. Then I watch something like this (knowing I was in similar planes twice) and think AND THEY FLY?!
She's just been scrapped at St Athens in August 2023 after it was hoped she'd be preserved, she was repainted in BOAC livery in 2019 for BA's 100th year celbrations and looked amazing.
There's really nothing like seeing a 747 lift off into the air....she is so majestic. It's a shame this beauty is dying off slowly, I hope miraculously there will be a demand for 4 engine jets again but I highly doubt it. The 747 will never be forgotten though haha, amazing video!
Thank you! I totally agree that 747 is majestic. Demand for 4 engine jets is fading, even for the newest A380. I guess midsize aircraft, point-to-point direct flight is the preferred way of travel. By the way, United will retire 747s this year, better capture more footage of them.
Started off great, seeing Virgin America - miss them so much! Then seeing the Queen in all her magnificence. Wonder why the Thunderbird theme comes to mind whenever I see her up close 😁. Many thanks for this 👏
Great catch, the late evening and sharp turns made the lighting perfect to capture this beauty. A bit of ATC would have just been the cherry on the cake.
Well done, Fukang! I The 747 has a very special place in my heart. It was my first flight ever in 1979 on Northwest Orient. I was completely overwhelmed by the respect demanding cockpit sitting way higher than any other plane, and of course, the sheer size of it as I seemed to walk forever before finding my middle-middle seat. Fast forward 30 some years later, as a company executive, I've been quite lucky enough to sit on seat 1A of the United 747 many times, as well as Thai Airways and Lufthansa. It's one of the very few seats on an airplane that a passenger can sit in front of the cockpit. Upper deck has been used by both United and Lufthansa as biz class cabin. So it is an exclusive high-mileage fliers seating area. Luckily, Lufthansa and Korean Air both been using the new 747-8. It's worth trying to get a ticket on it for those who have not experienced this beauty.
Thank you JAX! The sheer size of 747 is just impressive even by today's standard. You are very lucky to sit up front often. I am jealous :) The mini cabin on second floor feels exclusive because of the limited number of seats. I was in the mini cabin of EVA Air 747 once. Interestingly, the mini cabin is configured as economy cabin, where most of the airlines configure it as premium cabin. The other time on second floor of a 747 was on Delta's. I should have done a flight report because it is no longer available. I hope someday in the future I can take a seat on either Lufthansa or Korean's 787-8.
Fortunately BA have one of their flights every morning from.Heathrow to LA as a 747. I hope it continues for a few more years. It's a beautiful aircraft
I've been on this flight that used this runway. It is rare and you do think whoah - why aren't we heading south-east on the taxiway ? It's a much, much shorter runway than either of the 28's. They do seriously give it the beans to get that thing airborne in a hurry !!!! Great views of the Bay Bridge ...
I was refering to this one. A dash 400 is a common name for the 747-400 which is in this video. Keep up the good work. Your video puts a lot of professional aviation video guys to shame.
BA has some of THE very best engineers and pilots around, the wealth and depth of knowledge within BA is genuinely inspiring, they have however been straddled with a group of small minded and thuggish Leadership team formed in mr Walsh’s image.
The initial acceleration of this plane (what, 300-400 tonnes at take off weight) in this video shows how incredibly powerful this airliner (and it's RR motors) were. I remember returning from Sydney to the US on a UA 747, and despite the long take off run (doubtless due to max fuel load) that 747 just wanted to fly! The world is diminished by these great planes being scrapped, even though we know they polluted our world. I salute them, even though I know that their time has passed. I didn't fly on this bird, but I did on BML and IVC. They will be sadly missed.
You are so, perfect video, BA what a beauty. Reminds me when I traveled on one in 2012, keeping my hopes high to travel on one soon. Really good sounding , no music.
Magnificent aircraft! Even majestic. I've flown in a number of these over the years, but generally at night. My one daylight takeoff when I had a window seat was in early 2002, flying from Frankfurt to Los Angeles. I watched that huge wing sag at first, while we taxied out, then as we accelerated down the runway and lift began to develop the wing started to bend upwards and it just didn't seem to stop bending. I know that the wing was doing exactly what it was designed to do, but, man, it's a weird feeling looking out a window and having to crane your neck upwards just to see your own wingtip.
![[4K] British Airways BA 284 747-400 Very Rare Takeoff from 1R at SFO Video](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
