Totally cool experience. Delivery of a new 747-8F

[lig]

Thanks to my wife I had a great time as a guest of AirBridge Cargo, Boeing and the Port of Seattle and attended the festivities involved in the delivery of a new aircraft.

The venerable 747 has been around since 1969 and Boeing still has orders on the books for additional aircraft.

It's an impressive machine to say the least.

My wife laughed when she saw the Port of Seattle security guard vests and said "I feel safer already!" :D


Untitled by j c, on Flickr

Yes - we do share a rather juvenile sense of humor.

We did have our bags checked and everyone was wanded prior to getting a quick look at the interior of the plane.


Untitled by j c, on Flickr

Air Bridge 747 Delivery- Boeing Customer Experience by j c, on Flickr

Same for riff-raff like us and VIPs.


There were things inside the plane I didn't expect to see. Escape Rope? That had better be one long rope... :D

by j c, on Flickr

That pick-axe looking tool was wicked looking.

by j c, on Flickr

The secret to efficiently moving cargo around. Powered roller/bearings setup.

Air Bridge 747 Delivery- Boeing Customer Experience by j c, on Flickr


Untitled by j c, on Flickr

The nose that flips up for access is really impressive to watch in action. Like a monster Pac-Man.

Untitled by j c, on Flickr



Air Bridge 747 Delivery- Boeing Customer Experience by j c, on Flickr

Air Bridge 747 Delivery- Boeing Customer Experience by j c, on Flickr


Air Bridge 747 Delivery- Boeing Customer Experience by j c, on Flickr


To cap off the awesome factor - we next visited the Boeing Customer Experience Center.

This is effectively the showroom where various interior options can be viewed. Great food and beverages were provided. We played around in the First Class mockups of the 747 and 787.

The 787 First Class section was really sweet.

by j c, on Flickr

Ever wonder what it is like upstairs on a 747? I know many ballers here on TRF do. Yeah baby!

Untitled by j c, on Flickr

Untitled by j c, on Flickr

Even more cool - they let us play on the Flight Simulator. A coworker of my missus going in for a smooth landing. One opportunity I missed a photo of - a little Easter Egg on the simulator control panel.

Tail # of the simulator 747? NCC-1701. Loved it.

Untitled by j c, on Flickr



Models galore!

Untitled by j c, on Flickr


All in all - an amazing experience. Very grateful for the opportunity.

Gear: Fujifilm X-Pro2 + 10-24 and 50-140 were all I used. I shot JPEG+RAW but I haven't even looked at the RAWs yet.

[Relyt]

Omg. That is awesome!!

You do wonder whose idea it was for POS security though lol.

That plane is totally a work of art!

Great camera photos too! Very impressive. I can use instagram filters lol.
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[RW16610]

Wow, you're certainly lucky to experience that. Thanks for sharing it with us

[roaddog359]

That was cool.

[lig]

Thanks, fellas! Definitely a once in a lifetime experience. POS Security had us cracking up big time.

[TheVTCGuy]

Very cool. I wonder what the ultimate first class flight experience would be, the 747-8, the dreamliner or the Airbus 380

[seand442]

That is awesome. The POS security is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while.

[Runnin' Rebel]

Best commercial aircraft ever !

[East Bay Rider]

Very cool

[Tri-Tip]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Very cool. I wonder what the ultimate first class flight experience would be, the 747-8, the dreamliner or the Airbus 380

I flew business class on the A380 with Air France, and it was incredible. I can't imagine how much better First Class could be.

[multimedia]

Thank you very much for sharing this with the forum! Coincidentally, here in Hong Kong over the weekend, we bid farewell to the last commercial (pax) 747 used by Cathay Pacific. The mighty 747 has done more to open up the world to people than any other aircaraft ever will, IMHO.

I have a couple of Cathay pilot friends, and even if they are excited about the new ones coming out from Boeing and Airbus, e.g. the A350, they always talk about the 747 in an almost mythical way.

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Very cool. I wonder what the ultimate first class flight experience would be, the 747-8, the dreamliner or the Airbus 380

I've done first in the 747-8 with Lufthansa. To say the least, I didn't have anything to complain about ;) But can't compare with any of the other setups. But I bet they are all awesome. Also has a lot to do which airline you fly with/what setup they choose to use. E.g. business class with Cathay is miles better compared to some of the NA/Euro setups. And the service is also something that can differ, as we all know, greatly...

Cheers,
Joe

[cdnwatchguy]

Really cool, thanks for sharing.

[superdog]

Wow. That's really cool. Great pics.

[bharat]

Woah! This is amazing !

[texex91]

As an aviation geek myself, that looks like an amazing day!

[GerardoG]

Wow! Looks like a great day!!! Thank you for sharing!

[kilyung]

Jeff, those are some nice pics! Ever think about doing commercial photography work?

[subtona]

Incredible. Thanks for posting.

[andromeda160]

Sometimes you just have to laugh at the unfortunate acronyms and abbreviatons in life. When I played football in middle school we versed a team in a city called Pinkney. Nothing beat hearing 15 little girls screaming PMS up in the stands! As the beginning of half their cheers with PMS logo'd across their uniforms.

That looks like an amazing experience though. I always wondered what the upstairs of a 747 looked like. Thank you for sharing.

[Limestonedan]

Awesome shots, thank you!

[OmegaJJH]

What a wonderful opportunity.

So glad you enjoyed it and for sharing with us.

Thank you.

[aekdb]

This is really cool. Thanks for sharing!

[lig]

Originally Posted by Relyt

Omg. That is awesome!!

You do wonder whose idea it was for POS security though lol.

That plane is totally a work of art!

Great camera photos too! Very impressive. I can use instagram filters lol.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thnx! Methinks a rebranding is in order.

Originally Posted by RW16610

Wow, you're certainly lucky to experience that. Thanks for sharing it with us

My pleasure!

Originally Posted by roaddog359

That was cool.

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Very cool. I wonder what the ultimate first class flight experience would be, the 747-8, the dreamliner or the Airbus 380

I wish I knew!

Originally Posted by seand442

That is awesome. The POS security is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while.

hehe... Gotta love it. He didn't look all that thrilled for the duration of the event.

Originally Posted by Runnin' Rebel

Best commercial aircraft ever !

Being a native Seattleite - we love the 747. My dad worked at Boeing during the 60's as a researcher. Even though the company has made moves that cost them some extremely valuable personnel we still love Boeing.

Originally Posted by East Bay Rider

Very cool

Originally Posted by Tri-Tip

I flew business class on the A380 with Air France, and it was incredible. I can't imagine how much better First Class could be.

I think an in flight shower on a 380 has got to be a bucket list item. One of these days...

Originally Posted by multimedia

Thank you very much for sharing this with the forum! Coincidentally, here in Hong Kong over the weekend, we bid farewell to the last commercial (pax) 747 used by Cathay Pacific. The mighty 747 has done more to open up the world to people than any other aircaraft ever will, IMHO.

I have a couple of Cathay pilot friends, and even if they are excited about the new ones coming out from Boeing and Airbus, e.g. the A350, they always talk about the 747 in an almost mythical way.



I've done first in the 747-8 with Lufthansa. To say the least, I didn't have anything to complain about ;) But can't compare with any of the other setups. But I bet they are all awesome. Also has a lot to do which airline you fly with/what setup they choose to use. E.g. business class with Cathay is miles better compared to some of the NA/Euro setups. And the service is also something that can differ, as we all know, greatly...

Cheers,
Joe

IMO the 747 will forever be the quintessential Jumbo Jet.

Originally Posted by cdnwatchguy

Really cool, thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by superdog

Wow. That's really cool. Great pics.

Thnx! You should be out Raptor shopping.

Originally Posted by bharat

Woah! This is amazing !

That was quite the experience without a doubt!

Originally Posted by texex91

As an aviation geek myself, that looks like an amazing day!

It truly was. I've always loved planes but the wifey steadfastly refuses to fly in a single or even a twin. So my for my pilots license.

Originally Posted by GerardoG

Wow! Looks like a great day!!! Thank you for sharing!

Thanks! Not sure if it made you want to fly as much as the many times you've made me hungry!

Originally Posted by kilyung

Jeff, those are some nice pics! Ever think about doing commercial photography work?

hehe... That's very kind of you to say but I'm keeping the day job for a few more years. So much to learn about this picture takin' thing. It's fun. Instant gratification. And incredibly cheap compared to watches.

Originally Posted by subtona

Incredible. Thanks for posting.

Originally Posted by andromeda160

Sometimes you just have to laugh at the unfortunate acronyms and abbreviatons in life. When I played football in middle school we versed a team in a city called Pinkney. Nothing beat hearing 15 little girls screaming PMS up in the stands! As the beginning of half their cheers with PMS logo'd across their uniforms.

That looks like an amazing experience though. I always wondered what the upstairs of a 747 looked like. Thank you for sharing.

A gaggle of girls in sweaters stamped PMS. That is a hilarious mental picture indeed!!!

Originally Posted by Limestonedan

Awesome shots, thank you!

Originally Posted by OmegaJJH

What a wonderful opportunity.

So glad you enjoyed it and for sharing with us.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by aekdb

This is really cool. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! One great thing about this online community is the wide array of experiences and interests.

I love when someone posts a visit to a legendary watchmaker or shares racetrack experiences or culinary adventures to travel experiences - we all benefit.

[Kingair]

One of the nice birds out there although I guess it will be history soon regarding production

http://www.wsj.com/articles/boeing-s...ews-1469622337


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[fskywalker]

Sweeeet! Thanks for sharing!!!


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[jsg]

Very Cool! Thanks for sharing.

[Spartacus]

Wow, that is really cool! Thank you for sharing.