Stick A Fork In It, It's Done, Boeing Ends 747 Production
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It's an excellent cargo plane and if the price of sidelined 747s is low enough we might see the USAF buy up some of the planes to augment the C-5 and C-17 fleets, but that's just a guess on my part. There is some precedent for this. In the shipping business, the USN bought the retired Sea-Land fleet of eight SL-7 container ships and converted them to roll-on roll-ff (RORO) ships for military use. Those ships were only ten years old at the time, but the same culprit for their retirement then, and for the retirement of the 747 now, is the high cost of fuel to run them. My Army agency loaded those eight ships several times as we sent the Army to Saudi Arabia for the Persian Gulf war in 1990-91 and then used them to bring the military equipment back home.
I don't see the air force doing that. They are not set up to maintain them, and the initial cost for parts, training...etc is high. It is cheaper to charter the excess need, as they have done in the past. I believe there is agreements with several charter companies for that.
I don't see the air force doing that. They are not set up to maintain them, and the initial cost for parts, training...etc is high. It is cheaper to charter the excess need, as they have done in the past. I believe there is agreements with several charter companies for that.
Though nothing beats owning the planes outright, chartering them is an excellent second choice. I don't know if the USAF still runs the "CRAF" program, aka Civil Reserve Air Fleet. This is where the Air Force contracted with some airlines to assure cabin floors in jumbo jets were strengthened enough to withstand military cargo loads. The heavy duty floors added weight to the planes and in return we paid them an annual stipend to fly around with that extra weight eating more fuel. The CRAF planes were thus subject to being called into military duty if needed.
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Today, there are more than 440 Boeing 747s still flying. Some passenger, some cargo, and a few in other roles.
The United States Air Force operates four E-4s (a 747-200 variant from the 1970s) as strategic airborne command and control posts.
And the Iranian Air Force operates six 747s as tankers, transports, and electronic warfare platforms. These are pre-Revolution airframes, so they also date from the 1970s.
It's a safe bet that fifty years from now, some 747s will still be flying.
I was initially disappointed upon seeing a 747 outside the window at the boarding gate since I wanted something less dated, but the interior had clearly been modernized and it was nicer than most 777s we have flown in recently.
The next Air Force One will be a pair of 747-8s, they were already bought and are currently in the very expensive process of being modified.
Given the current 787-2 based VC-25s have been in service for 35 years the one after the next 747-8s based planes on order might be a aircraft flying in 2060 that doesn't exist yet.
Though nothing beats owning the planes outright, chartering them is an excellent second choice. I don't know if the USAF still runs the "CRAF" program, aka Civil Reserve Air Fleet. This is where the Air Force contracted with some airlines to assure cabin floors in jumbo jets were strengthened enough to withstand military cargo loads. The heavy duty floors added weight to the planes and in return we paid them an annual stipend to fly around with that extra weight eating more fuel. The CRAF planes were thus subject to being called into military duty if needed.
No comments about stronger floors, but that may have been satisfied by the way freighters are built today and the fact that the USAF has over 220 C-17s available. The old C-141 Starlifters couldn't carry as much cargo as a C-17, especially vehicles.
I can't count the number of times I've flown in a 747. It was the most common airplane to fly from Paris to where I lived in Africa, and from Asia to Europe. The longest flights I took were London-Johannesburg and Amsterdam-Bangkok. When I started flying Houston - Doha, the 777 had taken over.
WRM20, thanks for the added info. I seem to recall that part of the stipend to carriers in the CRAF program was for larger cargo doors which also added to the weight of the plane.
Another IIRC tidbit is that the USAF cargo planes can only carry one of the Army's M-1 main battle tanks (and nothing else) and it has to be carefully loaded to assure the plane is not heavy on one end.
The 747 will be around many more years, and is a majestic sight to see.
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