Few people on Earth know the Boeing 747 better than the pilots that flew it and perhaps none more so than retired British Airways training captain Paul Howard. Thomas Haynes caught up with him to find out more about his long career flying the Queen of the Skies
After soloing in 1966 at the age of 17, Paul Howard joined British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) as a London/ Heathrow-based co-pilot on the Vickers VC10 in 1970
His first encounter with the Boeing 747 came in January 1978 when he joined the Classic fleet (-100 and -200 series) at British Airways. A move to the Gatwick-based McDonnell Douglas DC-10 to gain his command drew him away from the Jumbo before he returned in December 1997, this time to the 747400 back at the carrier’s Heathrow hub. He remained on the fleet until his retirement in April 2004. During his years flying the 747 for BA, Howard accrued 11,500 hours on type. He flew 6,400 of them as co-pilot on the Classic and later accumulated 5,100 hours captaining the -400. In total, during his flying career at the flag carrier, Howard logged an overall 21,300 hours – more than half of which were on the 747.
Conversion Training
Before he could fly the jumbo, Howard had to undergo a r…
