Air Djibouti

[Richard]

I flew from Aden to Djibouti a couple of times in these crates.

[Richard]

Another airline commonly used by BP....

[Richard]

I flew on VC10s twice. Once back from Las Palmas on a British Caledonian one and back from Boston (Maine) BOAC. A brilliant aircraft.

[Richard]

Eastern Airlines 727 My first flight was in one of these. NY - Bermuda in 1967. The now defunct Eastern Airlines was once the 4th largest domestic carrier in the US.

[Dredger]

Nice photos Richard.

[Dartskipper]

A few memories in that collection for me Richard. 707 and 727 around the USA when I was out there. VC10 trans Atlantic British Airways, Heathrow to JFK. I've seen many DC4's, and used to watch them leaving Fort Lauderdale for the Bahamas most days, never got to fly in one though. Also flew on DC9's in the eastern states USA. All back in the 1970's.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Dartskipper

A few memories in that collection for me Richard. 707 and 727 around the USA when I was out there. VC10 trans Atlantic British Airways, Heathrow to JFK. I've seen many DC4's, and used to watch them leaving Fort Lauderdale for the Bahamas most days, never got to fly in one though. Also flew on DC9's in the eastern states USA. All back in the 1970's.

I flew on a BOAC flight, on a 707 to Japan, via Moscow. That route isn't used for direct flights these days, and got myself invited up onto the flight deck. Most interesting, and the views of the Urals was spectacular. Totally bemused by all the instruments on the flight deck, and wondered how the hell anyone could fly such machines.

[Dartskipper]

One of my favourite flights was on a De Havilland Trident from Malaga to Heathrow when I came home for Christmas in 1974. One of the passengers who walked out to the aircraft with us was Michael Bentine. He kept complaining that the body pat down by the police was so cursory he could have smuggled a whole armoury of weapons onto the aircraft! (This was in the time of frequent hijacking incidents.)

The flight back out to Spain was another experience altogether. It was a Trident, and we were very late taking off,(one engine wouldn't start and a piece of electronic gadgetry had to be repaired as well,) and when we got to Malaga, there was thick fog so I had the novelty of a completely blind landing. When we landed and started to taxi, all the passengers gave a round of applause. I don't think they all knew that the Trident had an automatic landing system!

[Richard]

Flew out to Malta on one of those, plus another couple of flights as well. I recall sitting in a row of seats that faced backwards. Not a pleasant way to fly.

[Richard]

While I'm at it, I flew several times on these as well. I didn't like 'em. Flew from Southend, or is it Sarfend? to Rotterdam.
A few months ago I decided to get pictures of all the planes I'd flown on, and where possible in the company colours. Those shown on this thread are all the ones I flew on company business. They all had character, unlike todays airliners which are just metal tubes, and much the same. I won't post them, as they are modern.

[Jolly Jack]

My first flight, aged 14, was on a Dakota from Southampton to Jersey. The airline didn't call it a Dakota but gave it some fancy name I forget. Southampton had a grass runway back then.


JJ.

[R58484957]

My first trip was Soton to Jersey also, I believe the aircraft was Dakmaster. ( DC3)

[Dartskipper]

Originally Posted by Richard

Flew out to Malta on one of those, plus another couple of flights as well. I recall sitting in a row of seats that faced backwards. Not a pleasant way to fly.

If you ever find your way to Duxford (now part of the Imperial War Museum) they have a nice collection of these old classic airliners on display.

http://das.org.uk/the-british-airliner-collection/

There are certain days when they are open to the public.

[skymaster]

Originally Posted by Richard

I flew from Aden to Djibouti a couple of times in these crates.

Wow as a airplane lover and pilot I have to say the DC3 is one of the longest serving aircraft of all time,first flew December17 1935.A joy to fly in.Here in Canada we have a famous airline UP NORTH called Buffalo Airways which features DC 3s fly into remote airports with cargo and passengers in all weather.No sure if you can get this show.

[Chadburn]

We get the show in GB, they sometimes are working against the odds in regards to the weather but all credit to them in doing their best to keep the supplies flowing to the outlying customers.
Something for a future upcoming weekend Sir, depending on what happens in the Middle East or the Far East.

[Wismajorvik]

Flew in several DC-3s. A rather uncomfortable flight along the Libyan coast from Tripoli to Ras Lanuf. The a/c yawing and pitching all over the sky at fairly low altitude. I flew in one from Babu airstrip in Indonesia ('81) which still had bomb craters around the strip and a dozen or so Japanese WW2 a/c scattered around in the jungle. A few years back there was one flying out of Baginton with a large radome.

[Alan Baker]

Originally Posted by Richard

Flew out to Malta on one of those, plus another couple of flights as well. I recall sitting in a row of seats that faced backwards. Not a pleasant way to fly.

Rearward facing seats were for a long time believed to be safer and all RAF transports had them up to and including the VC10. Then somebody pointed out that anything unsecured in the cabin would smash you in the face in the event of a rapid deceleration!

[Makko]

Originally Posted by Richard

They all had character, unlike todays airliners which are just metal tubes, and much the same. I won't post them, as they are modern.

Richard,
Take a flight on an Airbus 380 upstairs - Very pleasant! I prefer it over the 787 Dreamliner. Plus, you can watch "outside", very entertaining on the tail or nosewheel camera coming into Mexico City!

Most of my flights are on 737-800's and Embraers 170 or 190.

I always enjoy flights on ATR 42's. Although the instrumentation is on a par with a big Airbus, a lot of the airports are small with no ILS, pure visual. It must be a change for the pilots actually having to manually handle everything. In days of yore, the first row was backward facing the second row with a table. When I was on a project on the Pacific coast, on the Friday evening flight home, the stewardess would just place a bottle of Tequila and six pack on the table with snacks while everyone else was boarding! We could always "block" these seats for ourselves with the help of the lovely Xochitl at check-in.

Regards,
Dave

[Gulpers]

On the last day of my school summer holidays in 1960 my dad took me on a trip to Edinburgh Zoo. That was exciting enough for a wee lad but, what I didn't know was that I would be taking my first ever flight on a return trip from Glasgow (Renfrew) to Edinburgh (Turnhouse.) We flew on BEA DC-3s for a fare of 10/- (10 shillings, or 50 pence nowadays.) The highlight of the day was a visit to the flight deck during the return trip - something that wouldn't happen nowadays.

[Makko]

By George, Ray! And you still have the ticket. Remarkable.

[Gulpers]

Originally Posted by Makko

By George, Ray! And you still have the ticket. Remarkable.

Dave,

It's amazing what souvenirs we keep - isn't it!