It’s footage of the Classic Queen Of The Skies that will never be repeated.
When we first saw this video, we couldn’t believe it. Someone successfully placed a camera on the front landing gear of a classic 747-200 and recorded the entire flight. If you are an avgeek, this is solid gold (well except the cheesy porn music). The landing gear is virtually a mechanical work of art and the landing…oh so sweet.
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You have to wonder, what’s the story behind this video? While we have no way to verify the accuracy of the story, the post by Balleka below the video seems plausible:
“I was a training Captain with this company and also one of the aircraft Air -Test pilots so I had a fair amount of experience of actually operating the various alternate systems of the Classic and I suppose explains how I was able to convince the rest of the crew to go along with my plan.
I had let my enthusiasm get the better of me and despite having tried to mitigate against all the “what ifs” we could think of, had really gone outside the box and consequently I was on the red carpet in front of the DFO pleading idiocy (temporary insanity) and trying to save my job.
I immediately removed the video from Youtube, ( unfortunately quite a few others had already re-uploaded it) but decided to repost it about a year later after the company had succumbed to the world financial crisis, and further embarrassment could be avoided.”
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He also posted video of how the footage was made. You can see the video below:
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About the 747-200:
By the time production ended in 1991, almost 400 aircraft were built of the Boeing 200 series. These included 73 Boeing 200-Fs. F stands for freighter, by the way. Other types of Boeing 747-200 include the passenger version (747-200B), the convertible jet (747-200C), and the combination jet (747-200M). They even made a 747 tanker demonstrator! Only a few Boeing 747-200s remain in operation today. They include the VC-25, commonly known as Air Force One and the E-4.
