The Boeing 747 turns 50

All of the superlatives: The Queen of the skies, the Jumbo Jet. We'll miss you.

Watching a 747 take off is probably one of the greatest joys a person can have in understand human ingenuity. How such a huge machine can gracefully go up into the heavens.

I'll miss you ole queen.

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To say that the 747 revolutionised air travel when it entered commercial service in 1970 is an understatement. Saying it opened the skies to the masses is closer to the mark. As the first passenger plane ever built with a twin-aisle cabin configuration, it was twice the size of its predecessor, the Boeing 707. That gave airlines the economies of scale they needed to sell cheap tickets on long-haul routes for the first time. Its roomier cabins, with less noise from jet engines, made long-haul travel much more comfortable too. The 747’s upper deck, that formed its distinctive hump, became the most coveted place in the sky. More than 1,500 of the planes have been delivered over the past five decades. Not many people, even the geekiest of aviation enthusiasts, can distinguish an Airbus A330 jet from a Boeing 777–two of the jumbo’s modern successors–when they soar overhead. But almost every traveller can recognise the 747’s hump.

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