If you've flown long-haul on Air New Zealand in the decade following 1998, then chances are you are one of the two million people who have flown on the ZK-NBV, a Boeing 747-400, and the last to ever fly for Air New Zealand.
How times change. Once queen of the skies, the plane has since been dethroned and now sits essentially abandoned at an aircraft storage facility in Roswell, New Mexico.
Paul Brennan is leading a new campaign to 'Save the Plane' after striking up a deal with the current owners of the B747.
The aircraft was purchased brand new in 1998 for more than $200 million, but Brennan's target is much lower than that. The campaign trust needs $2.5 million to purchase the plane and cover the cost of flying it back to New Zealand.
Airline staff often turn the registration letters of an aircraft into some sort of acronym that best describes it. In this case you could say that NBV is Nothing But Value.
"NBV is the only remaining original 419 747-400 passenger jet on the planet," Brennan told Newshub.
"This airplane alone has carried well north of 2 million Kiwis in its 15 years in our service. Think about that: All the human intersections and interactions on board or as a consequence of that airplane and its service," he said.
"Not to mention the crews, the engineers, the flight planners, the ground handlers here and wherever she ventured in the world.
"Most of NBV's life has been spent out of sight soaring in the atmosphere of the planet, high above the earth getting along at close to the speed of sound with her hundreds of passengers, all with a reason to be going somewhere, warm, comfortable and safe."
It is said that its mere presence, the Koru proudly emblazoned on its tail emerging out the window of airports around the world, could trigger goosebumps and tearful reactions from those who were about to board the aircraft and make their way home to Aotearoa.
Brennan said he had spoken to a very experienced person in the business of preserving this sort of history in the US, who told him that airplanes have a soul.
"The soul created by the masses of human interaction within the machine and that soul is embedded in it forever, '' the man told Brennan.
"You can feel it."
The Boeing 747-400 took away the barrier of isolation for New Zealand. Flights to London, which until its arrival would involve around three to four stops, could now be done with just one in Los Angeles.
"In a hundred years from now, future New Zealanders will be able to experience up close and personal the equipment that helped build our nation, '' Brennan said.
So, what happens if this campaign fails?
"It will very quickly cease to exist," Brennan said.
"Parts will be harvested then she'll be broken up for scrap metal and melted down, and our chance to preserve the history, memories and the soul of this queen will be gone forever."
Newshub was on board the ZK-NBV's last commercial flight, as NZ7 from San Francisco to Auckland on September 11, 2014.
Donations can be made via the campaigns Give a Little page.
