The Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo Jet’ revolutionised air travel. Its huge size and efficiency reduced the cost of flying and made international travel commonplace.  By December 2013 a total of 1,482 747s had been manufactured.

Design of the Boeing 747 began as a losing entrant in the US Air Force competition for a very heavy cargo aeroplane that was won by the Lockheed C-5. Boeing used what it had learned from that project to develop a very large airliner which was launched in April 1966.

The airliner was so big that Boeing had to build a completely new construction facility to make it.

The project was an expensive gamble for Boeing which was on the verge of bankruptcy before the first Boeing 747 made its maiden flight on 9 February 1969 and they began entering service in January 1970.

This model represents VH-EBA, the first Qantas Boeing 747, in late 1971.

Revell 1/144 kit with TwoSix and Hawkeye decals completed by Leigh Edmonds in March 2014.