Wonderful video. My late father retired as a 747 Captain in 1989. He first earned his wings when he was 16 in Air Cadets, and after high school joined the RCAF for 3 years, initially was studying aerospace engineering, but missed flying too much, so joined the airline at the encouragement of my mum (great decision). He experienced a wonderful career.
likewise, it was one of the few, if only detailed aviation documentaries at the time. Me and a friend would endlessly discuss it at school. Look at what we have now on TH-cam!
Snap, same thing and i was a kid 12 years old. TV shows about the airline industry were far and few between then and being a fanatic I had to insist I watched this series causing some trouble with rest of people at home sharing the TV! I even recorded the 4 programmes. There was another series around the time called Airport 90 based at Gatwick over a summer weekend in 1990. I think it was hosted by Fern Britton lol
@@peterfinn6098 Now you mention it, I think I remember that. It was filmed live and broadcast the ATC of an evening flight departing to Paris, the pilot said "It's a lovely evening for flying" and then took off into the setting sun!
Yeah the Airport 90 was live over a weekend. I had to beg to claim the TV back then. They followed Dan Air quite a bit in the programme and its on TH-cam somewhere. I remember that clip of the DA flight to Paris too.
I was disgusted when BA changed its livery, it was the start of business deciding British & our flag was something to be shamed into hiding away. It was tge same with British Gas, British Petroleum, British Oxygen, British Steel & the like. When was the last time we were encouraged to buy British? Even British Sky Broadcasting was diluted to Sky 😢
In 1990 I was a flight attendant for 8 years and it was a very relaxed era in aviation. From 1991 on, (first war at the Golf) turmoil started in the entire industry. And relaxation finally ended in 2001. I was very happy to retire in 2015 after 33 years of flying around the world without any serious incident. B.T.W.: do you know what FE means? No, not Flight Engineer, but Frequent Eater.....lol. And the era when Captains spend their layovers in a luxury hotel suite are definitely over.
BA were definitely the best of a bad bunch in the 90's.....and then EZJ came along and have evolved into a decent airline and the rest is history. I have never ( and never will ) fly Ryanscare though. Funny to see those old FA uniforms that looked like they were made out of old deckchairs.
And now because of NASA's PC bullshit hiring and trophy for tenth place mentality we can't even get into space without hitchhiking with the Russians LOFL.
@@CaptainArt777 what were the few problems?? The France crash wasn't the concordes fault as we all know...how long can a aircraft be in service till it hasn't got a choice to retire??? Just curious😷♌😉
It was sad to see that clip here in 2021 knowing both the 747 and Concorde are long gone from BA's fleet. Sadly 2020 marked the end of air travel for the masses, 2008 marked the end of easy money, and 2001 marked the end of life as we knew it. While I'm sure life would have been easier for many my age had we lived a generation earlier, I feel for the younger ones today who never ever got to see what this place was like before everyone was a disease carrying terrorist waiting to be 15 different genders and 30 ism's. Yeah we didn't have the latest autopilot, but everything else was better.
@@CaptainArt777 A few flaws don’t detract from the fact Concorde was an engineering marvel. The Sptfire had many flaws in it’s design yet nobody questions the fact that they were beautiful pieces of engineering
It has always been my most hated airline, along with Ryanair of course. You can't beat KLM or Easyjet. BA have always had a shit attitude to economy class and they have always employed incredibly rude and ignorant check-in staff and cabin crew.
@@grahamcook9289 My experiences and those of my friends and family are 100% the opposite to your opinion. BA have always been friendly, eager to help and provided a good value for money. They've always got us to where we wanted to go. Even in August 2023 amid the ATC computer meltdown. Got me to Atlanta with little hassle.
@@bmused55 All my worst flight experiences have been with BA, going back 30 years, and they range from shit checkin staff and rude, ignorant and treating cabin crew to BA trying to kill me just years ago on a flight out of Orlando. I can only assume you are connected with BA in some way. Why hide your identity? I use my real name.
I love the whole honesty around their fact that they get bored/tired. Always wondered about that, but that kind of candidness wouldn’t be possible today 😂
The 747 runs deep in my family. 1. My late aunt was on the 747’s original design team. 2. My mother’s best friend died in the Tenerife accident. She was a flight attendant for Pan Am. 3. I myself am now a Boeing 747 captain (the -400 and -8; I’ve never flown the Classic).
Rare scene of a captain strolling through economy. When I used to fly economy I never saw a captain but in business every flight you see and speak to the captain.
I was born in 1963 and first flew as a passenger about aged 8. My dad was a senior manager at BA, so we flew a lot. I was instantly hooked, and the only thing I ever wanted to be was a 747 Captain. In 1979 BA stopped recruiting pilots, and did not start again until late 1988, by which time I was too old. I never fancied the RAF, as I didn't to be involved in combat. Now a retired Accountant, it remains the case that the only thing I ever wanted to be was a 747 Captain. Bugger. It's too late now. Luckily I have continued to fly quite frequently as a passenger but to be paid well for flying an aircraft like that, well that is quite something.
@@anwarsentinel1752 Not really. It would be like driving a Nissan Micra instead of a Ferrari. I aspired to being in control of a big aircraft and the whole lifestyle. I had some friends who went across to Florida about 1990 to learn to fly, but by then my career was picking up. One became an AA A320 Captain, another a private jet pilot. They did well with American wives.... Lived the dream. In their case their father gave them both encouragement and financial support, I had neither... Oh Well.
I found your comment about BA pilot recruitment interesting. I am about 3 years older than you. I recall that BA stopped recruiting in the mid-1970's during that so-called 'fuel and energy crisis' (you remember the 3 day week and the petrol shortage where they handed out ration coupons for petrol for cars but thankfully petrol rationing was never actually introduced) but started again in 1978. In those days BA didn't require a degree but accepted A levels as the minimum acceptable education level so in my Upper 6th form year I applied. I also heard from somewhere at the time that priority would have to be given to older applicants who had missed out in previous years when there had been no recruitment. In any event, I actually got an interview at Hamble (Dec 1978) during which it was suggested that I might like to go to University, get a degree, then re-apply. I was not surprised to get the letter saying I had been unsuccessful but at least they gave me an interview and the tests. Then of course, as you say, they stopped recruiting again. In the end, like you, I followed a different career.
Absolutely brilliant and very professional Captain and the FO and Flt. Engineer. A job performed very well. Happy sailing with many more perfect touchdown. Thank you for this beautiful video.
The last BA 747 I flew on was out of HKG pre covid. As always, a great experience and the Cabin Crew always made the flight that little bit more enjoyable. Shame they've all been grounded now, a 747 in BA livery was a sight to behold.
I’m sure you do. Many of us passengers also miss it. Had a young stewardess tell me the a380 is a better looking plane than the 744. Bless her she’s young she doesn’t know about the queen
Service levels have dropped along with ticket prices. Certain airlines provide a scripted service which may seem like quality to the untrained eye or indifferent customer. This service is provided by underpaid staff working under conditions that no one in the west would find acceptable (e.g. women getting fired for pregnancy). To provide a genuine service, you need staff who are happy in their jobs.
@@vondahe service levels dropping is indicative of what? I feel its a combination of attitudes changing towards customers, but fundamentally its being "content" in a place of work. Can you expand on your point.
Steve have a look at my video of Landor - her last landing and me walking around her. majestic to the last. She landed like a swan. Had me welling up. th-cam.com/video/jCrL4dHot54/w-d-xo.html ✈️❤️
Wow. Amazing to think how different Flight 9 itself was a quarter of a century ago using those 747 classics. Now it terminates at Bangkok with a 777-200ER.
Thank you for sharing this great video. I do miss flying the 747-400s cross country and over the Pacific. I know our airlines here in the States have retired them so, the 777-300s are the next best aircraft. I miss flying the 747-400s to Hong Kong from Chicago. Those were some long-haul flights to remember!! Even though I am a former Purser Flight Attendant, I still have some friends who still fly and I stay in contact with them. And I stay see a few 747s fly over but many of them are cargo ones. And I still see Lufthansa Airline 747-800 fly over me here in Chicago.😊
"In the new machine age, those who work with machines are likely to be replaced by them" quoted here in 1990. I do believe that is prophetic. Any IT, software developers, or Network Engineers reading this will really understand that.
Remember watching this as a 13 year old on the BBC. As you heard runway 05 was still around at LHR. 747 in the Landor was stunning. Loved plane spotting at T4 with so many 747-100/200/400 parked up in unison. Cool Speedbird 9 is still the same service today. That Aussie controller is well bitter about pilots. Have a feeling he wanted to be one 😂
Yeah I remember the series too, i was 12 and a plane geek back then, i loved this series. Always wanted to fly long haul on a jumbo but now I find it boring and the service drab. I wish I had been able to try it out back in 1990 and the service then
I worked at Heathrow from 97 to 2020 and I remember very well runway 05 being used for landings when the wind wasn't blowing in the right direction. It was very strange seeing planes coming in over the Bath Road instead of parallel to it. It's just used as an oversized taxiway now.
HALON747 I know. These were the days when they used to take you to visit the cockpit. I went in the 747 and the Lockheed tri star twice. Got the flight rider certificates too, BA totally ruled in those days
Yep, as a kid I regularly flew on Tri-Star, and visited the cockpit during flight many times (late 80's/early 90's), you only had to ask in those days.
HALON747 When I was 6 years old the Pilots of a MD80 invited me to have a short look in the cockpit. Unfortunately, I was too shy then. That was a few days before 9/11. :/
mezsh where did you fly on the tri star? Did you stop in Middle East by any chance. I remember landing Abu Dhabi and there was nothing. Just sand and then a runway out of no where
Sam Pochin Hi Sam, yes, it was between Heathrow and Doha, Qatar (Gulf Air), I think the flight carried on to Abu Dhabi and then finally to Muscat, but I always disembarked in Doha. Yep, I too remember flying over nothing but endless desert for the last couple of hours. I lost count of how many times I went onto the flight deck during flight though, it was totally normal in those days, smoking onboard was too.
The way the captain turns around when he hears the word tea at at 1:05. Also didn’t realise BA also trained their crew to be a drag act back in the day. 😂😂
As of January 2022 ex British Airways G-BDXN and G-BDXM are still flying for Geo-Sky. They are one of the last Boeing 747-200 in civil aviation to fly.
Time always brings change and that’s a good thing to be embraced. As we know, the 747 has been decommissioned globally by almost all airlines opting for more environmentally economic, younger fleet of aircraft. We thank the queen of the skies for her loyal service which most of us were able to enjoy over that time.
Awesome video! It does a nice job of summarizing an intercontinental route yet also analyses the industry as a whole. I just checked now and LHR-BKK is still BAW9! I love British documentaries; they don't do them as well here in America. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome video, I always use to fly, Lufthansa, or Swiss to Prague from Chicago with layovers in either Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, or Zurich. I remember it was always a 747 and my parents would send us to Grandma's for the summer and the fly attends would sometimes take me to the cockpit.
I worked at LHR at passport control , low paid shift work, with poor staff facilities. But loved watching aircraft at T4. Seeing Concorde most days being prepared on stand V14 and all the VIPs was a privilege.
Correct... then they tried to cover their mistake by blaming the Ground Controller for wrong taxi instructions. Can't have BA pilots seen making their own mistakes. Good thing that aircraft had the best Autopilot.
This is so awesome - also around the time I took my first ever flight, a BA 747 LHR SFO - and what a first flight that was. I still love to travel, and have a review channel right on here, but there was something more exciting about it back then. Of course the airport experience felt nicer and the culture shock of a far away culture was way more intense and exciting. Great watch, thanks for posting!
Gabriel Cox it was the exact same plane? When they had the odd lights flying by the plane? I remember watching a flight disaster documentary about that flight. Do all planes keep their call sign / nickname for the entire life of the airplane? So "SpeedBird 9" is a perm isn't designation for this specific airplane for its lifetime?
So funny how times have changed! We are now in a world where joking around like 30:30 would result in the people fired, the company forced to offer sexual sensitivity training, and the company paying millions in lawsuits to the women who’ll never work again because they were so traumatized by that skit....
RAF VC10 Captains back in the 1980s used to put on their hat & walk through the cabin and say hello to the pax.The Nav would use a sextant & would plot the course on a map that the pax would look at & pass around.I was RAF Cabin Crew 1984-88 at BZZ👍🇬🇧
Wow - what a cool find - amazing to think this was 30 years ago and how new some of this was....no most of it is old hat....one thing that is not here is TCAS...which is another great leap in safety since it rolled out to avation........
The accusations of the Varig pilots are false, they tuned the radios to local radio to check where they were, because they had gotten lost. Watch the air crash investigation episode on it.
It is amazing that this aircraft first flew 55 years ago in 1969, piloted by Jack Waddell, born in 1923, and co-pilot Brien Wygle born in 1924. Here we are and the 747 is still being flown, and the last one made was delivered in January 2023, which will likely fly until 2043 or so, making the service life of this aircraft about 75 years. Apart from Concorde which was supersonic, the 747 was the pinnacle of luxury flying, before 9/11 changed the nature of passenger flight probably forever.
I worked in London as a 22 year old Advertising exec in 1990. Had I seen this documentary at the time, things could have been very different with my career. Oh well!
38:30 Quite disturbing hearing a controller speak like that, grudges against pilots have no place on that type of working enviroment. You work ATC because you love what you do, maybe Salaries were'nt that good back in the 90s but atc is not a work you do for the money.
Under worked are they? Last time I checked, it wasn’t a legal requirement for pilots to have a break after working for just 90 minutes, but it is the case for controllers.
27:28 "It's a fallacy that the stewardesses make a beeline for the captain. I know. I try it on every time and they always say "fack off Ted". In fact, I haven't even had a wristy from one of them since I was a second officer."
You gotta admit, the -200 and -100 series had the best lines. The original upper deck proportions. I am already missing this aircraft in North America. No US passenger carriers use her. Dang I hate growing up!
Indeed the short upper deck make the 747 look amazing. Which is why I like the freighter version of the 747-400 & 747-8, but the pax version not so much.
I miss 747-100/200's I love the old analog gauge cockpits its what I always saw as a kid when theyd let me come in and see everything (back then it was common, sadly kids these days dont get to).
@@juliogonzo2718 737-200 Britannia Airways landing into Gibraltar - mid 80's in the rather uncomfortable fold away jump seat. It was the approach that circles Gibraltar Rock so the views were absolutely epic! and then 2 weeks later the return leg back to Gatwick, the same seat for landing!
A fascinating historical document. And a flight engineer on the panels. "The design of the 747 is over 20 years old...." Nice sight of Concorde at 4:12 and "we're just coming up to Moscow" at 8.00. Happy days"
I think today's livery looks fantastic, the old blue one just looks dated. Best looking livery at Heathrow I think, except when Lufthansa fly in their one aircraft with retro colour scheme - that's just cool.
Two quick scenes I especially loved was at 4:15, the CONC taking the active and the Swissair DC10 taxiing behind the CSA IL-62. Very nice vid, thanks for posting.
@@jr13227 the pilot on AF447 pulled back far that the anti stall systems basically blue screened the airbus engineers wouldn't have designed the system to operate at 35,000 feet when the autopilot is on - most stalls happen near the ground
tempos Maravilhosos ! tempos dos Veteranos jatos 747-100 : 747-200 e 747-300 , DC-10 , Tristar : 727 DC-8 707 E 737 200 300 E 400. TEMPOS QUE NÃO PODEM SEREM ESQUECIDOS JA MAIS. PARABÉNS PELO VÍDEO.
Patrick Pendergast became an ATC because he failed pilot school. Boy is he a bit butt hurt! He doesn't realize that pilots get paid alot because of the responsibility that they have, the schooling they had to go through, the time away from home and missing family events etc! I wonder how long he lasted with that attitude! Great video of my favorite plane ever! Thank you! ❤
I worked in Dubai International Airport and was dedicated Ground Dispatcher for BA,
I found the cockpit crew very polite and professional.
👍👍👍
Wonderful video. My late father retired as a 747 Captain in 1989. He first earned his wings when he was 16 in Air Cadets, and after high school joined the RCAF for 3 years, initially was studying aerospace engineering, but missed flying too much, so joined the airline at the encouragement of my mum (great decision). He experienced a wonderful career.
Such a majestic plane! She will always be Queen of the Skies.
emdengermany Indeed!
emdengermany I agree. Love the Queen with all my heart
Queen of the desert now
@British Airways Boeing 747-436 😑
@@emdengermany
A380 has never had the same allure or elegance, unfortunately it looks like a barge. 🤣
I watched this movie when I was 13 now I'm 41! My god thank you for putting it back :))))
likewise, it was one of the few, if only detailed aviation documentaries at the time. Me and a friend would endlessly discuss it at school. Look at what we have now on TH-cam!
Snap, same thing and i was a kid 12 years old. TV shows about the airline industry were far and few between then and being a fanatic I had to insist I watched this series causing some trouble with rest of people at home sharing the TV! I even recorded the 4 programmes. There was another series around the time called Airport 90 based at Gatwick over a summer weekend in 1990. I think it was hosted by Fern Britton lol
@@peterfinn6098 Now you mention it, I think I remember that. It was filmed live and broadcast the ATC of an evening flight departing to Paris, the pilot said "It's a lovely evening for flying" and then took off into the setting sun!
same here! I was 11. 90's good days
Yeah the Airport 90 was live over a weekend. I had to beg to claim the TV back then. They followed Dan Air quite a bit in the programme and its on TH-cam somewhere. I remember that clip of the DA flight to Paris too.
This is the best pilot documentary/ airline documentary of all time, so honest and real.
The 747 always looks like it just LEAPS into the air. Just beautiful.
So graceful! ✈️❤️
I always thought they look like a giant goose. Really cool looking at.
First plane i ever flew on. Was hooked and still am. No other plane comes close to that beast
Only in 747-8 variant.
@@russellm7530Same. Flew on them 1985 to 2009 and they did resemble giant geese.
‘Flying an airliner is hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror’
The Boeing 747-200 in British Airways Landor livery is just so beautiful and elegant machine!
The best livery - when BA had class!
I was disgusted when BA changed its livery, it was the start of business deciding British & our flag was something to be shamed into hiding away. It was tge same with British Gas, British Petroleum, British Oxygen, British Steel & the like. When was the last time we were encouraged to buy British? Even British Sky Broadcasting was diluted to Sky 😢
In 1990 I was a flight attendant for 8 years and it was a very relaxed era in aviation.
From 1991 on, (first war at the Golf) turmoil started in the entire industry.
And relaxation finally ended in 2001.
I was very happy to retire in 2015 after 33 years of flying around the world without any serious incident.
B.T.W.: do you know what FE means? No, not Flight Engineer, but Frequent Eater.....lol.
And the era when Captains spend their layovers in a luxury hotel suite are definitely over.
1990 you became a FA, 2015 you retired, yet "8 years" of in-flight service?? 🤔
@@johnleebass I became a FA in 1982 at the age of 22 and was eligible for early retirement in 2015 due to my contract's early retirement scheme.
BA were definitely the best of a bad bunch in the 90's.....and then EZJ came along and have evolved into a decent airline and the rest is history. I have never ( and never will ) fly Ryanscare though. Funny to see those old FA uniforms that looked like they were made out of old deckchairs.
John Lee Bass clearly you can’t read. She said after 33 years
@@liamb8644 sorry, 'he' said.......
The 747 and Concorde are the two most incredible engineering marvels
And now because of NASA's PC bullshit hiring and trophy for tenth place mentality we can't even get into space without hitchhiking with the Russians LOFL.
Wrong. the Concorde had more than a few problems and cost way too much to opererate,
@@CaptainArt777 what were the few problems?? The France crash wasn't the concordes fault as we all know...how long can a aircraft be in service till it hasn't got a choice to retire??? Just curious😷♌😉
It was sad to see that clip here in 2021 knowing both the 747 and Concorde are long gone from BA's fleet.
Sadly 2020 marked the end of air travel for the masses, 2008 marked the end of easy money, and 2001 marked the end of life as we knew it.
While I'm sure life would have been easier for many my age had we lived a generation earlier, I feel for the younger ones today who never ever got to see what this place was like before everyone was a disease carrying terrorist waiting to be 15 different genders and 30 ism's.
Yeah we didn't have the latest autopilot, but everything else was better.
@@CaptainArt777 A few flaws don’t detract from the fact Concorde was an engineering marvel. The Sptfire had many flaws in it’s design yet nobody questions the fact that they were beautiful pieces of engineering
back when BA was the worlds favourite airline... times have changed... Nice seeing old footage like this! :-)
Sad to see it decline - I blame it on W Walsh.
It has always been my most hated airline, along with Ryanair of course. You can't beat KLM or Easyjet. BA have always had a shit attitude to economy class and they have always employed incredibly rude and ignorant check-in staff and cabin crew.
@@grahamcook9289 My experiences and those of my friends and family are 100% the opposite to your opinion. BA have always been friendly, eager to help and provided a good value for money. They've always got us to where we wanted to go. Even in August 2023 amid the ATC computer meltdown. Got me to Atlanta with little hassle.
@@bmused55 All my worst flight experiences have been with BA, going back 30 years, and they range from shit checkin staff and rude, ignorant and treating cabin crew to BA trying to kill me just years ago on a flight out of Orlando. I can only assume you are connected with BA in some way. Why hide your identity? I use my real name.
The British Airways Landor livery and the 747-200. Two old classics!
"Oi can i have me cornflakes please. It's more important than the bloody flight" LOL
CaptainAwesome The captain really needs his cornflakes-fix lol
The old gentleman’s pure british accent 👌🏻
Nice voice!
Flew this route as a 9-year-old in 1991 (on a very new 747-400). This brings back many memories of that amazing journey.
It suggests that the flight continued to Melbourne, but it doesn't show it. Do you know it continued to Melbourne?
@@roymackenzie-jy4lr Unfortunately I do not remember - I was only 8 at the time!
@@timcollins5261 that's fine
I love the whole honesty around their fact that they get bored/tired. Always wondered about that, but that kind of candidness wouldn’t be possible today 😂
Yes it would
The 747 runs deep in my family.
1. My late aunt was on the 747’s original design team.
2. My mother’s best friend died in the Tenerife accident. She was a flight attendant for Pan Am.
3. I myself am now a Boeing 747 captain (the -400 and -8; I’ve never flown the Classic).
Flying is in your blood, your kids will be pilots too :)
Must been an amazing experience on a jumbo queen, I sorry your mother's best friend was killed in Tenerife :(
Sadly, generations that follow you won’t have the joy of flying the 747...
are there still 747s?
Wow! This has to be one of the best aviation videos on TH-cam.🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Rare scene of a captain strolling through economy. When I used to fly economy I never saw a captain but in business every flight you see and speak to the captain.
I was born in 1963 and first flew as a passenger about aged 8. My dad was a senior manager at BA, so we flew a lot. I was instantly hooked, and the only thing I ever wanted to be was a 747 Captain. In 1979 BA stopped recruiting pilots, and did not start again until late 1988, by which time I was too old. I never fancied the RAF, as I didn't to be involved in combat. Now a retired Accountant, it remains the case that the only thing I ever wanted to be was a 747 Captain. Bugger. It's too late now. Luckily I have continued to fly quite frequently as a passenger but to be paid well for flying an aircraft like that, well that is quite something.
Never thought about doing your private pilots license? Fly for fun.
@@anwarsentinel1752 Not really. It would be like driving a Nissan Micra instead of a Ferrari. I aspired to being in control of a big aircraft and the whole lifestyle. I had some friends who went across to Florida about 1990 to learn to fly, but by then my career was picking up. One became an AA A320 Captain, another a private jet pilot. They did well with American wives.... Lived the dream. In their case their father gave them both encouragement and financial support, I had neither... Oh Well.
@@MrGman2804 get your ppl
I found your comment about BA pilot recruitment interesting. I am about 3 years older than you. I recall that BA stopped recruiting in the mid-1970's during that so-called 'fuel and energy crisis' (you remember the 3 day week and the petrol shortage where they handed out ration coupons for petrol for cars but thankfully petrol rationing was never actually introduced) but started again in 1978. In those days BA didn't require a degree but accepted A levels as the minimum acceptable education level so in my Upper 6th form year I applied. I also heard from somewhere at the time that priority would have to be given to older applicants who had missed out in previous years when there had been no recruitment. In any event, I actually got an interview at Hamble (Dec 1978) during which it was suggested that I might like to go to University, get a degree, then re-apply. I was not surprised to get the letter saying I had been unsuccessful but at least they gave me an interview and the tests. Then of course, as you say, they stopped recruiting again. In the end, like you, I followed a different career.
The golden years of aviation. No social media, good salary, when people actually respected pilots and low cost didn't exist
The Golden years had no female pilots or male stewardesses
@@philmontejano5971 Oh well
Phil Montejano yes they did
LCC did exist back then, but they were more like proto-LCC.
“Respected Pilots” except those who don’t, like Aussie air traffic controllers 🙄
woooow a time long time ago, the captain walks through the cabin, talks to the passengers, explains technic and the route... woooow !
He did that on my flight last year
Sit up front and have a chat with the captain.
Absolutely brilliant and very professional Captain and the FO and Flt. Engineer. A job performed very well. Happy sailing with many more perfect touchdown. Thank you for this beautiful video.
I work on the BA 747-400 as cabin crew I miss her greatly ❤
The last BA 747 I flew on was out of HKG pre covid. As always, a great experience and the Cabin Crew always made the flight that little bit more enjoyable. Shame they've all been grounded now, a 747 in BA livery was a sight to behold.
I’m sure you do. Many of us passengers also miss it. Had a young stewardess tell me the a380 is a better looking plane than the 744. Bless her she’s young she doesn’t know about the queen
I remember seeing lynn barton the first officer in a video last year she’s now a 744 captain
Even as recent as 1990, British people's accents have changed. These people sound very clipped compared to today.
Andy D cultural Marxism is in full swing
Basically dumbed down.
@@airindiana Yes, be proud of your comprehensive education.
@@ronzomac6246 I can't help it if I speak properly. Sorry.
@@airindiana Haha. You just write like it instead. The phrase "quite frankly" I associate with clipped accents. Got a clip on your shoulder? It shows.
The time when BA had an excellent service.
Indeed from the days when a BA aircraft was a welcome site when you were traveling. Now? I'll go Emirates thanks.
And when plane tickets were a lot more expensive... How old are you, 16?
They had, indeed.
Service levels have dropped along with ticket prices. Certain airlines provide a scripted service which may seem like quality to the untrained eye or indifferent customer. This service is provided by underpaid staff working under conditions that no one in the west would find acceptable (e.g. women getting fired for pregnancy).
To provide a genuine service, you need staff who are happy in their jobs.
@@vondahe service levels dropping is indicative of what? I feel its a combination of attitudes changing towards customers, but fundamentally its being "content" in a place of work. Can you expand on your point.
Such a fascinating insight into a profession often taken for granted. Thanks for the upload.
The BA Landor livery was the best.. It certainly looked amazing on Concorde.
Steve Bennet Negus is best livery not Landor.
Steve have a look at my video of Landor - her last landing and me walking around her. majestic to the last. She landed like a swan. Had me welling up. th-cam.com/video/jCrL4dHot54/w-d-xo.html ✈️❤️
BOAC was best!
First time I watched this was over 30yrs ago...I was about 9...amazing to find this on TH-cam 😄
Wow. Amazing to think how different Flight 9 itself was a quarter of a century ago using those 747 classics. Now it terminates at Bangkok with a 777-200ER.
When you really felt well looked after by British Airways.
The 47 was and is a magnificent sight. Ordinary folks could see the world for the first time thanks to this bird.
Beautiful early ‘90s type documentary. The good old days with BA’s classic Landor livery. Thanks for the upload.
Lynn Barton became Captain Lynn Barton in 1996 and and got married the same year. -- Nice one Lynn
Aaaaaaarrgh..I'll avoid flying BA
She was also the first captain to fly into Terminal 5 at Heathrow
Paul Steele who cares?
@@cloverdalewhite That must have caused carnage.
@@Stephen-Steven-Stephens what did you want them to do? Stay in Terminal 1 as it was demolished, you spanner?
BA 009. I've been on this flight so many times. Love it thanks for the upload!!
excellent docie so interesting to hear the discussion around automation and the perspective of ATCs, female pilots
The banter in the cockpit isn't permitted today. Thoroughly loved this clip.
Correct - that banter was simply far too dull to be permitted today. Sterile cockpit applies below 10,000’.
There are few more stately sights than watching British gentlemen command a jumbo jet. Bravo. Sincerely, America.
Nicely said sir!
Lynn Barton retired as Captain in 2016.
That nerdy captain was waiting for that hot flight attendant to be impressed
Thank you for sharing this great video. I do miss flying the 747-400s cross country and over the Pacific. I know our airlines here in the States have retired them so, the 777-300s are the next best aircraft. I miss flying the 747-400s to Hong Kong from Chicago. Those were some long-haul flights to remember!! Even though I am a former Purser Flight Attendant, I still have some friends who still fly and I stay in contact with them. And I stay see a few 747s fly over but many of them are cargo ones. And I still see Lufthansa Airline 747-800 fly over me here in Chicago.😊
"In the new machine age, those who work with machines are likely to be replaced by them" quoted here in 1990. I do believe that is prophetic. Any IT, software developers, or Network Engineers reading this will really understand that.
Remember watching this as a 13 year old on the BBC. As you heard runway 05 was still around at LHR. 747 in the Landor was stunning. Loved plane spotting at T4 with so many 747-100/200/400 parked up in unison. Cool Speedbird 9 is still the same service today. That Aussie controller is well bitter about pilots. Have a feeling he wanted to be one 😂
Yeah I remember the series too, i was 12 and a plane geek back then, i loved this series. Always wanted to fly long haul on a jumbo but now I find it boring and the service drab. I wish I had been able to try it out back in 1990 and the service then
I worked at Heathrow from 97 to 2020 and I remember very well runway 05 being used for landings when the wind wasn't blowing in the right direction. It was very strange seeing planes coming in over the Bath Road instead of parallel to it. It's just used as an oversized taxiway now.
23:37 "And if at any time we get a fire warning, just reset the master warning" sounds legit. 🤣
Pretty standard. If its a false alarm, then it remains silent. If there is a real fire, it will pop again.
@@xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx no, you silence the warning because it’s served it’s purpose. You now know and it’s just a distraction now.
Everyone is relaxed and cool. Way before 911.
HALON747 I know. These were the days when they used to take you to visit the cockpit. I went in the 747 and the Lockheed tri star twice. Got the flight rider certificates too, BA totally ruled in those days
Yep, as a kid I regularly flew on Tri-Star, and visited the cockpit during flight many times (late 80's/early 90's), you only had to ask in those days.
HALON747 When I was 6 years old the Pilots of a MD80 invited me to have a short look in the cockpit. Unfortunately, I was too shy then. That was a few days before 9/11. :/
mezsh where did you fly on the tri star? Did you stop in Middle East by any chance. I remember landing Abu Dhabi and there was nothing. Just sand and then a runway out of no where
Sam Pochin
Hi Sam, yes, it was between Heathrow and Doha, Qatar (Gulf Air), I think the flight carried on to Abu Dhabi and then finally to Muscat, but I always disembarked in Doha. Yep, I too remember flying over nothing but endless desert for the last couple of hours. I lost count of how many times I went onto the flight deck during flight though, it was totally normal in those days, smoking onboard was too.
The way the captain turns around when he hears the word tea at at 1:05. Also didn’t realise BA also trained their crew to be a drag act back in the day. 😂😂
Wonderful video thank you for sharing, we miss you, Queen of the Skies ❤️✈️
Ah yes, BA's Landor Livery. Gorgeous and fitting, best one they ever had. Should have kept it.
As of January 2022 ex British Airways G-BDXN and G-BDXM are still flying for Geo-Sky. They are one of the last Boeing 747-200 in civil aviation to fly.
Time always brings change and that’s a good thing to be embraced. As we know, the 747 has been decommissioned globally by almost all airlines opting for more environmentally economic, younger fleet of aircraft. We thank the queen of the skies for her loyal service which most of us were able to enjoy over that time.
I think Lufthansa are still flying one or two.
Flying a airliner, is hours and hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of stark terror. 8:05 LOL
Luca C I can vouch for that.
Awesome video! It does a nice job of summarizing an intercontinental route yet also analyses the industry as a whole. I just checked now and LHR-BKK is still BAW9! I love British documentaries; they don't do them as well here in America. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome video, I always use to fly, Lufthansa, or Swiss to Prague from Chicago with layovers in either Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, or Zurich. I remember it was always a 747 and my parents would send us to Grandma's for the summer and the fly attends would sometimes take me to the cockpit.
04.13 who else saw concord.
i love air travel and would have loved to work at an airport
Same here and I was very lucky to have worked at an airport in the mid 80's catering the airlines. Good times! ✈❤
I worked at LHR at passport control , low paid shift work, with poor staff facilities. But loved watching aircraft at T4. Seeing Concorde most days being prepared on stand V14 and all the VIPs was a privilege.
The pilots misunderstood the Thai air traffic controller's pronunciation when he directed them to the parking gate.
...Nice video. That plane is huge!
Correct... then they tried to cover their mistake by blaming the Ground Controller for wrong taxi instructions. Can't have BA pilots seen making their own mistakes. Good thing that aircraft had the best Autopilot.
@@davidpalmer9780these things only happen on line checks or when there’s a film crew :)
25:17 Hahaha it's as if she's asking him "would you like me to send a girl up for happy ending?"
"No thanks, I'm so tired."
LOL
This is so awesome - also around the time I took my first ever flight, a BA 747 LHR SFO - and what a first flight that was. I still love to travel, and have a review channel right on here, but there was something more exciting about it back then. Of course the airport experience felt nicer and the culture shock of a far away culture was way more intense and exciting. Great watch, thanks for posting!
You should start a yt channel about your trips around the World, Steve. I think you'd be great at it.
@@derektaylor2941I agree, I think this guy should give it a go
Speedbird 9 was the flight that lost all it's engine power after flying into ash near Jakarta.
Yeh ... that was the same flight but 8 years earlier. Have to wonder if the crew ever get a bit nervous about that happening again...
Gabriel Cox it was the exact same plane? When they had the odd lights flying by the plane? I remember watching a flight disaster documentary about that flight. Do all planes keep their call sign / nickname for the entire life of the airplane? So "SpeedBird 9" is a perm isn't designation for this specific airplane for its lifetime?
FreshlySnipes The 747 in this video is named 'City of Oxford' whereas the 747 in question was 'City of Edinburgh'
BA Flight 9. Dickhead.
Idiot.
So funny how times have changed! We are now in a world where joking around like 30:30 would result in the people fired, the company forced to offer sexual sensitivity training, and the company paying millions in lawsuits to the women who’ll never work again because they were so traumatized by that skit....
Apart from that, it’s not funny
Thank you for finding and uploading this. A time where there was much more accessibility.
15:27 "oi can i get corn flakes it's very important on a bloody flight c'mon"
I was actually on this flight to Thailand ! How crazy
And me and me.
How was it Jason? Tell us more!
On the exact one they were filming?
Bullshit.
@@Rambo9700 Your just jelly as in smelly
Miss having a Flight Engineer: "Standing them up!"
RAF VC10 Captains back in the 1980s used to put on their hat & walk through the cabin and say hello to the pax.The Nav would use a sextant & would plot the course on a map that the pax would look at & pass around.I was RAF Cabin Crew 1984-88 at BZZ👍🇬🇧
Wow - what a cool find - amazing to think this was 30 years ago and how new some of this was....no most of it is old hat....one thing that is not here is TCAS...which is another great leap in safety since it rolled out to avation........
This captain has a pleasant accent and voice as well!
The accusations of the Varig pilots are false, they tuned the radios to local radio to check where they were, because they had gotten lost. Watch the air crash investigation episode on it.
This was made 1 year after it, when the investigation hadn't been finished
The Queen of The Skies takes off again...
So sad to know that they aren't flying anymore, long live the Queen of The Skies.....
Great ride thanks Captain & Crew !!
It is amazing that this aircraft first flew 55 years ago in 1969, piloted by Jack Waddell, born in 1923, and co-pilot Brien Wygle born in 1924. Here we are and the 747 is still being flown, and the last one made was delivered in January 2023, which will likely fly until 2043 or so, making the service life of this aircraft about 75 years. Apart from Concorde which was supersonic, the 747 was the pinnacle of luxury flying, before 9/11 changed the nature of passenger flight probably forever.
I worked in London as a 22 year old Advertising exec in 1990. Had I seen this documentary at the time, things could have been very different with my career. Oh well!
Cool vid.. my mate flew these for Qantas.. thanks from NZ 👍🇳🇿
38:30 Quite disturbing hearing a controller speak like that, grudges against pilots have no place on that type of working enviroment. You work ATC because you love what you do, maybe Salaries were'nt that good back in the 90s but atc is not a work you do for the money.
He was a miserable bastard wasn't he? Probably applied to Qantas and was rejected.
Under worked are they? Last time I checked, it wasn’t a legal requirement for pilots to have a break after working for just 90 minutes, but it is the case for controllers.
Love the accent. Don’t hear them like that on the radio anymore. Watched this episode around 100 times back in the day.
1990 " Good morning, girls!". 2024 " How dare you call me names!"
27:28 "It's a fallacy that the stewardesses make a beeline for the captain. I know. I try it on every time and they always say "fack off Ted". In fact, I haven't even had a wristy from one of them since I was a second officer."
A wristy? Took me a minute
4:13 that Concorde 🔥
"Oi can I have a my cornflakes? Well it's more important than the bloody flight comon"
I used to adore the 747-200B sud but now I like the 8i
My god the first few seconds and showing that old livery. So many great memories
Love from Thailand. I suppose to say Thailand is the most famous destination in the orient
You gotta admit, the -200 and -100 series had the best lines. The original upper deck proportions. I am already missing this aircraft in North America. No US passenger carriers use her.
Dang I hate growing up!
Indeed the short upper deck make the 747 look amazing. Which is why I like the freighter version of the 747-400 & 747-8, but the pax version not so much.
I miss 747-100/200's I love the old analog gauge cockpits its what I always saw as a kid when theyd let me come in and see everything (back then it was common, sadly kids these days dont get to).
Yeah I jump seated a takeoff in a 737-200 when I was 10 in 1993. No chance in hell of that happening now
@@juliogonzo2718 737-200 Britannia Airways landing into Gibraltar - mid 80's in the rather uncomfortable fold away jump seat. It was the approach that circles Gibraltar Rock so the views were absolutely epic! and then 2 weeks later the return leg back to Gatwick, the same seat for landing!
@JetA1_ you a lucky mf I can't deny it 👍
Why may I ask, were bits of the programme cut out???
I wonder as well... It's like the episode is supposed to be approx 1 hour but 10-15 minutes were cut out.
I believe it’s a preview
A fascinating historical document. And a flight engineer on the panels. "The design of the 747 is over 20 years old...." Nice sight of Concorde at 4:12 and "we're just coming up to Moscow" at 8.00. Happy days"
This is when BA had a cool logo and design on their tale. I'm not a fan of the new design at all.
I agree, this livery was perfect
Their current livery is closer to their first livery.
I think the livery you're refering to is called "Landor".
Adrian Morton I was saying this the other day. I used to love this livery, it really felt like BA. Very understated.
I think today's livery looks fantastic, the old blue one just looks dated. Best looking livery at Heathrow I think, except when Lufthansa fly in their one aircraft with retro colour scheme - that's just cool.
Awesome video of the 747!!
Two quick scenes I especially loved was at 4:15, the CONC taking the active and the Swissair DC10 taxiing behind the CSA IL-62. Very nice vid, thanks for posting.
Back when the Dusit Tani was the cream of the crop in BKK, every pilot from every airline would stay there.
9:50 I wonder if that dude is still around - what would he think of AF447
And 34:39
@@jr13227 the pilot on AF447 pulled back far that the anti stall systems basically blue screened
the airbus engineers wouldn't have designed the system to operate at 35,000 feet when the autopilot is on - most stalls happen near the ground
I have 2 daughters and very proud of them. They can do anything a man can do and usually better. I am the very proud dad 😁
If there is beautiful plane it has to be 747
The classic beauty of the sky's
tempos Maravilhosos ! tempos dos Veteranos jatos 747-100 : 747-200 e 747-300 , DC-10 , Tristar : 727 DC-8 707 E 737 200 300 E 400.
TEMPOS QUE NÃO PODEM SEREM ESQUECIDOS JA MAIS.
PARABÉNS PELO VÍDEO.
Nice piano by Richard Clayderman. A real legend of piano, part of their soundtrack of this programme.
The first officer starting salary is £52k in today's money
Rubbish money when you compare it to say train driver ,
Incorrect, by quite a margin
@@emilaero £53,500 starting wage of train driver with the company I work for 😮🤔
@@Sam-bz1hr Year 1 salary at BA is £63k not including duty pay etc. Average earnings in excess of £80k....
What is that song at 24:17?
Patrick Pendergast became an ATC because he failed pilot school. Boy is he a bit butt hurt! He doesn't realize that pilots get paid alot because of the responsibility that they have, the schooling they had to go through, the time away from home and missing family events etc! I wonder how long he lasted with that attitude! Great video of my favorite plane ever! Thank you! ❤
@Jess W I refuse to have a discussion with a uneducated, self opinionated person.
@Jess W Patrick is a typical butt hurt ATC, because he never leaves his seat 🤣🤣🤣
18:10 “It’s fine Steve, it’s fine.”
18:13 “What you doing Steve?” 😂😂😂