747classic

A Rambler Classic, possibly a 1964. Brand new Pan Am Boeing 747's in the background.

This Northwest captain is standing next to a Northwest 747-200B (747-251B), N625US (c/n 21707/378). This aircraft entered service in June 1979. It would be withdrawn from service in 2003, before scrapping commenced in 2007.

Given the date of February 27, 1971, the airline (KLM), and the type of aircraft (Boeing 747), the identity of this aircraft is certainly PH-BUA, a Boeing 747-206B (c/n 19922/96) named "The Mississippi" by KLM. Delivered to KLM in January 1971 (KLM's first 747), this aircraft would continue in service with KLM until September 1989, when it was sold to America West Airlines (AWA) and operated as N531AW. The aircraft would eventually be scrapped in Kingman, Arizona, USA, in February 1996.

@TVL1970 Thank you very much for these additional details, very interesting!

The PH-BUA was the first 747 from KLM flying to Australia. I joined this flight from Amsterdam via Zurich, Beirut, Bangkok, Singapore to Sydney.

This is Pan Am Boeing 747-121 "Clipper Star of the Union", N744PA (c/n 19651/25). The 25th 747 built, its name was later changed to "Clipper Ocean Spray", and served with Pan Am until the airline ended operations in December 1991. General Electric acquired the aircraft in September 1992 for its GE Aircraft Engines business. GE Aircraft Engines converted the aircraft for use as a flying testbed for new jet engines, and changed its registration to N747GE. N747GE is one of only a small number of 747-100 aircraft in operation still flying today. Its use has been essential in developing GE's newest large jet engine, the GEnX, for both the 787 and 747-8 programs. In addition, the aircraft still flies with much of its Pan Am interior still intact with seats remaining in the upper deck area and Pan Am blue rugs and accents (including on the overhead luggage bins) still in place.

TVL 1970, Thanks for this very detailed and interesting information! Jerry (U.S. National Archives)

The JFK VOR seems to still be there, beyond the "P" in Pan Am; gas tank at right was at 40.61333N 73.75434W.

All good things must come to an end. This 747 made its last flight on November 15, 2018. The aircraft flew from Victorville, California, to its new home at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. General Electric has donated the aircraft to the museum. See: GE Reports: Time Flies: GE’s Original Flying Testbed Jets Off Into History - by Brendan Coffey - November 28, 2018 Aerospace Testing International: GE’s 747 testbed lands for the last time - by Ben Sampson - November 20, 2018 Also, see video of the last flight of N747GE, as it departed for its journey to the Pima Air & Space Museum, as well an earlier video about the aircraft and its "retirement" from test bed use. YouTube - GE Aviation - Homeward Bound: GE Aviation’s original Boeing 747-100 Flying Test Bed flies into retirement YouTube - GE Aviation - Farewell to the Queen of the Skies: The pilots of GE's 747-100 flying test bed Here is a photo of the aircraft, taken by Flickr user cactusbillaz, being towed to its new home, after landing at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base: