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The final Boeing 747 aircraft rolls out of its hangar at the Everett factory Tuesday night. The first 747, constructed in Everett, made its maiden flight on Feb. 9, 1969. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
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Two of the final Boeing 747 aircraft engines dwarf employees as the plane rolls out of the hangar at the Everett factory Tuesday night. One 747-8 GEnx-2B engine has about the same takeoff thrust as all eight engines together on the original B-52 bomber. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
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Hundreds of Boeing employees line the fence to witness the final Boeing 747 aircraft as it rolls out of its hangar at the Everett factory Tuesday night. The 747-8 freighter can hold approximately 19 million golf balls. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
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One wing of the final Boeing 747 aircraft soars above the crowd as the plane rolls out of its hangar at the Everett factory Tuesday night. The wingspan of the 747-8 is as wide as two 737-700s lined up nose to tail. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
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A Boeing employee wears a safety jacket honoring “The last 747 Queen of the Skies” after the 747 rolled out of the Everett factory Tuesday night. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
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The final Boeing 747 aircraft pauses on the apron after rolling out of the hangar at the Everett factory on Tuesday night. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
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A poster is affixed to the side of the final Boeing 747 aircraft as it rolls out of its hangar at the Everett factory Tuesday night. This is the 1,574th 747 that Boeing has manufactured. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
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The final Boeing 747 aircraft makes it way across the Boeing Freeway after it is rolled out of the hangar at the Everett factory for the first time Tuesday night. The 747-8 is able to travel the length of a standard 26.2-mile marathon in 2.5 minutes. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
The final 747 jumbo jet rolled out of Boeing’s Everett plant late Tuesday, marking a milestone for both the iconic airplane and the giant assembly plant that was built for the jet in the late 1960s.
The final 747-8 freighter model will fly to Portland for painting before Christmas and return to Everett early in the new year. It will undergo standard testing of fuel and other systems and then be inspected by its buyer, the cargo company Atlas Air that purchased Boeing’s last three 747s.
Atlas will take delivery some weeks after its return to Everett and at that point Boeing plans a farewell celebration of its “Queen of the Skies.”
The final Boeing 747 aircraft makes it way across the Boeing Freeway after it is rolled out of the hangar at the Everett factory for the first time Tuesday night. The 747-8 is able to travel the length of a standard 26.2-mile marathon in 2.5 minutes. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
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A Boeing employee wears a safety jacket honoring “The last 747 Queen of the Skies” after the 747 rolled out of the Everett factory Tuesday night. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
The massive tail of the final Boeing 747 aircraft rolls past the hangar at the Everett factory Tuesday night. The 747-8 tail height is 63 feet 6 inches, equivalent to a six-story building. (Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
The 747 remains a popular cargo carrier, in part because that hump allows the nose to swing open vertically and extra large cargo can be loaded through the giant opening.
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Boeing’s 747 makes its first flight on Feb. 9, 1969. Hundreds of spectators cheered as the jet rose from Paine Field. Test pilot Jack Waddell called the flight “beautiful.” (Vic Condiotty / The Seattle Times)
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Boeing 747 makes its first flight, Feb. 9, 1969, with William M. Allen, Boeing board chairman, at the center of the crowd. (Vic Condiotty / The Seattle Times)
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One of the many interior configurations possible in the new Boeing Model 747 is shown in this full-scale mockup of the airplane at the company’s Commercial Airplane Division. Here is one possibility for the two-level first-class section. (Boeing)