Over the course of my plane spotting career, which is approaching 25,000 presses of a shutter button, today may have been the most rewarding spotting day to date.
In the past I’ve had a fair amount of luck with my spotting. Whether it was being at the In-N-Out in LAX when Air Force One was in town, or sitting on a mound with a moose nearby in Anchorage when a Dream Lifter showed up unexpectedly, I’ve been in the right place at the right time on several occasions.
Today however, as an LH fan, will go down as perhaps one of my best ‘sessions’. The reason I say this is because of the aircraft involved. If you are not aware, Lufthansa’s next 747-8i, D-ABYP, is also Boeing’s 1500th 747 to be manufactured which automatically marks it as a milestone aircraft.
When I had booked this trip back in January, I had a certain degree of confidence that ‘Yankee Papa’ was going to be delivered in June so I speculated that I may be in town for the delivery flight. Well, I was off by one week. Lufthansa will take delivery of D-ABYP next Saturday, June 28 after a few ceremonies marking the special event. My ‘real life career’ calendar precluded me from changing my plans to go to Seattle for the event on the 28th, so I had to settle for my original dates.
So today, as I was standing alongside the runway I heard on ATC chatter that a 747 was getting ready to taxi for departure. I missed the initial call to hear which aircraft was leaving, so I assumed it was a Silkway or Nippon Cargo 747-8F. When I saw ‘YP’ get pushed back I got the feeling that Karma was somehow on my side, and they were going to rehearse the delivery for me.
So without saying too much more, here are a few images of the departure and arrival of D-ABYP. It was about a 2-3 hour spread between arrival and departure, but certainly worth waiting for.
By the way, you may notice a vinyl layer covering something above the rear windows, above the Aircraft Registration. I suspect this is hiding a special graphic designating this as the 1500th 747. Unfortunately, this may be the only graphic acknowledging the accomplishment. I was hoping for a bit more ‘livery’ to recognize such a special aircraft.
Enjoy!
D-ABYP taxis towards runway 34L at Paine Field on June 21
Preparing to enter the runway (pardon some of the heat haze).
Notice the runway reflecting on the fuselage?
I was so close to her that my lens was not able to capture the entire craft!
Takeoff roll begins…..
On final, with Mount Rainier in the background.
Over the numbers…..
Nothing like the smell of burnt rubber!
Had a wonderful business class 😉 flight on D-ABYP Oct 21st 2017 from Frankfurt/Main to Tokyo Haneda. I had noticed the specific info re. “1.500 => Yankee Papa” before. Just now I found your article plus great photos. Thanks! Definitely, this 747-8 was one of the most impressive 747 flights I had since the 1970s. Very smooth, very comfortable, very nice crew all over. Another “Thanks” to Lufthansa 🙂
Great pictures, thanks for the information, and very nice timing to see her fly! When she rolled out, many were speculating about those covers, I believe you are correct. Is there a chance there may be still more added to her livery at some point?
It’s a big milestone, and very appropriate that LN 1500 goes to Lufthansa. Are there any further details on what is planned for the delivery ceremony?
With respect to the fuel efficiency question, a lot depends on configuration of the aircraft, but in raw terms, the 747-8 is within percentage points of the 380 and the 77W. One should note however, that CASM is only part of what fleet planners look at when deciding on the viability of a frame. The other important parts are the potential revenue to be generated and the fit in terms of traffic flow and routes.
The will be a media event and dinner on 26th/27th with the deliver flight on the 28th. Most of the planning was coming from Germany so I don’t have as many details as I would if it was being organized with LH-USA.
Wonder pix of “YP,” thanks. Just guessing, the the plastered over section may be an earlier N- registration number used during early test flights. Celebratory marking are usually close to the front, no? As nice an airplane as the 747-8i is, I’ve never quite understood why LH bought it. The 777-300 series can hold almost as many seats and is far more efficient to operate. I’d guess that the 773 is also a good bit less costly. Perhaps Boeing offered LH an exceptionally good deal as launch customer for the 8i, perhaps to ‘prove’ that it was viable in passenger service. Other than a few VIP configurations, I don’t think Boeing has sold the 8i to any other pax carriers and probably will not. Another mystery of the business that we may never fully understand… If Boeing eventually breaks even on the 747-8, it will obviously be by selling more of the 8F. Airbus is reasonably competitive in all large pax configurations, (including the 777 and 748) but for freighters and no A380-F on the horizon, the 747-8F is THE heavy freighter for this generation, *IMO*.
Good point about the cover, it could be Boeing’s tail number. Boeing has only sold the -8i passenger to LH and Air China (maybe Korean too?). Air China has yet to get one, though I saw theirs sitting on the Boeing Ramps without any paint. My understanding is that LH may offer to buy a few more if the price is good to help boeing keep the -8i line open long enough for 2-3 to be made to replace the current Air Force 1 aircraft.
Also, the Intercontinental has been ordered by LH (19), Air China (7), Korean Air (10), Transaero (4), and Arik Air (2). The Arik Air orders were rumored to be converted to 77Ws since the traffic flow that Arik was counting on has not developed quite yet, but at this moment, they are still on Boeing’s books as 747-8s.
Air China should have 3 frames roll out this year (the first was 1499), and I believe should take delivery of 2 or 3.
Korean’s first Intercontinental is in the FAL now and will roll out later this year. I don’t know if they expect to take delivery later this year, or starting in 2015 as has been reported elsewhere.
Transaero is scheduled to take delivery of 2 in 2016 and 2 in 2017. They were reported earlier this year to be negotiating with Boeing to potentially add another 4 or more to their order.
It would be great if LH ordered several more frames. From what I have heard anecdotally, and what they officially release to the press, they seem to be fairly happy with the frames, making good revenue with them, and at times, turning what was a losing route with a 744 into a profitable one.
In fact, Lufthansa re-worked their delivery schedule with Boeing earlier this year so that they were able to get 6 frames instead of 5 in 2014, with 4 of them in the first 4 months. Additionally, they accelerated the delivery schedule of the last 4, so that they should all deliver in the first quarter of 2015.
From my perspective, that seems to me that they are happy with the frame and they were looking to speed up getting them into service. There are also quite a few rumors that many airlines are again evaluating the 747-8 and if it makes sense in their fleet structure in the near-term. I’m sure this is at least partly due to the fact that Lufthansa has had them in revenue service for a couple of years now, and that the PIP/improved frames have been operating for over 6 months now, leading to some hard data that airlines can look at.
Like I mentioned in my other comment, the 747-8 was designed to be just about as efficient as the 77Ws, but with much larger ability to carry passengers. Due to the delays in the program (having significant new wing work done, and engineering being diverted to the 787 for large stretches), she came out a few years later than originally anticipated, and then was a little overweight and under spec at the time.
With the improvements that Boeing have made to the frame since 2011, and with the updated GE PIP, the current frames are most likely beating delivery guarantees and have better payload-range to boot.
The 747-8 and the 77W complement each other very well actually, as per Boeing’s original intent. Where the two families really get much closer in terms of seating area is the 777-9, however, even there, the 747-8 has ~15% greater floor space available.
I have it on good authority that in fact the covered graphic above the registration IS a livery add on re: being #1500
I have always had a soft spot for the 747s but airlines have been gradually moving away from their old birds because of low fuel efficiency, and other issues associated with age. Is this new plane competitive on fuel with the 777 or other similar aircraft?