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UPS takes off with brand new Boeing 747-8 ahead of peak shipping season

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Some major muscle is arriving in Louisville, right in the nick of time for peak season. UPS added two new jets to its fleet at Worldport last week. The Boeing 747-8 is the newer, bigger, and better version of the previous 747-400. UPS started purchasing the 747-8s in 2017, with the intention of buying 28 in total. Last week, number 20 was delivered and went into service. (www.wdrb.com) Más...

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isaaclic904
They've been saying that for years now. If orders keep coming they will keep making them
user3956
user3956 1
ChrisRisley
ChrisRisley 2
There will be nothing to look at if they ever stop making that plane. Mona Lisa of the skies. My first flight was Boston Logan to London 1999.
greasemonkey
Larry White 3
Wishimg UPS would bring their 747s to DFW. I love sitting at Founder's Plaza near UPS's cargo terminal. Sit there for 2-3 hrs at times. But there are 747s from other airlines at times. Also wishing Qantas would bring back their A380s to DFW,, flies right over my house if the wind is from south going back to Sydney.
jonbroberts1
Jon Roberts 3
My first 13+ hour flight was on a '47SP nonstop from DFW-NAR. I felt like I was in heaven seeing dozens and dozens of -100 & -200 models in Tokyo. Flew them all over the world loving them so much delays didn't bother me. Thankfully I was always up in the bubble or in the nose in first or business. Until 5 years ago I had flown every type of commercial jet. The 777 and A-380s have their perks, comforts and advantages, but the 747-400 will always be my favorite commercial jet.
kwgm
Kurt Matthies 10
My first '47 ride was aboard a dirty, crowded Pan Am SP out of SFO to HKG, Kai Tak via HNL. Due to a screw up in my corporate travel department,I rode in coach for the 11 hour 2nd leg, wedged between two huge roughnecks on their way to SE Asia somewhere to tow an oil rig around the Cape into the Atlantic off the Brazilian coast. Although we were uncomfortable, we drank pints of whiskey and smoked packs of cigarettes as they regaled me with stories of their wild adventures around the world. Time passed quickly during that surreal trip and my love affair with that huge domed plane began. In my career, the 747 carried me to my own adventures as I travelled the world. I explored the wonders up the circular stairway in the upper deck lounge, and was treated like a celebrity in the first class nose. I rode a brand new Singapore Airlines "Big Top" 747-400 during another marathon flight across the globe, which insulates you from the masses downstairs. I felt like an early flier in a DC-3 up there. Whenever I said in SFO I'd ask for a room on the north side of the Embassy Suites Burlingame so I could thrill to the sight of those big domed birds coming in over the Bay. When I read of the retirement of that iconic ship, I was saddened. This news of new orders still quickened my pulse, and although I don't fly anymore, I'd love to have one more trip, and stay a night down on South Bayshore Blvd to watch them slowly float down to earth again.
user3956
user3956 5
Thank you Sir for this account, it read like a novel and really got me thinking about what those times must've been like. I grew up flying as a kid and now as an adult I've been having my own international adventures and have really been enjoying the learning experiences. I long for a flight on the four-seven but in my time it's been the triple 7 that I've fallen in love with ever since my dad took me to see the all-glass cockpit of one of the first United deliveries at IAD in 1995. As I started my Asian travels in 2013 or so I've been on many a 777ER/LR from DFW to ICN and I always feel safe up there even w/o the four engines of the 47. I too want the legacy of the 47 to live on and if it can't be in the passenger variant then the cargo variants work just fine. I love the story it tells of American ingenuity and design with its legacy. Last thing, before moving to VA my dad worked at SFO and we lived in Burlingame for a while - you brought some memories back, thanks again!
kwgm
Kurt Matthies 4
My pleasure, friend. Thank you for your kindness in the spirit of the moment, and of the day. We are both lucky guys to have found our loves. Boeing still makes great planes. Happy Holidays to you and yours.
musocat
Man, I'll bet Airbus would kill to move 28 A380s.
slickviccom
VICTOR SPURIO 6
The Queen Of The Sky
Mmeyers7167
Michael Meyers 5
The B-52 of civilian aviation.
darjr26
darjr26 2
Does anyone know which airliner was the first built as a true freighter from the factory? I think the DC-8 was but I’m not sure.
jonbroberts1
Jon Roberts 2
I remember DC8 and 707 freighters. Not sure which came first but I think it was the 8. Very few 707s were built as freighters because they could only carry 70% of the Cargo containers of the stretched DC-8 freighters (13 vs.18). The DC-8 freighter was also the first freighter with a clamshell freight opening.

There were lots of passenger DC-10s converted into MD-11 freighters. Up until my retirement I would see DC-8 Freighters in Africa and parts of Asia.
PeterMcDevitt
Peter McDevitt 3
Canadair CL 44. 4 engine turboprop with a swing away tail to facilitate fast loading and unloading. Also pressurized which allowed for carrying livestock. Seaboard had a fleet of them and used them extensively in the Viet Nam war
Moviela
Ric Wernicke 2
Ford Tri-motor was built to deliver parts to River Rouge plant. Just in time, long before just in time.
darjr26
darjr26 1
I was thinking jets
SLWARRIOR500
Eugene Aaron 10
The 747 is always a beautiful and alluring plane to see. May she forever grace our skies.
Therealrockbus
Therealrockbus 4
Beautiful Aircraft.
BobShutts
Bob Shutts 4
Weird that the newer 380s are all retired while the 747/8 freighters will be flying for years.
sparkie624
sparkie624 0
Make Junk... Throw Away.... Disposable plane!
williambaker08
william baker 1
Are you feeling okay today sparkie. Your usually pretty level headed and not talking crap about another manufacture??
user3956
user3956 22
The unchallenged Queen of the skies. I really do hope that cargo shipping can continue having enough demand for the 747 to keep it in production for years to come.
drdinos
Dale Sears 1
The Queen for sure but production is all but finished.
user3956
user3956 7
They've been saying that for years now. If orders keep coming they will keep making them.
KicksOnRoute66
Roger Anderson 10
First and last time that cargo bay is gonna be clean!
stratofan
stratofan 30
Proof once again that Airbus missed a huge opportunity not building a freighter version of the A380. The fact that this design still holds up in the 21st century is a testament to the vision of Joe Sutter, and his "Incredibles" team years ago. Keep on flying 747!
snow
James Cox 5
A A380 freighter would be pointless, it would max out on weight well before filling up the volume, gotta remember passengers don't weigh very much.
Moviela
Ric Wernicke 4
Speak for yourself, hehe.
Propwash122
Peter Fuller 7
“....passengers don’t weigh very much.”: actually passengers are high density in terms of weight per unit of volume. They just can’t be packed together as tightly as cargo, though some airlines do try.
Propwash122
Peter Fuller 8
Sutter and Boeing designed the 747 from the outset to be a freighter. It was thought that SSTs would soon make it obsolete as a passenger plane.
xtoler
Larry Toler 6
It lost on the military airlift side to the Lockheed C5. We Air Force "Port Dawgs" use a lot of civilian aircraft to airlift cargo. Plenty of 747's, DC10's, 737's, DC8's and L100's back in my day.
xtoler
Larry Toler 1
Airbus did consider a cargo version of the A380 too late. It was just never designed to be an airlifter after all said and done.

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