Flew in these 80’s for years, that smell of exhaust was part of the charm I guess.
I grew up flying back and forth from LA to Hawaii in 747’s, spent hours in the first class lounge with my father while he smoked and read and vividly remember the cockpit door always being open and I could go up and talk to the pilots (I still have a plastic wings clip somewhere). The last flight I took on one (as mentioned above they were taken out of domestic use in the US a couple years ago) was United Flight #2 from Chicago to Hawaii- an 8 hour strait shot. Loved the double isles and huge rear galley- you could walk laps in them and never feel cramped. They were too expensive to fly which is why I was told they were taken out of service- but the most magnificent plane ever made IMO- the last gasp of luxury air travel for the masses. Now flying is like riding the bus.
