The final Boeing 747 departed Everett, Washington’s Paine Field airport (PAE) on the morning of February 1, 2023 and landed at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) where it will become a freighter for Atlas Air.
However, before flight 5Y 747 completed its over six-hour, 3,300+ kilometer journey, it left a crowning legacy in the skies.
In a nod to its nickname “Queen of the Skies”, the final B747 aircraft, registered N863GT, flew an interesting flight path shortly after its takeoff, forming a flight path in the shape of a crown with the numbers 747 below.
Since the 747 was first rolled out in 1968, it has been called a number of other names such as ‘The Jumbo Jet’, and ‘The Whale’.
It is believed that Boeing marketing decided that ‘Queen of the Skies’ would be a much more romantic and positive slogan denoting class and grace. The aircraft was called a queen, rather than a king, due to the queen’s less limited movement in a chess board.