Cool 747 banking manouvers, as well as a quick text history of the aircraft.

Glad I wasnt on that flight too.

That would have been one sweet ride.

I love air shows! Or just sitting at the end of the runway watching the planes.

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Or just sitting at the end of the runway watching the planes.

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Or CATCHING the planes... batter up!

Bren R.

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Or just sitting at the end of the runway watching the planes.

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Here you go.

My wife and I, when we were still dating and in High School, used to cruise down to Reagan National (used to just be called National) airport on the water in D.C. We'd have a picnic and wait for the sun to go down on the Potomac. Every couple of minutes, the planes would fly overhead with a deafening scream - they felt like they were only feet above our heads (more likely a couple of hundred feet). Quite a rush...

I remember sitting on the tailgate of a pickup truck or the trunk of some friends car many times from the east/west frontage road on the north side of runways 36L and 36R at McCoy AFB (now MCO, Orlando International) watching the B-52s taking off and landing for their flights to and from Vietnam. Occasionally we'd catch the U-2's coming back from their southern flights....since my Dad was a U-2 crew chief I always had a heads up on when I *may* catch them landing or taking off.

Some years later after the Air Force was long gone we watched many a commercial flight from the same location and even a few years later I never will forget the first time I ever flew in there from the pilot's seat thinking about how many times I've been on that road *down there* wondering how it must look from 'up there'.

Neat video clips guys, I've seen the short-field 747 takeoff before but never the maneuvering 747 ... thanks for sharing!

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Here you go

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I could watch that all day at the airport. Thanks

I love that site, and have literally spent 6 or 7 hours straight, watching clips.

Without a doubt, my favorite commercial aircraft to watch is the 747. There is just something about it that mesmerizes me. It could be that it was my first flight when I was 12 or 13. That was back in the days when you could go to the cockpit. I still remember being overwhelmed and not saying a word.

Try that now and you'd never live to tell the story.

Here is a guy who does tell the story. (Plus some great 747 cockpit shots)