Renaissance jet

The Boeing 747-8F from the flightdeck

More than four decades after the original Boeing 747 entered service with the once great Pan-American Airlines, its design is still plying the air routes across the globe. At a time when some were questioning whether the famous ‘Jumbo Jet’ had finally run its course, Boeing merged the tried and tested veteran with the latest technology on offer. The result was the Boeing 747-8.
Renaissance Man.
The sun had yet to even nudge the horizon at Hong Kong’s international Chek Lap Kok airport as Captain Mark Hoey and First Officer Geoff Carr make their way towards their aircraft. As the crew bus passes the flight line, one freighter aircraft after another is being engorged with pallets by forklifts and flurrying personnel. The Chief Pilot of Cathay Pacific’s 747 fleet, Hoey points out each aircraft and highlights its model and in some cases the actual history of the aeroplane.

Finally, his aircraft looms ahead, distinctive in one sense by its gleaming ‘Hong Kong Trader’ paint scheme, but more so by virtue of its sweeping wing and the four sizeable state-of-the-art GEnx engines. For this is not just another 747 freighter, it is the latest in a proud line and designated the 747-8F, or ‘Dash Eight’ for short. It is the first of ten that Cathay have ordered and Hoey brought this aircraft home on its maiden flight from Seattle after five years of hard work on the ‘Dash Eight’ project. For him, the flight was the culmination of a tremendous effort by the entire support team at Cathay.