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Posted

Saw a tweet from the Buffalo Airport.  The Bills are chartering one of the last Delta 747-400 aircraft in their fleet.  It will be retired in December.  It's scheduled to depart Buffalo around 12:30pm to LAX.  Pretty cool since the airport rarely sees the 747.

Posted
58 minutes ago, Doc said:

Not sure I'd want to fly in a plan that will be retired in a few weeks. 

I’m sure they fly in style.. this isn’t the coach class we’re all used to.

Posted

I always thought 747's couldn't land in Buffalo because the runway wasn't long enough?

 

It’s not, this is part of the plan to rework the roster.

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Posted
38 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I always thought 747's couldn't land in Buffalo because the runway wasn't long enough?

It isn't long enough.

 

They are landing on the playoff drought.

The space shuttle could land on the playoff drought.

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Posted
4 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

How do they normally fly?

 

For shorter legs, usually a 757.

Longer legs, a 767.

The London games use Virgin Atlantic. It's part of the contract agreement.

Buffalo''s long runway is 8800' long. That's long enough for a 747-400 on a domestic trip with required fuel and cargo loads.

 

Regarding the age of the airplane, the 747 series are all being retired because they are too expensive to operate, not because of airworthiness issues.

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Posted
1 hour ago, sherpa said:

 

For shorter legs, usually a 757.

Longer legs, a 767.

The London games use Virgin Atlantic. It's part of the contract agreement.

Buffalo''s long runway is 8800' long. That's long enough for a 747-400 on a domestic trip with required fuel and cargo loads.

 

Regarding the age of the airplane, the 747 series are all being retired because they are too expensive to operate, not because of airworthiness issues.

And they're not being retired. They are the work horse for cargo now. With proper maintenance  they'll be around for decades. The USAF is still flying 50 year old B-52s.

Posted

I meant from passenger service.

Four engines is considerably more expensive to operate.

Can't give away an Airbus 380 these days.

 

747 was originally designed as cargo anyway, thus the flight deck on the upper level. 

Posted
9 hours ago, Doc said:

Not sure I'd want to fly in a plan that will be retired in a few weeks. 

As opposed to a drunk pilot flying

Posted

The last BILLS 747 that I recall, was to London.  We lost that one!  Hopefully that wasn't an omen!

 

I'm not the superstitious type BUT, the way things are going, we need all the help we can get.

 

Maybe Terry is just "kicking the tires," and this is an option for the new BILLS plane?

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