The Minority Report

Forty years ago today, a woman stood alone in the snow beside a runway in Seattle and watched as an enormous aircraft rumbled towards her.

Nancy Sutter had heard stories that this huge new aircraft was too heavy to get airborne, too unstable and likely to flip over if it did get off the ground.

But her husband, Joe, was so confident that he positioned Nancy at the exact point where he calculated the giant would lift off. He went to the radio room to talk the pilots through the flight and when he returned to collect Nancy, she was in tears of relief. All the doubts had vanished. Boeing’s 747 had taken to the skies for the first time at the exact point where Nancy Sutter had been standing.

Taken from The day Boeing brought the world to everyone’s door

I think that aviation is cool and the Boeing 747 is an exceptional aircraft. I had the pleasure of riding in one when I was a small child, got my wings and everything.

The original Boeing 747 was so big that airports had to be adapted to accommodate it. Hangars were enlarged to fit the tail-fin, while tow-trucks and stairs on the taxiway had to be changed. The turbofan engines were more powerful and quieter than jet engines. There were 16 wheels – twice the normal – to spread the weight.

Here is the BBC’s take on the 40th anniversary of this giant jumbo.

An object of boyish wonder, an aviation milestone, a sea-change for cheap air travel, a Jumbo of a plane, the Boeing 747 celebrates its 40th birthday.

Four decades ago, Boeing’s prototype 747 took to the skies over Washington State for a flight lasting some 75 minutes.

The aircraft, named City of Everett after the location of the factory where it was manufactured, handled well. And so was born the aircraft which has become an icon of the aviation industry and helped bring cheap airline travel to millions of people.

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Four decades of a flying giant