clipperstaroftheunion

At the John F. Kennedy Airport 05/1973

from U.S. National Archives

• TVL1970 said:

  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.

• The U.S. National Archives said:

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

• tim_zukas said:

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

• TVL1970 said:

  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: