Flew with the SAA 747 SP from Frankfurt to Johannesburg in the days that SAA was not allowed to fly over the african continent, 17 hour flight around the outer africa, what a great plane that was.
This is the Special Performance (SP) version of the Boeing 747. It has a shorter fuselage and a taller tail than all other 747 variants. It also has a longer range than the early 747 models (the series 100, 200B and 300). Only 45 of 747-SPs were built and only about a dozen remain airworthy.
Amazing video, great skills. Would never have happened in the UK, they would have taken the wings off, taken the tail off, put it on a lorry, closed the motorways and driven it to the airport!
I flew on many different SAA 747s. They are a plane I will always love. I flew SAA SP from London to Cape Town non stop around the bulge of Africa ( In those they were not allowed to land anywhere in Africa apart from Iha del Sohl (Cape Verde Islands ) or Ivory Coast). So Cape Town was 13 and a half hours non stop around the bulge instead of the 11 hours or so today. I have always founs SAA to be a great airline.
During apartheid South African airline's aircrafts were not allowed to fly over African countries and had to fly around the Bulge of Africa. The extra range allowed the aircraft to cover the additional distance nonstop
I do challenge the runway too short to take off part. It is more a case of why would one restore and fly the machine after it has been "scrapped" and put on static display. I might be wrong, but I have seen B747 freighters easily lift off in that runway length with only part power. Once asked a capt how much power he used to climb out of JHB like a homesick angel and he said a little over 50% (bear in mind he began to rotate at charlie apron and was fully airborn before he got to A1r using Runway 3l). I miss working on these birds, and will forever love them
@SouthAfricanAirways1 AirBUST is not satisfied with the A340 either anymore. It has NO orders left and will be discontinued in 2016 or sooner. Look for SAA to get the 747-8. Too bad about this gem, the SP. She really kept SAA alive during the 80's with her extra range. A more appropriate memorial should have been in order (if you ask me).
These are not General Electric engines. They are Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7FW turbofans. The GE engines on Boeing 747s have a more round shape than the earlier Pratt & Whitney models, which are kind of square.
This lady is parked at Rand Airport in Germiston, Gauteng, S Africa She was stripped of seats etc as the runway is too short for a fully equipped 747. The approach to the runway is over electrical pylons!
@flapsdwn These were not Precautionary Approaches...the pilot was forced to land this gem which was a record holder and connection to better times when flight was something magical. As for the Evergreen 747-100, she was an ex-Pan Am. :o( Nice to see she still flys at 40 years old. No one builds them like Boeing.
i think it is Scully Levine, crazy but a very talented pilot- also flying the 400 on another vid here doing aerobatics, I personally witnessed him doing it- amazing. So sad to see these aircraft go, Airbus are very good but lack personality.
If it crashed a lot it wouldn't be flying.............. I think 747's have a recommend lifespan of 30 years but the generally the older variants such as the SP were retired sooner due to the inefficiency of the engines, i recalled Qantas retired there's around the 2000 mark due to the new efficient 744ERS replacing them
thats not ge engine that south african 747sp have on their planes its pratt and whitney Jt9d engines … nice try but sadly to tell you that pratt engines are the better and legendary ones
You can lose air speed indications in a full analog plane if your pitot tubes decide to go bye bye.... And if you get spatial disorientation and stop trusting the rest of your instruments then you are pretty much done for...
Last I checked SAA still flies the 747. Just check the Dulles Washington to JNB Route. But does anyone know what airport this is? This definitely isn't Johannesburg or Cape Town. Its been a loooong time since I flew into Durban but it doesn't look like Durban either.
Can I ask a silly question please? What are 'precautionary approaches'? Are they used for what could be a difficult landing or bordering on the aircrafts limits so the pilots go around a few times and sus out the scenery?
@alex25isrory Boeing never built that many to begin with. They were too expensive. Then the performance of the 747-200 largely caught up with that of the SP, while retaining the original passenger and cargo capacities, which left no reason to order the smaller plane. Now they are mostly VIP aircraft.
Why are you typing that the runway aint long enough for takeoff?? Its more than long enough... The 747-400 uses around 4000-4500ft at st marteen on takeoff to Curacao... The SP can easely take off on that runway...
does anyone know the name of this particular plane? If it's "Hantam" I flew with that plane several times between Denmark and SA. Acutally experienced an engine fire in DF Malan with Hantam as well. Landing in Jan Smuts loading off a lot of passengers one could really feel the power of the SP editions taking off, even in the thin air of Jo-burg going towards Cape Tooown. Laat dit goed gaan.
msg1711 is right. Even with the most technologically advanced systems, you still do most of the flying. If that were the case, then why haven't the requirements changed? Colorblindness? Eye vision? Both still have to be perfect. And what about the event of an emergency? Do pilots hit the "save plane" button? I hope I don't see another comment like this on another video!
Every plane that I like doesn't fly anymore. I love the 737-200 and they stopped flying an I love the 747SP and they also stopped. Next thing is that ill like the A380 and they will stop flying.
Damn those SP's are sexy planes, and I love the whine of the engines too. It looked tough landing the microlight on that airstrip - let alone a 747! Credit to the flight deck crew on that one.
all king of 747´s almos fly bi it self..... just ask me to me....w/2230 hrs flying for JAL.......now I´m 78 and retired I,m really do not understand this video, looks like the plane have some kind of problem,....biiiiig problem
