Engines
GE's First Engine Test 747 Is Now a Museum Piece
In service with for 49 years, first as an airliner, then as a flying engine testbed, the four-engine jumbo was the world's oldest active 747.
GE's former 747 flying engine testbed makes its final landing on Nov. 15, in Tucson, Ariz., where it will become part of the collection of the Pima Air & Space Museum. It was the oldest active 747, having served 21 years with Pan Am before being acquired by the engine maker, and flying for another 24.
GE's former 747 flying engine testbed makes its final landing on Nov. 15, in Tucson, Ariz., where it will become part of the collection of the Pima Air & Space Museum. It was the oldest active 747, having served 21 years with Pan Am before being acquired by the engine maker, and flying for another 24.

After 24 years serving as a flying engine testbed, GE Aviation’s original Boeing 747 made its final flight last week, from the company’s flight-test operation in Victorville, California, to Arizona’s Pima Air & Space Museum, where it will be retired. The four-engine jumbo jet was the oldest 747 in active service, having rolled off the assembly line on October 17, 1969. It made its first flight with Pan American World Airlines the following March. Pan Am flew the aircraft, named Clipper Ocean Spray, for the next 21 years, logging 90,000 hours and nearly 20,000 cycles.