My good friend Brandon and I went on a bit of a road trip down to the States last week, and naturally had to stop by one of my favourite airports to spot at. We lucked out and managed to capture the third to last Boeing 747 performing its first flight, along with a few other widebodies going for test flights of their own! Enjoy these 20+ minutes of Paine Field action!
@@nickolliver3021 History !!! The 747 in freighter service will fly for decades to come, many are still in the ar after DECADES of service !!!! DUUUUH!!!!!!!!
@@nickolliver3021 In 2016 the AVERAGE age of 747s in Delta Air Lines fleet was almost 25 years with the oldest at 27.5 years. That's in passenger service. Since the 747 is very well suited to freighter duty, including conversion of passenger 747s to freighter service they typically fly another 20+ years in freighter service AFTER they have flown their last passenger. The last batch of 747 production have all been built as freighters, as are most of the entire 747-8 production run. Especially with there being no real direct replacement for the 747 in terms of carrying capacity I would expect that freight operators will be incentivized to keep theirs flying even longer than they have in the past, because they simply won't be able to replace them. Also keep in mind the 747-8 uses the same engines as the 787 which is continuing on in production, and there are a lot of very old retired 747s stored for parts so it will be relatively easy to keep them operational well into the future. Will not be surprised to see 747s still flying regularly well into the 2070s. Well not me because I'll be dead. In fact believe there will still be a few flight worthy (and occasionally flying) 747s into the 22nd century.
@@raitchison The Average Age of the 747s in America was above 20 years. At getting on 30 years they would then be slated for retirement. Even those in passenger variants would be taken out of service. Well The 747 has served its duty as a freighter and now the 777X freighter and A350F will be taking over from the 747-8s as that is what will most likely happen. Even those frames that get converted from passenger config so far have had another 20 years of life. Yes, the final 4 Atlas Air 747-8fs have been built as freighters. The whole 747-8 production has all been mostly for cargo anyway. There is a real direct replacement for the 747 but the capacity will be much smaller due to more range needed (the same as the commercial modern aircraft we are seeing delivered). I wouldn't exactly expect any operator to incentivise to keep their 747fs flying even longer with the new environmental laws coming into place sooner rather than later. They will be replacing them. For example Singapore has ordered 7 A350Fs to replace older 747-400fs. That's a starter. Okay the 747-8 uses the GENX 1B engine but burns 12 tons of fuel per hour when the 777xF will burn even less, as well as the A350F. We don't know what those spare parts of those stored 747s will be used for. They could be used for more newer twin aircraft or to replace some faulty parts for the upgraded 747-8 until they are no more. The 747 will never be flying well into the 2070s because the industry will be flying eclectic freighter aircraft by then. Who knows. But again the 747f /8f will most likely will not fly well into the 22nd Century as twin freighters will be fully running anyway.
They will be flying for decades to come. the USAF has not as yet received their last 2 that will be the VC25A's for Air Force One and the old AF 1's are over 30 years old !! !
What an amazing catch Alex! What are you doing down in Paine Field? Its sad to see this iconic aircraft slowly start to leave our skies over the years.. Thank you Alex for producing this amazing content for us to watch!
Around 1969, 1970 I was living outside of Roswell NM on a closed airforce base. Walker AFB. My dad was in the army and he had to go to Korea for 1 year and mother, sister, and I could not go with him. The housing on the base was for military family members whose spouses went overseas. Boeing was using the base at the time to do test flights for the first 747. I would get on my bike and ride to the runway and watch touch and go landing. When the plane was not flying I was able to get up close to the plane. Walker AFB was a B-52 sac base so it had wide runways.
AWESOME Footage Alex, some good catches. I live across the water from Paine, however i don't get to plane spot as much as I'd like(maybe some day). Be Safe in your travels, looking forward to your next video!!
I didn't realize 747s were still being produced to this day. Wow. Great catch by you to get this one recorded. What an iconic and beautiful aircraft. In my opinion the 747 did ONE very major thing for aviation/society. It made air travel much more affordable for the masses.
Wow! I thought Calgary shots were great! These were something special. Especially when the planes pivot from taxiway to runway. The engines really jump out
When I went up to Seattle I saw a green unpainted 747 and it turns out it was the same one you have captured I was hoping to see it on a test flight but it was like two weeks ago. A shame I didn’t see in action but I’m glad you did! Sad to see only two more are being built
Bucket list spot for me. Thanks for sharing Alex. Love all your work. Did you hear the R A.T. on that ANA 787? I've never heard one in use before, that thing is loud!
Woahhh, I toured the Factory when that exact 747 was still being built, a beautiful machine, any idea when the last two will fly? I would love to get up and see them in person
Met my other half at the viewing area atop the tour centre. Great vantage point. I hope you got over to the Museum of flight restoration centre over on the other side of the airport. They have a DH Conet 4C among others nifty war planes and they used to have a scale sized wire half of the 2707. Not sure if that has been put into an exhibit. Neat stuff and great spotting. Navigator hotel in Everett has a 727 wing and part of a Fokker f28 fuselage over the lobby entrance.
My home airport! I got videos of Paine Field on my channel with this exact plane and more on my channel. I Just started doing video after years of just still photography, so I'm not as good as you. So much to get used to and learn. Great footage Alex to bad we didn't meet, I enjoy your channel.
Just noticed. The FedEx 777F N849FD had its RAT deployed! Apparently a few others too👍 As they pasted the, was it the RAT that make that high pitched sound? I’ve heard them test on the ground and heard the same but never seen on flying by or landing.
Do your parents know you went there? Sending Alex to Paine Field is like sending a teenager to a porn studio to whatch how it's made :-) Always thought that a plane would get from assembly to paint shop before first flight. Not even the tail of the 747 was painted. (often painted prior to assembly onto fuselage). Wonder if Boeing kept old assembly process from early days of 747 even for the -400 and -8
They always start production on new models, remember its been about 2 years since the 777X first flew and not for the FAA diddling and jerking Boeing around it would be certified by now !!!
awesome.. curiosity; most of your vids seem to have a fade between 2 sections of clips yet it always looks like the clip could have continued, the "action" seeming the same...as an aside, almost 15THOUSAND views yet only 556 felt it worth the time and effort to "LIKE"?Come ON people.. we know how this works...
