The Jumbo Jet.

Boeing 747-100/8.

You could say 'that the Jumbo jet was the King of the skies, because it has had a forty-three year unchallenged stay.' It is only now with the advent of the Airbus A380, that its reign may end?

I say may, because as has been seen many will continue on as cargo and freight usage. Nearly every country on the planet uses or has at one time employed this huge civil aircraft. The U.S. Boeing 747-100 was conceived by the owner of Pan Am, who designed an aircraft that would be the clipper of the sky, that was formerly held by the British Shorts Sunderland flying boat.

The 747 started as the flagship for Pan-Am, but soon everyone wanted one, because of its long haul capability. Even with the introduction of the joint British/French Concorde, the Jumbo held its ground. Later with the -200 series, I think the most of any series built it set it self up.

Many other versions, including military, scientific and the NASA Space Shuttle carrier have been built and next year (2014) we will take a closer look at some of them.