Back in late February I had to fly to Barcelona, so I seized the opportunity to fly on the 747-8I with Lufthansa. I've flown in a number of 747s before but this was my first trip in the 8I.
The route of the flight was Carlsbad (KCRQ) - Los Angeles (KLAX) - Frankfurt (EDDF) - Barcelona (LEBL). The equipment was:
KLAX-EDDF: Lufthansa Boeing 747-8I (D-ABYI there, D-ABYL back)
EDDF-LEBL: Lufthansa Airbus A321-200 (D-AISP there, D-AIDL back)
The Embraer, by the way, was a fun little twenty minute flight. The greatest part of this was the service from a quiet airport ten minutes from my house, with all the perks of connecting. Although, actually connecting at LAX from terminal 8 to the Tom Brady International terminal is extremely inconvenient. It's a looooooooong walk and there's no transportation (other than a $20 taxi around the loop). At least I didn't have to worry about my luggage.
The 747-8I is a 747 through and through. I sat in premium economy, which is nice. It's really what all standard economy seating should be; enough room to be comfortable and retain a little dignity. Lufthansa's interiors are immaculate and modern. The plane itself vibrated a bit on takeoff both times, but other than that was a smooth ride. Very 747 like. Feels like a flying tank. Nothing feels 'widebody' to me like a 747. You can feel the inertia absorb turbulence, turning it into more of a comfortable rumble rather than a disconcerting rattle. The engines are amazingly quiet. I almost missed the racket you usually hear on takeoff. Now it's more of just a calm, firm push back into your seat.
I've talked about it before, but I went into the cabin and talked to the pilot and copilot. You can read about his comments here.
Some pictures, and then full videos of takeoff and descent below:
Brasilia at Carlsbad
Flight to Germany. They must have known I was coming.
Entertainment
Frankfurt is still a 747 haven.
D-ABYH had an issue, so they wheeled her off. She flew a different route later in the day.
D-ABYL rolls in to save the day.
747-8I cockpit
Here is video I took of the departure and the landing coming back from Frankfurt:
I also captured a bit of the return trip departure and arrival on the Brasilia coming home from Los Angeles:
This is kind of old and bizarre and extremely trivial for a 747 focused blog to comment on, but I saw it come up again in the news and did a little research. The frame is G-MKCA, line 484, a former Korean Airlines and MK Airlines 747-200, and she retired in 2009 just before hitting 29 years old with at least 108,500 hours in the air. Now you know.
