Anyone else get sad watching this? I feel like this was the peak era for aviation. This video is full of beautiful trijets and widebodies that are no longer in service.
I hate how wide body planes just are kind of phasing out they’re so cool they seemed to be so dominant but now it’s all just the little narrow body planes They’re cool but wide bodies are awesome I love seeing all those tri jets
Fuel was cheap then. The tri engines are replaced with dual, the Concorde couldn’t continue profitably with rising fuel prices. It def was the peak for plane spotting.
@@thehonouredone223I don’t think this comment has any bad feelings towards the A350, just pointing out how recent the A350 was and how Kai Tak was a relatively long time ago
It's so nostalgic seeing all these old liveries and classic models. I've only had the privilege of going through Kai Tak once, but it's an experience I'll never forget.
I used to live in an apartment on the hill in Kowloon Tong looking almost straight down the runway, in perfect position to almost be looking down on the planes as they made that final turn at the chequerboard. Stand out of the balcony and watch them all day long!
Spectacular. Watching these heavies being flown by pilots and not computers, seeing these big airframes turn at low level something akin to an airshow. Just awesome.
Flew, as pilot, on the 747 many many times over the years. Fun airport so long as the wind behaved itself. If not it could be sporting on landing! But, what is the fun of calm winds!! lol
19:39 There she is, the Legendary 747SP N4522V! This aircraft was severely damaged in 1985 after rolling over and losing 30,0000 feet of altitude, resulting in forces up to 5Gs, much of the horizontal stabiliser being lost and her wings being permanently bent upwards by 2 inches. She was repaired and put back into service but now spends her days in the hot Mexican sun at Tijuana airport, still fully intact but abandoned by her last owner, Global Peace Ambassadors, since 2005.
Great spotting. So many B747 Queen of the Sky aircrafts. Even Philippine Airlines was captured landing B747 here, sadly they had to retire them in favor of the triple 7.
This is one of your finest videos released by you ever. It was one of the first releases I got back in 1996 (released in VHS as Just Planes International 2). It would be good if you slowly add sharing all the rest of your HKG material which nearly comprised 10 hours in total. Great work!
Man, do I ever miss this time. So many awesome birds that we just don't see (or hear) anymore. There are plenty of good birds in the sky today...but they're boring in comparison.
There weren’t any disasters BECAUSE it was so dangerous. Pilots are the first people at the scene of a crash and being alert and aware to the specific dangers of Kai Tak was in everybody’s interests.
*i went back to film there, there checker board is still there and you should be able to touch it, I forget but I was right close up to it. There was still parts of the runway there at the end of the cruise terminal*
I had the pleasure of landing and taking off from Kai Tak back in June 1987. So unique. Probably the highlight of my commercial passenger travels. I wonder if I was onboard one of the United Airlines 747 clips? 😉
Those Varig's MD-11 used to made a insane route. The plane departamento from Rio de Janeiro, with stops at São Paulo Garilhos, Johanesbourg, Bangkok and Hong Kong. What a nice memories! ❤
An airport right in the middle of the city … offices were just a 20 min cab ride away 😊 … I have spent hours spotting planes from the car park roof. Kai Tak, famous for Checkered Board landing would pause from 11pm to 5am to let residents below the flight path sleep. Watching jumbos land was ultimate … miss Kai Tak a lot 😢
Que de magnifiques souvenirs Landings et Takeoffs sur Kai Tak Dont la piste est très courte et la descente au dessus des immeubles pectacle inoubliables . Tous les Pilotes étaient hautement qualifiés par les heures d entraînements en simulateur. Tous disaient on se serre les fesses au landing. Cette vidéo superbe les 747 le plus beau avion de lignes long courriers du siecle.splendides en Landings et takeoffs❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤👍
The China Airlines 747sp seen at 17:09 almost crashed as flight 006 in 1985 and isn’t the China Airlines 747 seen at 41:56 the same plane that was lost as flight 611?
@@AfanofplanesThe aircraft here seen is reg. B-1866 and was re-registered as B-18255 in 1999 and was the register of the aircraft used on flight 611 in 2002
@@matiasn6533 oh yeahh i forgot it was re registered. Also wouldnt it have been horrific to see its tail section fall off during landing? That would have been terrifying.
@@AfanofplanesYeah… And we know the fatigue crack was there in the tail section as the plane lands in this video, but those people had no idea that a disaster was waiting to happen
Lived there in the 80s additionally travelled in/out of HK for 30 plus years, we called it the manhattan of Asia,, my wife loved it as did I,, I miss it as it was,, great city .
There was many reasons why Kai Tak shutdown. It was creating lots of pollution in the surrounding city, it was also not able to handle to growing air traffic, and also is was difficult to fly the approach into Kai Tak.
I didn't know this airport is gone. That is sad. I landed it in flight simulator. It's a nice challenge there and obviously still is possible to do in a flight simultor
Landed there in 1992 for a week layover before starting a new life in New Zealand. We were the last plane before it was shut because of a tropical storm. Terrifying and brilliant at the same time. Looking out the window at people in their flats.
@@MrJimheereneven though a few were made, they started off as Seaward World Containership with the smaller engines (JT9D-7J) until the bigger more powerful ones are available later (JT9D-70A). After they went bankrupt, Flying Tigers acquired the planes. And finally Federal Express bought Flying Tigers but with the livery still intact for a while longer. Take a look at the nacelles, they're similar to the DC-10-40s from Japan Airlines with the bigger JT9D-59A but without the smaller winglets resulting as JT9D-70A for the Boeing 747-245F. They only did that for quick interchangeability but with mixed results. They're very hard to find on tape and in pictures that even Avianca ordered a passenger version with very few pictures
1995 the end of the pre-internet pre-mobile phone era when you had to go to the travel agent or airline to get your ticket and queue at the consulate for your visa, no UA-cam videos about the place of your destination but travel guides like the Lonely Planet or The Rough Guide > actually the limited sources of information added more to the excitement, the adventure, I miss those days dearly, felt like the surfer riding the wave, Asia has been at least for me always the ultimate destination. BTW beautiful video, missing traveling in the 90's terribly (sigh)
Flew into Kai Tak (passenger) in 1988 on a Qantas 747 . Unreal . I flew into Kai Tak in a real 737-800 simulator a few years ago . Of course there was an instructor in the right seat guiding me . Bloody difficult and nerve wracking
I am amazed at the fact that this little airport (with only 1 runway!) in 1996 had an annual passenger volume of 29.5 million. In contrast, the current Hong Kong International Airport with 3 runways only served passenger volume of 34 million in the past 12 months.
It's almost strange just seeing Boeing & McDonnell Douglas aircraft, almost no Airbus. Now it's the opposite, almost all Airbus and very few Boeing or McDonell Douglas!
24:25 there she is, the infamous Philippine airlines 747-200! This bird was a gigantic and great living one, it sadly got retired around 2001, but PAL still kept their 747-400s until 2014
The Singapore 747-400 at 13:27 was built in 1993 and was the 1000th 747 built. She was converted to a BeDek Special Freighter in 2011, yet was scrapped in 2015. This is very strange to me because there are many 747-400 that were converted to BDSF earlier than 2011 and are still in use today. Does anyone know why she was scrapped so soon after conversion? She was only 22 years old at the time.
Download 6 hours of Kai Tak Airport Action, 2 programs $15 each at shop.justplanes.com/search?q=kai+tak + 1000 other videos!
thanks for not adding any bgm in this video... 🥰
It is absolutely extraordinary that this airport remained open for as long as it did. A true aircraft carrier.
Anyone else get sad watching this?
I feel like this was the peak era for aviation. This video is full of beautiful trijets and widebodies that are no longer in service.
I got sad too, but our hearts shall go on... 😔
100%. Trijets, different variants of the 747. Airports were interesting then. Sadly no longer the case
I hate how wide body planes just are kind of phasing out they’re so cool they seemed to be so dominant but now it’s all just the little narrow body planes
They’re cool but wide bodies are awesome
I love seeing all those tri jets
Fuel was cheap then. The tri engines are replaced with dual, the Concorde couldn’t continue profitably with rising fuel prices. It def was the peak for plane spotting.
Yep. The 70s to late 90s was the golden era for trijets and older variants of 747.
This is the best one yet. All those 747s and tri-holers. Amazing!
Tri-holer, I like that..
Back when the a350 wasn't even a sketch on a drawing board
fun probably already known fact: the a350 was originally just gonna be the a330neo but singapore ceo said no and made airbus make their own design
@@trainguy1045realyeahanother fun fact: Airbus wanted to make an A350-800, but it got cancelled because not many airlines wanted to buy it
Why are you so against the A350?! It’s a beautiful bird.
The A350 is a cool plane 😕
@@thehonouredone223I don’t think this comment has any bad feelings towards the A350, just pointing out how recent the A350 was and how Kai Tak was a relatively long time ago
I love how Korean still has that same livery after all these years
Same with Philippine..
And ANA
Lufthansa and Qantas
Yep. Korean Air's livery was kind of ahead of its time.
@@Joao-kp5xpqantas changed theirs like 7 years ago
It's so nostalgic seeing all these old liveries and classic models. I've only had the privilege of going through Kai Tak once, but it's an experience I'll never forget.
me too
I used to live in an apartment on the hill in Kowloon Tong looking almost straight down the runway, in perfect position to almost be looking down on the planes as they made that final turn at the chequerboard. Stand out of the balcony and watch them all day long!
9:26 Smol 747! Love the SP, only saw one once in LHR about ten years ago and felt really lucky.
Spectacular. Watching these heavies being flown by pilots and not computers, seeing these big airframes turn at low level something akin to an airshow. Just awesome.
It’s great to see so much old planes while plane spotting and seeing these current airlines with the retro liverys
Flew, as pilot, on the 747 many many times over the years. Fun airport so long as the wind behaved itself. If not it could be sporting on landing! But, what is the fun of calm winds!! lol
At 41:55 there is the Boeing 747-209b (b-1866) of China Airlines which disintegrated in the sky of Taiwan on May 25, 2002, following poor repair.
19:39 There she is, the Legendary 747SP N4522V! This aircraft was severely damaged in 1985 after rolling over and losing 30,0000 feet of altitude, resulting in forces up to 5Gs, much of the horizontal stabiliser being lost and her wings being permanently bent upwards by 2 inches. She was repaired and put back into service but now spends her days in the hot Mexican sun at Tijuana airport, still fully intact but abandoned by her last owner, Global Peace Ambassadors, since 2005.
So many 747SPs…
So many beautiful old liveries and some of airlines that no longer exist. My favourite is the old SAA, flying Springbok❤
Great spotting. So many B747 Queen of the Sky aircrafts. Even Philippine Airlines was captured landing B747 here, sadly they had to retire them in favor of the triple 7.
This is one of your finest videos released by you ever. It was one of the first releases I got back in 1996 (released in VHS as Just Planes International 2). It would be good if you slowly add sharing all the rest of your HKG material which nearly comprised 10 hours in total. Great work!
Thank you Juan!
Man, do I ever miss this time. So many awesome birds that we just don't see (or hear) anymore. There are plenty of good birds in the sky today...but they're boring in comparison.
Just like video games. They're often Remastered into a new plane to save money. And I HATE it
A shame that the airport closed down, it had one of the greatest approaches this world has ever seen, especially for an international airport
Fr
As cool as the approach was, it was probably for the better
Kai Tak was a disaster waiting to happen. The new airport is much better and safer and opened probably 20 years too late.
@@AlonsoRules Sort of a miracle there was never a bad accident on that approach path in 60+ years of operation
There weren’t any disasters BECAUSE it was so dangerous. Pilots are the first people at the scene of a crash and being alert and aware to the specific dangers of Kai Tak was in everybody’s interests.
41:55 B1866 which became B18255 lost in Penghu Taiwan in May 2002 with all souls on board lost.
*i went back to film there, there checker board is still there and you should be able to touch it, I forget but I was right close up to it. There was still parts of the runway there at the end of the cruise terminal*
Its crazy how popular the 747 was
I was just thinking this. Travel patterns have changed so much!
35:54 SPECTACULAR view of that JAL 747 🤯
啓徳空港懐かしいです。学生の頃、返還前の香港に行ってみたくて二度行きました。
Back when Emirates was a small airline
I had the pleasure of landing and taking off from Kai Tak back in June 1987. So unique. Probably the highlight of my commercial passenger travels. I wonder if I was onboard one of the United Airlines 747 clips? 😉
Damn bro
Kai Tak airport will be legendary forever
Those Varig's MD-11 used to made a insane route. The plane departamento from Rio de Janeiro, with stops at São Paulo Garilhos, Johanesbourg, Bangkok and Hong Kong. What a nice memories! ❤
17:38 There is a Garuda Indonesia DC 10?!
It’s a dc 10
@@Indianmen234 oh sorry
Some people said that Merpati Airlines (Indonesian commercial plane too) ever visited Kai Tak but I can't search the document about it...
Great parade of Boeing 747s and others DC10s any L1011s? Will see!
39:10
6:40 Beautiful landing of Varig MD-11 !!!! Brasil !!!!
An airport right in the middle of the city … offices were just a 20 min cab ride away 😊 … I have spent hours spotting planes from the car park roof. Kai Tak, famous for Checkered Board landing would pause from 11pm to 5am to let residents below the flight path sleep. Watching jumbos land was ultimate … miss Kai Tak a lot 😢
Que de magnifiques souvenirs Landings et Takeoffs sur Kai Tak
Dont la piste est très courte et la descente au dessus des immeubles pectacle inoubliables . Tous les Pilotes étaient hautement qualifiés par les heures d entraînements en simulateur. Tous disaient on se serre les fesses au landing. Cette vidéo superbe les 747 le plus beau avion de lignes long courriers du siecle.splendides en Landings et takeoffs❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤👍
59:34 Garuda Indonesia...
...and Kai Tak I think was the one and only the extremely manuver for landing...
The China Airlines 747sp seen at 17:09 almost crashed as flight 006 in 1985 and isn’t the China Airlines 747 seen at 41:56 the same plane that was lost as flight 611?
You're right. You have sharp eyes and memory ...
The 747sp is indeed flight 6 but the china airlines 747 shown was not flight 611
@@AfanofplanesThe aircraft here seen is reg. B-1866 and was re-registered as B-18255 in 1999 and was the register of the aircraft used on flight 611 in 2002
@@matiasn6533 oh yeahh i forgot it was re registered. Also wouldnt it have been horrific to see its tail section fall off during landing? That would have been terrifying.
@@AfanofplanesYeah… And we know the fatigue crack was there in the tail section as the plane lands in this video, but those people had no idea that a disaster was waiting to happen
And Lufthansa 747-400 is still flying with its old livery ♥️
ngl, I teared up while watching this!
Nice to see Varig and Ansett still active back then and flying around the world.
as a kid with a dad that is cantonese and a whole family that speaks cantonese, i aprove of this, such a shame this airport closed.😐👍👍👍👍👍👍💯💯💯💯💯😥😥😥😥
This is awesome
Thank you Jon!
hong kong a magical place
Back when airliners didn't all look the same, and Hong Kongers still enjoyed freedom.
How is being ruled by a small island 1000th of miles away from you being free. Nobody likes being a colony
The glory days. The centre of the world. What a place.
Lived there in the 80s additionally travelled in/out of HK for 30 plus years, we called it the manhattan of Asia,, my wife loved it as did I,, I miss it as it was,, great city .
@@bobgriffith1810 absolutely mate.
@roadieman209 so true. So true.
those old varig md-11s look so good
20:00 That MD-11 was very similar to the other HB-IWF (i.e. Swissair 111)
I miss Garuda Indonesia in the 90s because the bird logo on the tail was more dashing
i was never alive to see the golden age of this airport. videos like these give me a glimpse into such an interesting part of aviation history!
Yeah, me too
Great content,, thanks for sharing.
Quite the show 👍
There was many reasons why Kai Tak shutdown. It was creating lots of pollution in the surrounding city, it was also not able to handle to growing air traffic, and also is was difficult to fly the approach into Kai Tak.
11:28 Not that Aeroflot Airbus a310 that was crashed by a child, right???
Man these pilots are good at landing, So smooth in every single shot!
I didn't know this airport is gone. That is sad. I landed it in flight simulator. It's a nice challenge there and obviously still is possible to do in a flight simultor
Landed there in 1992 for a week layover before starting a new life in New Zealand. We were the last plane before it was shut because of a tropical storm. Terrifying and brilliant at the same time. Looking out the window at people in their flats.
That Federal Express Boeing 747-245F has very rare PW JT9D-70A engines. Neat catch at 16:02
How do you even know that. Seriously
How do you even know that. Seriously
@@MrJimheeren you can just google the registration number at the back of the plane and there are countless websites that will tell you that stuff
@@MrJimheereneven though a few were made, they started off as Seaward World Containership with the smaller engines (JT9D-7J) until the bigger more powerful ones are available later (JT9D-70A). After they went bankrupt, Flying Tigers acquired the planes. And finally Federal Express bought Flying Tigers but with the livery still intact for a while longer. Take a look at the nacelles, they're similar to the DC-10-40s from Japan Airlines with the bigger JT9D-59A but without the smaller winglets resulting as JT9D-70A for the Boeing 747-245F. They only did that for quick interchangeability but with mixed results. They're very hard to find on tape and in pictures that even Avianca ordered a passenger version with very few pictures
50:54 Asiana Airlines Retro Livery Is Awesome
Now in Hong Kong this airport is a shopping mall😢😢😢😢😢
My dad was a soldier in Hong Kong around the time this was filmed. He lived in an apartment just under the approach!
Poor him. That must have sucked
"Ah, those were the good old days" - 13 year old me 💀
1995 the end of the pre-internet pre-mobile phone era when you had to go to the travel agent or airline to get your ticket and queue at the consulate for your visa, no UA-cam videos about the place of your destination but travel guides like the Lonely Planet or The Rough Guide > actually the limited sources of information added more to the excitement, the adventure, I miss those days dearly, felt like the surfer riding the wave, Asia has been at least for me always the ultimate destination. BTW beautiful video, missing traveling in the 90's terribly (sigh)
4:47 we have a 767 vietnam airlines
Love and missed that classic China Airlines lively since the early 1970 ❤
Nice to see the old liveries.
The amount of Boeings back then 😢 Now it’s just Airbus And a small persantage of Boeing
Great times. White knuckle ride for the 747s.
fun fact most of the pilot at that time do a very nice landing.
Flew into Kai Tak (passenger) in 1988 on a Qantas 747 . Unreal . I flew into Kai Tak in a real 737-800 simulator a few years ago . Of course there was an instructor in the right seat guiding me . Bloody difficult and nerve wracking
miss the atmosphere of this age
I am amazed at the fact that this little airport (with only 1 runway!) in 1996 had an annual passenger volume of 29.5 million. In contrast, the current Hong Kong International Airport with 3 runways only served passenger volume of 34 million in the past 12 months.
Still recovering from Covid. Chek Lap Kok had >70 million passenger movements in 2019
I was there. 3000 years ago 😢
So many 747SPs
It's almost strange just seeing Boeing & McDonnell Douglas aircraft, almost no Airbus. Now it's the opposite, almost all Airbus and very few Boeing or McDonell Douglas!
41:15 south african lugdiens
Wow! Korean alr!
Is it the 747 at 15:29?
yes, this is B747-SP
Have you tried Ninoy Aquino Airport in Manila Philippines 🇵🇭?
It's sad we lost Kai Tak before HD, and how many airplanes on the video may have crashed…
So much beautiful 747. I miss flying on them. After all it was very exciting in the past.
24:25 there she is, the infamous Philippine airlines 747-200! This bird was a gigantic and great living one, it sadly got retired around 2001, but PAL still kept their 747-400s until 2014
Md 11 da varig representado o Brasil na Ásia
11:38
Bet the kids wanted to have a go
Those engines look comically small on the 747 now
The Singapore 747-400 at 13:27 was built in 1993 and was the 1000th 747 built. She was converted to a BeDek Special Freighter in 2011, yet was scrapped in 2015. This is very strange to me because there are many 747-400 that were converted to BDSF earlier than 2011 and are still in use today. Does anyone know why she was scrapped so soon after conversion? She was only 22 years old at the time.
Probably due to cost or replacement.
8:00 that must have hurt..
The perfect alarm clock in the morning
58:10 The airplane that lost all four engines due to vulcanic ash
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍❤
Back when the l1011 and 777 existed together
I wish all these planes were still made or more common
747-SP is crazy
11:26 I See Aeroflot Flight 593
Jeez I didn't know you were here so is it the one that it crashed on the mountains in Russia?
I think It is, i think is F-OGQS
Nice catch
No, 593 crashed a year before this video
22:43 United Airlines flight 863??? Is that you??
Going to Kai Tak was always on my bucket list but I'm only 13 years old.
3:18 3:24 747s are my favorite to watch
Amazing🎉 , there is a garuda indonesia airbus a300 takeoff 21:43
I miss the era when there were many 747 in the sky.
I don’t, try living near an airport then we talk
When you like planes it doesn't bother much @@MrJimheeren
You are now Hong Kong certified.
你正是香港登入了
Almost every plane was big back then.
good to see the old china airlines carrier ROC(Taiwan) flag on Flying
This is the kai tak heart attack! OMG, heard about it for so long and this is it!!!! Wish it was still here 😢
Btw, did someone actually have a myocardial infarction on arrival which gave it the name?
FedExの機体の汚さやばいだろ！！
My childhood
Me either...