With the departure of early model jumbo jets from the air in Japan, veteran flight engineer Kanemitsu Nakagawa is filled with a sense of loss for his longtime "girlfriend."

"I feel lonely," Nakagawa, 52, said before the last flight of a Boeing 747-300 Friday. Looking back on his nearly 30-year career at Japan Airlines Corp., he reveals his deep affection for manually controlled airplanes.

On July 24, Nakagawa was seen in the cockpit of a Boeing 747-300 flying to Honolulu. The plane was one of the so-called Classic Jumbo Jet models. The first such model, a 747-100, made its commercial debut in the United States in 1969.