Queen of the skies

I will be traveling again this week and after a long time I am actually looking forward to getting on a plane. I am taking the trouble of going from PNQ to BLR first, so that I can fly to FRA on the new Boeing 747-8i.

The 747 has always been known as the Queen of the skies and it ruled the airways for nearly 4 decades from the 1970s to the 2000s, at which time airlines had started to prefer the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A330 and A380.

But now, the legend is back; in its latest avatar - the 747-8i. It is the longest passenger jet liner in the world. Its wings hold a quarter million litres of jet fuel and its four General Electric GEnx engines each produce 66500 lbf of thrust making it the fastest commercial aircraft in the skies today. And yet it is the quietest aircraft to travel in. Reviewers have said that they had to concentrate to hear the engines even at take-off. Only the Concorde SST has been a more glamourous way to fly.

I am looking forward to this flight with the same eagerness with which I boarded my first 747 at age 12. I know I am gushing, but the 747 is an awesome piece of engineering. And I plan to write a review after the flight.