Having just read another thread about the design classic that is the 747, with a post detailing a first flight on a 747, I would like to ask what were your first flights on some or all of the variants of the 747 airliner. Apologies if it seems I am hijacking someone elses thread, this is why I started to a new thread to save that from happening.

My first 747 was a -100, of Virgin Atlantic from LGW to BOS on my first long haul flight, first trip to the USA, followed by a trip around the US on a Delta air pass, those were the days!!!

My first and only -200 was a QANTAS combi from CGK to SIN, a sub for a 747-338, so a little annoyed, but is was my only -200 series!

The only SP I flew on was again a QANTAS plane from SIN to GCK, a sub for a 767-338ER, it was also the second to last SP that I needed to see to fleet the type, VH-EAB, this plane will hold a special place in my (aviation) heart.

Singapore Airlines gave me my only -300 flight from BKK to SIN.

Virgin Atlantic again for the first -400 flight to/from LHR to LAX, to followed by many more to the USA as well as the Far East with various airlines over the years.

I am now planning to ride the -800 with either Lufthansa or Air China to Beijing, later this year, if the price is right.

Please share your memories.

I was working at the Frankfurt Steigenberger Airport hotel for a while in my late teen years and once flew home on the then SQ 747 service FRA - AMS, had a days spotting there, then back to LGW on Bcal.
Was sometime in 1973.

747-100 - Delta SFO-ATL
747-200 - United ORD-SFO
747-200 Comb - Qantas SFO-HNL-BNE-SYD
747-300 -
747SP - United SFO-ORD
747-400- China LAX-TPE

My first 747 flight was a NW 742 in 1999 on my IOE during my initial flight attendant training. The flight was a late evening departure to AMS from MSP and then te return after a fun layover in AMS. After that, I flew regularly on the 744 but being DTW based, I only ever got to fly on the 742 on south of Tokyo trips which I did a couple of times to PVG and GUM.

Loved the sound of the 742 forward of the engines.

747-200: October 1992 JFK-LHR-JFK on BA.

747-400: May/July 2007 DTW-NRT on NWA.

[Edited 2016-05-08 10:22:54]

Air India Emperor Ashoka - VT-EBD from DEL to BOM on aAir India provided free ticket to go to an interview with Air India IT folks summer of 1977.

That was my first wide-body flight.

747-200: late 2004 Northwest LA - Tokyo and back
747-400: early 2013 SFO - Seoul and back
747-8I: 2015 LA - Frankfurt and back

Well since I was a kid at the time, I'm not sure on my first one but I did fly:

UA ORD-HNL
TW JFK-LHR/CDG/MAD/FCO
AA JFK-AUA

Sometime in the mid 70's.

First 747-100 flight for me was Pan Am on the DTW-BOS-LHR route. That was around 1975.

My first 747 was a BA -100 LHR-IAD, many many years ago - it was my first long haul, my first wide body, and my first trip to the USA too. Since then I've managed to fly in 68 different 747 aircraft and managed most variants, but missed out on getting a trip on one of the original SRs in Japan. Some of the best flights were Aer Lingus - all economy configured on DUB-JFK but with generous legroom and recline, United LHR-SFO exactly a year after 9/11 with only about 30 passengers on board, and of course the rides in the upper deck including Virgin, Air France, and Lufthansa (8i). Another highlight - the only -300 I flew was Ndizani, the rather brightly painted SAA special livery. But by far most memorable was my most recent 747 flight, a ten hour overnight science mission on the most expensive 747 ever - NASA's SP N747NA.

The airlines, in order within each variant, were:

747-100 - British Airways, Aer Lingus, Continental
747-200 - British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand, Continental, Northwest, KLM, Garuda
747-200SUD - KLM
747-300 - South African Airways
747-400 - British Airways, British Asia Airways, KLM, United, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, Air France, Qantas
747-400D - All Nippon
747-400M - KLM
747-8i - Lufthansa
747SP - NASA / SOFIA

I have to admit that I prefer 777s or A330s these days, as the slightly narrower fuselage and fewer seats per row make the travel experience more pleasant IMHO.

[Edited 2016-05-08 10:42:12]

[Edited 2016-05-08 10:43:03]

My firsts were:

747-100: VS LGW-MCO
747-200: VS MCO-LGW
747-400: BA LHR-SIN-PER-MEL

no SP, -300 or -800 flights

My first 747 were :
747-200 ORY-AJA with Air France (domestic flight)
747-300 ORY-FDF with Corsair
747-400 FDF-PTP-ORY with Corsair (194 km only between FDF and PTP !)



[Edited 2016-05-08 10:51:03]

B744: 24.09.2010 LH022 FRA-HAM D-ABTD

My first (and only) 747 flights were


ORD-ATL DL 747-100
LAX-LHR Virgin Atlantic 747-400

First was an Olympic Airways B747-200 back in 1989 LHR-ATH. Great days.

SX-OAB JUNE 1989 LHR-ATH

SX-OAB JUNE 1989 LHR-ATH

SX-OAB JUNE 1989 LHR-ATH

Quoting Boeing777300 (Thread starter): My first 747 was a -100, of Virgin Atlantic from LGW to BOS

That was my first TATL flight  

only 747-300 with Ansett SYD-HKG on VH-INJ "Olympics 2000" (stil Kai Tak in 1997!)
first 747-200 with Lufthansa FRA-BOS on D-ABYM "Schleswig-Holstein" in 1999 (now resting at the Technik Museum in Speyer)
first 747-400 with Qantas FRA-SIN on VH-OJB "Wunula Dreaming" in 2001

The only 747s I've flown on were 400s of United and Lufthansa in the summer of 1996, going IAD-FRA-IAD. I almost got to fly a Northwest 742 on a DTW-FRA trip in 2008, but we ended up on the regularly-scheduled A330 instead.

TWA BOS-LHR April of 1985.

(Would that have been a -100 or -200?    )

I've only had the pleasure of flying on three 747 variants thus far, all of which have been memorable experiences for me.

747SP: Iran Air, KUL-IKA, October 2015, Great flight on the upper deck with fellow enthusiasts and an in-flight cockpit visit followed by a 9 hour wait in the transit lounge to connect to ATH
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Photo © Alireza Khodakarami


747-400: Kabo Air, AUH-DAC, October 2013, Was trying to catch the Biman DC-10 but this was substituted and it was the only time this aircraft operated the route. Sat in the upper deck, lower deck smelled terrible.
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Photo © Raihan.Ahmed


747-8i: Air China, SHA-PEK, January 2015, Very comfortable flight followed by a visit to the amazing China Aviation Museum at Datangshan
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Photo © Lee Sung

My first flight on a 747 was on a Cathay Pacific 744 in 2013, HKG-SFO. Unfortunately, it was a rather terrible memory; their Y class had CX's awful fixed-shell seats which had no recline or lower back support!

Sadly, my other 747 flight (a BA 744 in 2014, also a time warp from the 1990's) was somewhat similar. Though the 747 probably epitomizes air travel more than any other airframe, I guess I'm just too young to have appreciated the plane at its peak.

I've only flown on the 747 two times, and I was a baby so I don't really remember anything, sadly. I'm not even sure if the type was 743 or 744. I know it was in 1996, on RG, LIS-GIG and then the return leg GIG-LIS.

I think only the 743s ever flew to LIS, though.


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Photo © Sundown


[Edited 2016-05-08 19:38:05]

[Edited 2016-05-08 19:38:27]

Quoting Boeing777300 (Thread starter): I would like to ask what were your first flights on some or all of the variants of the 747 airliner.

747-200 QF SYD-HNL-SFO-HNL-SYD
747-400 UA LAX-SYD-LAX

747-136 BA 1978 LHR-LAX (complete with upper deck lounge)
747-236 BA 1981 DUR-HRE-LHR (first 742-combi was BA {ex-BR} G-HUGE LGW-DXB-HKG)
747SP United 1991 HKG-SEA
747-300 Cathay Pacific 1990 NRT-HKG
747-436 BA 1989 LHR-HKG (first 744 combi was KLM LAX-AMS 2004)
747-8i LH 2014 Lufthanse FRA-LAX

[Edited 2016-05-08 19:56:57]

My first of many 747 flights on over 20 airlines:

747-100, Pan Am, LAX-HNL, April 1970 (3 months after the 747 went into service)
747-200, CP Air, YVR-HND-HKG, early 1974
747SP, Pan Am, SIN-HKG-SFO, May 1981
747-300, Swissair, ORD-BOS-ZRH, July 1983
747-400, Qantas, YVR-SYD, August 1990 (delivery flight but sold as revenue flight; it was the first-ever nonstop flight from Canada to Australia; passegers were given a certificate signed by the captain)

I have only had a total of 5 747 flights

747SP, Iran Air, 12 March 16, EP-IAC
747-400, Air Pacific, 15 October 2005, DQ-FJL
.............Air New Zealand, 01 January 2008, ZK-NBT
.............Air New Zealand, 18 January 2008, ZK-SUH
.............Air New Zealand, 20 January 2008, ZK-NBW

First:

747-200 - Singapore Airlines, 2 December 1990
747-300 - Singapore Airlines, 2 December 1990
747-400 - Qantas 18 January 1996

My four 747 flights across three variants (interestingly all on the same route!)

Jul 2004 ... 747-438 ... VH-OJD ... Qantas ... QF26 ... BNE-SYD
Dec 2006 ... 747-338 ... VH-EBT ... Qantas ... QF52 ... BNE-SYD
May 2012 ... 747-438ER ... VH-OEE ... Qantas ... QF8 ... BNE-SYD
Sep 2014 ... 747-438ER ... VH-OEG ... Qantas ... QF8 ... BNE-SYD

It's a question I've always had, and maybe someone can help me with it:

My first 747 flight was with BA, LHR to BNE, via BKK (I believe) and SYD in July 1997 (and retour in August '97). My uninformed guess is a -200, but I'm not entirely sure.
The flight number back then was BA008, if my mind serves me correctly -- I remember my horror, when after the stopover at Bangkok we were welcomed to "this British Airways flight 008 to Sydney", when I wanted to go to Brisbane! Mind you, I was my first trip all by myself, and I was dead scared anyway... The SYD-BNE leg in an almost empty aircraft was braw, though. As was seeing the Himalayas from the back door window.
I was less enchanted by the plane itself for the above-mentioned reasons, but I remember bits and bobs. First time I saw "Absolutely Fabulous", and was totally taken by it, and then puzzled when they screened (on the screen back then, yes) "Dante's Peak" twice in a row.
I met awesomely nice Scots during my four-hour layover in LHR (I was coming from HAM) in the pub in the terminal (where else?), who really helped my with my general fear of everything.
I remember being amazed by the legroom in row 48, my flying experienced so far being only on charter flights to the Mediterranean.
Flight attendants were the loveliest folks on earth, and really great towards my frightened self.

But I never recorded the plane, although I recorded almost everything else on that trip -- which was a six-week visit to the Australian exchange pupil who had stayed for six months with my family the year before.
Maybe somebody can enlighten me...?

This really bugs me, as that was the time when I still hated flying and the last thing on my mind was recording the reg.

Since then, I have been on multiple 744's (mostly TATL with BA and once with KL), and once an LH 748 (all well documented and duly taken note of, when my mindset changed).

BA 744's were the most (we seem to have a knack for "ending up" with them), including
LHR-SEA (and back) -- that was also the first on a -400
LHR-BOS
LHR-LAS
LHR-DFW
LHR-SFO (and back);

KL 744 was AMS-LH 748 was FRA-ORD and back.

[Edited 2016-05-09 02:00:52]

[Edited 2016-05-09 02:01:35]

[Edited 2016-05-09 02:02:16]

[Edited 2016-05-09 02:02:52]

Sorry, editing completely mangled the last bit.

KL was AMS-YYZ and back

LH was FRA-ORD and back.

I cant remember my first as I was on them annually from an early age, but it would have been an EI 747-100 from DUB to JFK or BOS. The first flight I actually remember was in late 80's and thanks to my dad working for EI, he managed to get the first row. It would have been on EI-BED as it was the only all economy configured 747 for EI. Although, considering the regularity at which I flew on EI747's, I hazard a guess that I also flew on EI-ASJ & EI-ASI at some stage.

I also flew LHR-HKG in the early 90's with BA on a 744, I remember my dad telling me about it being a brand new plane, and for this trip, we were lucky enough to be on the upper deck. The trip back was on a BA 742 via DEL.

The last 747 flights I had were both in 2005 with BA from LHR-YVR on G-CIVG and YVR-LHR. Unfortunately I didn't get the reg of the return leg.

And next up is MAN-MCO with VS, with the return leg being via LGW. I specifically chose this routing to get another 747 ride as were starting to see less and less of them.

747-100 1986 ORD-LHR G-AWNH British Airways - Last 1989 SEA-LHR N748PA Pan Am
747-200 1986 LHR-SFO N729PA Pan Am - Last 1989 LHR-SEA N730PA Pan Am
747-400 2011 LHR-HKG-MEL VH-OJQ Qantas
747-400ER 2011 LHR-HKG VH-OEH Qantas

At the moment Last 400 (maybe) 2016 HKG-SYD VH-O?? Qantas

EL-AL 747 FCO-TLV in August 1974
Here's the story: I was travelling from Scandinavia to a student meeting in Haifa. We had bought an inexpensive student flight HEL-CPH-TLV with Sterling. The Caravelle departed from CPH normally. We were supposed to have a technical stop somewhere, can't remember where. However, we landed in GVA and stayed there a very long time. No explanations were given. Eventually we continued to FCO and were told that this is as far as we can come today.
On that very day the Eastern Med air space had been closed because of the Cyprus conflict. Miraculously we found accommodation in the middle of the night in downtown Rome. We stayed there a few days. Eventually there were rumors about flights starting again. LY was allegedly one of the first ones to resume flights to TLV. My first memorable 747 flight.
The return flight was with Sterling.

Quoting Reffado (Reply 20): I think only the 743s ever flew to LIS, though.

I always wanted to take the 743 from LHR-CPH back when they operated it. Sadly never got the chance.

My first were:

747-100 BA HKG-LHR
747-200 QF LHR-BKK
747 -300 combi RG LHR - GIG - never flown a full passenger version of the 300
747- 400 BA LHR-JFK

My first (and only) flights on 747's were with LH in 2014:

Aug 24 2014: LH 403 EWR-FRA 747-400 D-ABVH (Dusseldorf, now retired)
and
Dec 14 2014: LH 402 FRA-EWR 747-400 D-ABVN (Dortumund, also retired)

The Aug. flight I had a window Seat, 40 K which was not very comfortable, as that section of economy was packed.
The Dec. flight I was in 54 H which was fantastic, its one of the two seaters way in the back, but feels much more spacious.

I love the 747 and hope to fly on her again soon (luckily the 748s will be around for a while).

One and only on the list for me.
747-400. Northwest. AMS-DTW. June 2002.
The DL seat equivalent is 43J, middle seat on the right section in the last row of the next-to-last section of Y.

Firsts according to my notes:

B747-100: 1988 UA 747-122 SFO-HNL
B747-200: 1994 NW 747-251 SFO-NRT-BKK
B747-300: 1994 CX 747-367 BKK-HKG
B747-400: 1995 CX 747-467 LAX-HKG

B747SP x
B748 x

Will have to do something about the 748 soon!

Until a year ago I hadn't even had a single flight on any of the 747-subtypes. For fear of actually missing out, I put some additional effort in including a 747 in a (for me quite rare) longhaul-flight. I succeeded:

April 2015 .. KL612 .. ORD-AMS .. B74M .. PH-BFE

Still my one and only 747 flight, and I absolutely loved the experiene. That size. That massive wing. That beautiful engine view from row 20-something. Was seated in 42A, just behind the wing, but spent some time around sunrise staring through the L2 door to admire the view. Superb. I had been looking forward to my first 'Jumbo Jet' flight since I was a little kid, but somehow the ubiquitous 777's and A330 always got the upper hand.

Firsts on specific versions:

Pan Am Boeing 747-100 - LHR - JFK 1988

Pan Am Boeing 747-200 - Miami - LHR 1990

KLM Boeing 747-200 SUD ( named Indus ) - Curacao - Amsterdam 1997

Thai Airways Boeing 747-300 - Bangkok - Copenhagen 2000

Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 LHR - LAX 2006

KLM Boeing 747-400M - Amsterdam - New York 2007

Lufthansa Boeing 747-8I Frankfurt - Rio de Janeiro 2015


Flown the 747's 14 times so far in total:

Pan Am x 4

KLM x 3

Thai Airways x 1

Air New Zealand x 4

Lufthansa x 2

[Edited 2016-05-10 04:04:20]

[Edited 2016-05-10 04:09:43]

My first 747-flight was quite late, it was the day after Princess Diana had died from LGW to Barbabdos on a BA 747 on September 1, 1997.

Question to our UK-members or anyone who is familiar with BA: was it a 741 or a 742? I don't remember. Did BA still operate the -100 in 1997?

I remember very well the nets in the overhead bins.

Mine was on a CX B744, HKG to LHR and return, in 2004. I was a late starter. It was an interesting contrast to the A343 which I had taken from AKL - HKG.

I don't fly a massive amount, but the B744 is still my most flown aircraft, which probably says more about the long haul nature of most of my flights. I've had them on BA, QF, CX, VS, and NZ. Be a sad day when the old girl is no more.

[Edited 2016-05-10 06:35:44]

PanAm 1979, JFK to LHR. I remember it so vividly. I was only 18 and I remember an older man stalking me in the teminal before the flight. I went into a news stand and he followed me in and then winked at me in between the book shelves!   It really freaked me out because I was still in the closet and didn't know how to deal with the situation.

Anyway, I still have pictures of the nose parked at the gate, and the wing and 2 engines outside my window. I didn't sleep at all, I just looked out the window the entire way, the sunset was spectacular and I recall the orange and pink light reflecting on the silver engines. When I got home I painted an oil painting of the pictures I took during the sunset.

No, the creepy man didnt sit next to me. Although I worried about it during boarding.

On the way home, I was back on a 747, again I was glued to the window thinking about the miracle of flight. I still have the ticket in red carbon: it was PanAm flight 103!

I have no idea if it was a 100 or 200, but I was fantasizing about what was going on up there in the hump. I wish I could recall the Clipper name.

Since then I have flown so many 747's I've lost count, and on many airlines. I remember my many People Express 747's to go back-packing through Europe and VARIG 747 flights very much. The wild 1970's RG colors, RG was perhaps the most reflective of a country's culture.

Nothing like a 747 landing with a good bang, like dropping a house!

My first 747 flight ever, a -100, was on TWA for a school trip to Spain in 1994. We flew TWA IND-JFK-MAD roundtrip, and the JFK-MAD and MAD-JFK were on 747-100s in the then-current twin stripes livery.

My first 747-400 trip was LHR-LAX roundtrip on BA in 2007. Since then I have been on additional 747-400 trips: QF LAX-AKL roundtrip (2010), UA SFO-ORD one way (2010), and most recently, BA DEN-LHR roundtrip (January 2016).

The 747 has been and is still my favourite.

SmithAir747

Quoting VC10er (Reply 41): I have no idea if it was a 100 or 200,

.
It would have been a -100 in 1979. Apart from a couple of -200 freighters, Pan Am only operated the -100 and the SP until the mid-1980s when they acquired a dozen or so used -200s from SQ.

My first 747 was quite a rare one


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Photo © Jim Groom


A -219B leased by Airtours from NZ in this gaudy scheme, it was in 1998, May IIRC from MAN to BGI and back.

Had to wait until Jan 2005 for my first 400, and missed my outbound flight meaning I had to wait another 3 weeks, but got it on the return flight, a -436 from JNB to LHR with BA.

I took two more in Oct 2005 with NH, two different -481 frames on a roundtrip from LHR to NRT and back.

I finally took two more -436's with BA this past xmas YVR to LHR and back. I dont fly like I once did and sadly this will probably be it for me now.

Quoting CXB77L (Reply 25): First: 747-200 - Singapore Airlines, 2 December 1990 747-300 - Singapore Airlines, 2 December 1990 747-400 - Qantas 18 January 1996

I forgot: my first flight on the 747-400ER was also with Qantas, on 26 January 2015.

I wish I had kept better records. My first 747 flight was a 1 hour scenic flight AKL-AKL on a newly delivered Air NZ 747-219 back in 1981.

My last 747 flight (to date) was an NZ 744 from Hong Kong to Auckland in early 2009.

In between there were flights on SP, -200, -300, and -400 (mostly -400s) of SQ/TG/MH/QF/NZ/LH/AF/KL/CX. I never managed a -100 and (so far) have not yet managed an -8i.

My only 747 flight at all was LH 499 MEX-FRA, a -400 registered D-ABTK (Kiel).

-100/SP/-300 Nope.

-200 SYD-AKL VH-EBS 1998
-400 SIN-CDG 9V-SMS 2004
-8 PEK-SFO 06/2016 (pending)

From memory, these may not have been the first for each variant.
B747-100: Pan Am MIA-LAX
B747-200: KLM DEL-ATH
B747-200Combi: Air Canada SIN-BOM-LHR
B747-200SUD: KLM CGK-SIN-(BKK)-AMS (can't remember if the stop in BKK was there or not)
B747-200SUD Combi: KLM AMS-(BKK)-SIN-CGK (ditto)
B747-SP: Qantas CGK-SYD
B747-300: Cathay CGK-SIN-HKG
B747-400: Cathay HKG-LHR
B747-400 Combi: KLM AMS-SIN-CGK