What an aircraft, and what a history!

And it says the last passenger version was built back in 2017. Thats kinda crazy, I figured most cargo units would be one of the ex-passenger units sitting out in the desert

I have wondered if an improvement in engines could bring back the 747 as a freight hauler.

I have also wondered if the new US Air Force “Rapid Dragon” system that allows non-bomber aircraft to launch cruise missiles means that a couple hundred 747s should be bought up and modified as a relatively cheap way to deter naval war.

Same with A380s.

Chopping up hundreds of B-52s under Russian satellite view was as bad an idea as USA and Britain sinking war ships after World War I.
It only helps treaty cheaters

We have the recently developed "Quick Sink" bomb for that. China can build a navy as large as they want. We'll sink 'em as fast as we see 'em.
https://newatlas.com/military/quicksink-kit-turns-dumb-bombs-into-ship-destroyers/

i was there when they rolled out old red stripe #1 in 69..dad worked for boeing at the time on the sst and dyna soar.. sad

That technology has been around for a very long time. When I was in the Persian Gulf in 88 we took out an Iranian Frigate with a Mark 82 laser guided bomb right down the stack.

That is one proud bird! The safety record is pretty incredible for the number of miles and passengers flown! I believe only 4 have had catastrophic break-ups in the air and one shot down and a total of 61 units damaged airframes to the point of not being usable, amazing only 4% of total production!

There are many differences between what you described and the Quicksink. I have a good friend that is currently working on the Quicksink program. I won't elaborate other than to say (what's already on the web); Quicksink still uses a conventional dumb bomb with a JDAM guidance kit, so there's that.

Sad to see them go. They've been around all my life. Every kid knows or knew what a jumbo jet was. I had toys that looked like them, big cartoon airplanes always looked like them. You knew if you were flying far that you'd probably be in on. I'd still love to be able to take one more flight in one.

If you like them Joe Sutter's 747 book is worth reading, And I'm not a big book reader.

I agree with all of that. They've been reliable aviation workhorses for multiple decades. No small feat! But in the end, it's just business. If it were more profitable for any company to purchase/operate the 747 over its competitor, we'd be discussing them.

I wonder if Stratolaunch’s “Roc” has a lower cost per ton-mile than a single 747.

Roc was built for maximum lift capacity so it is hard to guess...

If we only had half of what FTX lost we could do years of 747 experiments: sigh

my 1st transatlantic trip was on a pan-am 747 ny/london 1976 - we were sitting in 1st class, the stewardess comes by and says lunch will be served- so we follow her up the circular stairs to the top which is a dining room... wow.... changed jobs shortly after that, n it was coach from then-on...

?

But can the ROC do this

One of the best memories I'll ever have was sitting in a meeting room in the Everett plant. You try concentrating on schedule production discussions when one of those "bodies in green" comes floating by on the gantry crane in front of full display windows. I don't know how anyone got work done in that building, I'd be staring out the windows to the line all day long.