BOAC B707 ops in the 1960s
221 was originally a hut on the perimeter of Heathrow along side the Bath Road where BOAC flight and cabin crew reported. I think because the huts were numbered rather than named.
The flight report centre moved to Terminal 3 at some time in the 60's [before my time] but the name 221 continued to be used until BA moved to Tristar House.
Even recently the term '221 divorce' was used by us older members of the community to signify the seperation of 'temporary couples' returning from a long trip. If you get my meaning
The flight report centre moved to Terminal 3 at some time in the 60's [before my time] but the name 221 continued to be used until BA moved to Tristar House.
Even recently the term '221 divorce' was used by us older members of the community to signify the seperation of 'temporary couples' returning from a long trip. If you get my meaning
Last edited by vctenderness; 15th Nov 2014 at 11:43. Reason: Clarification
ExSp33db1rd
wonderful stories thank you
wonderful stories thank you
I joined BOAC in 1962 as a pilot but had to get my Flight Navigators Licence on Britannia 312s. The training was done by the few remaining straight navigators. After 2 years I went to VC10s as a pilot/nav. The crew then consisted of a captain, 2 co-pilots who alternated (roughly leg and leg about) between rhs and the nav table, and a flight engineer.
I can confirm ExSp33db1rd's recollections, though being on VC10s we did not have to do polar navigation. Everything else was the same re Loran, Consol, astro, etc. You have a wonderful memory! I can also confirm that the lateral separation on the NAT track system at that time was 120nms.
INS was gradually retrofitted somewhere around 1973/4, thus we were able drop the additional co-pilot and revert to 3 man crews. I became a navigation instructor and also a check navigator in the VC10 nav office in the same corridor in the Kremlin as ExSp33db1rd!
Building 221 was on the north side of the airport as confirmed by George,etc,etc. It was a 2 story building set amongst a number of similar buildings. Crew reporting was moved to Terminal 3 soon after it opened in 1961, but was still called it 221 for very many years.
I can confirm ExSp33db1rd's recollections, though being on VC10s we did not have to do polar navigation. Everything else was the same re Loran, Consol, astro, etc. You have a wonderful memory! I can also confirm that the lateral separation on the NAT track system at that time was 120nms.
INS was gradually retrofitted somewhere around 1973/4, thus we were able drop the additional co-pilot and revert to 3 man crews. I became a navigation instructor and also a check navigator in the VC10 nav office in the same corridor in the Kremlin as ExSp33db1rd!
Building 221 was on the north side of the airport as confirmed by George,etc,etc. It was a 2 story building set amongst a number of similar buildings. Crew reporting was moved to Terminal 3 soon after it opened in 1961, but was still called it 221 for very many years.
Discorde
See also my posts Nos. 3, 17 and 14 on the 'Navigation System on Bristol Britannias'. There was little difference other than a much better Loran set!
See also my posts Nos. 3, 17 and 14 on the 'Navigation System on Bristol Britannias'. There was little difference other than a much better Loran set!
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Yes, 221 moved from the building of that number on the North Side to the first floor of the South Wing of No. 3 Building (Oceanic) when it opened in mid-November 1961. (Staff Travel was on the ground floor, where those on concessionary travel waited nervously to see if they were 'on' or not.)
The crew suitcase of preference for that era was the blue 'Globetrotter' - until those new-fangled wheelie Samsonites were invented.
The crew suitcase of preference for that era was the blue 'Globetrotter' - until those new-fangled wheelie Samsonites were invented.
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Sorry to spoil the party but as the second oldest airline in the world Qantas were doing all the same old stuff. We had a very long haul structure,
PS KLM is or was the oldest.
PS KLM is or was the oldest.
The crew suitcase of preference for that era was the blue 'Globetrotter'
More Polar stuff.
A well known S.E.Asia airline ( Not SIA ! ) also flew over the Pole from Paris to Anchorage, and in later years used a DC-10, with the by then standard INS navigation equipment, so the principles of Astro and Grid Navigation were no longer required.
One day the DC-10 went sick and was replaced by a 707, the crew knew about Grid navigation and gyro steering and when they eventually passed the Pole and saw the snow covered coast of the North Slope of Alaska appearing at ETA, were confident that they were only a short time away from Anchorage until they were forced down by a passing MiG fighter, and fortunately were able to land on a frozen lake somewhere near Murmansk. They were over Siberia, not Alaska.
Yes, they knew all about Grid navigation, but knew nothing about correcting for gyro precession, so the gyros had worked as designed, and carefully and consistently steered the aircraft in a nice curved arc, unfortunately to the right instead of left, which would have placed them somewhere over Canada. Murphy is always with us.
That same airline later lost another aircraft shot down flying between Anchorage and Seoul due to a navigation error. I'm occasionally asked if there is any airline that I wouldn't fly with. I have an answer, but my lips are sealed.
even more Polar stuff
whilst not a lot to do with BOAC except I would be interested in the implications of the Hermes landing in the Sahara on BOAC Nav ticket philosophy.
I attended the same college as Bergerie and probably had the same Nav tutor...originally a pilot but after an accident was retrained as a Nav IIRC.
I believe I was on the first course of ex Hamsters to fly the VC10 without having a Nav ticket...having come from the "opposition"...The aircraft having been retrofitted with INS.
My next venture into long haul was with my subsequent employer who literally threw heaps of money into training and equipment.
They also had an alliance with KLM,SAS and UTA to share facilities; documentation, spares, simulators - to name a few.
Whilst some of my mates spent 18 years on their first aircraft I went through them faster than wives. So 5 years after leaving the Iron Duck I was driving my third "new" jet.
The DC10 upon launch had the most sophisticated NAV system...two computors driven by three INS platforms with autotuning and update although our routes were sourced via a Betamax sized cassette tap - 12 mins to initialise.
I had learnt early on in my career through the deaths of several colleagues that doing the minimum wasn't a guarantee of not crashing - so in some ways I became a bit of a "Pilot Nerd". This led me to buying an Ebco sextant and some complicated book on Astro which I attempted to come to terms with.
Before the advent of INS Swissair carried professional Navigators.
We had two "risky" operations o the DC10...RIO and Anchorage. Even our extended range versions couldn't carry enough fuel and the forecasting wasn't the best. The latter we started in the late 80s and I found myself returning to home base on a BA 737 24 hours before my first flight departed - personal flight preparation and rest. As fate would have it the purser was an old friend off Tridents who had been on the 747 and night stopped in ANC.
I asked him about it and he described his journey in crew transport - a yellow school bus driven by an adequately built Afro-American who no doubt had belonged to a Baptist choir or six. She was asked by a ex public school, demure young lady about the entertainment.
WELL HONEY, IN SUMMER THERE'S FISHING AND F##KING, AND IN WINTER THERE AINT NO FISHING!
Anchorage was my favorite destination...it was and probably is frontier land with the wagon trains replaced by dog sleds; I rented a large number of light aircraft - all equipped with a weapon and ammunition - mandatory in case you crashed and the bears arrived. Low flying along the gold rush rivers (20ft)..landing on a frozen river and collected by a snowmobile...aerial photographical hunts for bears, whales, moose and of course float planes.
We had slips of up to 7 days and my family spent a lot of time with me...
You couldn't invent a better life and all paid for in Swiss francs.
My third trip was the "eventful" one. As no doubt my ex colleagues will confirm - flying is about risk management although it was never talked about. If the commercial branch decide we could make money and some effing hero says "yes we can do it" then we do it....alternative get another job.
So at briefing where we were told how much fuel was needed and how much we could take the dispatcher said would you like to be the first Swissair flight over the Pole...it only needs a couple extra tonnes...and I have planned you destination Fairbanks with an inflight diversion to ANC...not out of the ordinary... we normally saved contingency fuel and the engineers reduced consumption by switching off two of the aircon bleeds...which I hated as I developed migraine due to the low oxygen levels (and no doubt ozone and organophosphate levels)
It got dark fairly quickly into our 9? hour flight but we had a beautiful moon just off the nose and low down on the horizon and all was normal until we were overhead the pole...when the panic started.
Company procedures dictated that above 65 degrees we had to be in True North compass display and under NO conditions were we allowed to disengage Nav mode. Our two computors were decoupled - can't remember whether they used average ins position or individual.
Crossing the pole we suddenly had two different track displays - 30 degrees apart.
Our next waypoint was at 80N...360nm...
I tried direct to on both displays...no change...checklists and books out...nothing...the consequences could be as speedbird wrote or just running out of fuel...at night...
Whilst not as clever as his cheese toothpicks...I disengaged everything..kept a constant bearing on the moon and by making "softly softly catchee monkey" heading changes got the Longitude counters on the INS changing towards the correct one.
After the next way point it all went back to normal.
Flying as we know is about learning from other's mistakes so I wrote a detailed report about the incident only to get a very rude reply.
Whilst I have had some excellent management pilots there are a certain group who shouldn't be in the job but as they are crap pilots many think that an office is the safest place. Fortunately our technical pilot wasn't one of these and I knobbled him on a sim check and he contacted McDonnell Douglas who came back several months later saying yes it could have happened and we don't know why but it shouldn't happen again...Inshallah
Happy days
I attended the same college as Bergerie and probably had the same Nav tutor...originally a pilot but after an accident was retrained as a Nav IIRC.
I believe I was on the first course of ex Hamsters to fly the VC10 without having a Nav ticket...having come from the "opposition"...The aircraft having been retrofitted with INS.
My next venture into long haul was with my subsequent employer who literally threw heaps of money into training and equipment.
They also had an alliance with KLM,SAS and UTA to share facilities; documentation, spares, simulators - to name a few.
Whilst some of my mates spent 18 years on their first aircraft I went through them faster than wives. So 5 years after leaving the Iron Duck I was driving my third "new" jet.
The DC10 upon launch had the most sophisticated NAV system...two computors driven by three INS platforms with autotuning and update although our routes were sourced via a Betamax sized cassette tap - 12 mins to initialise.
I had learnt early on in my career through the deaths of several colleagues that doing the minimum wasn't a guarantee of not crashing - so in some ways I became a bit of a "Pilot Nerd". This led me to buying an Ebco sextant and some complicated book on Astro which I attempted to come to terms with.
Before the advent of INS Swissair carried professional Navigators.
We had two "risky" operations o the DC10...RIO and Anchorage. Even our extended range versions couldn't carry enough fuel and the forecasting wasn't the best. The latter we started in the late 80s and I found myself returning to home base on a BA 737 24 hours before my first flight departed - personal flight preparation and rest. As fate would have it the purser was an old friend off Tridents who had been on the 747 and night stopped in ANC.
I asked him about it and he described his journey in crew transport - a yellow school bus driven by an adequately built Afro-American who no doubt had belonged to a Baptist choir or six. She was asked by a ex public school, demure young lady about the entertainment.
WELL HONEY, IN SUMMER THERE'S FISHING AND F##KING, AND IN WINTER THERE AINT NO FISHING!
Anchorage was my favorite destination...it was and probably is frontier land with the wagon trains replaced by dog sleds; I rented a large number of light aircraft - all equipped with a weapon and ammunition - mandatory in case you crashed and the bears arrived. Low flying along the gold rush rivers (20ft)..landing on a frozen river and collected by a snowmobile...aerial photographical hunts for bears, whales, moose and of course float planes.
We had slips of up to 7 days and my family spent a lot of time with me...
You couldn't invent a better life and all paid for in Swiss francs.
My third trip was the "eventful" one. As no doubt my ex colleagues will confirm - flying is about risk management although it was never talked about. If the commercial branch decide we could make money and some effing hero says "yes we can do it" then we do it....alternative get another job.
So at briefing where we were told how much fuel was needed and how much we could take the dispatcher said would you like to be the first Swissair flight over the Pole...it only needs a couple extra tonnes...and I have planned you destination Fairbanks with an inflight diversion to ANC...not out of the ordinary... we normally saved contingency fuel and the engineers reduced consumption by switching off two of the aircon bleeds...which I hated as I developed migraine due to the low oxygen levels (and no doubt ozone and organophosphate levels)
It got dark fairly quickly into our 9? hour flight but we had a beautiful moon just off the nose and low down on the horizon and all was normal until we were overhead the pole...when the panic started.
Company procedures dictated that above 65 degrees we had to be in True North compass display and under NO conditions were we allowed to disengage Nav mode. Our two computors were decoupled - can't remember whether they used average ins position or individual.
Crossing the pole we suddenly had two different track displays - 30 degrees apart.
Our next waypoint was at 80N...360nm...
I tried direct to on both displays...no change...checklists and books out...nothing...the consequences could be as speedbird wrote or just running out of fuel...at night...
Whilst not as clever as his cheese toothpicks...I disengaged everything..kept a constant bearing on the moon and by making "softly softly catchee monkey" heading changes got the Longitude counters on the INS changing towards the correct one.
After the next way point it all went back to normal.
Flying as we know is about learning from other's mistakes so I wrote a detailed report about the incident only to get a very rude reply.
Whilst I have had some excellent management pilots there are a certain group who shouldn't be in the job but as they are crap pilots many think that an office is the safest place. Fortunately our technical pilot wasn't one of these and I knobbled him on a sim check and he contacted McDonnell Douglas who came back several months later saying yes it could have happened and we don't know why but it shouldn't happen again...Inshallah
Happy days
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An interesting thread
I joined BOAC from Hamble in '67 and due to no pilot courses we spent the first summer doing some of the Nav course - 6 weeks in Braincrank then let loose on the Atlantic - under supervision of course. Most of the time it was back and forth to Bermuda with the occasional Toronto and JFK.
Bermuda was off the track system but the others weren't - certainly the lateral separation was 120nm - along track I think was 20mins at the same Mach number, but just about everybody flew at .82.
At the end of the summer we were given our pilot courses and having spent the summer on the 707 we were given the VC10 - similarly those who nav'd on the VC10 were given the 707! A quick visit by a number of us to the VC10 flight manager - the lovely Norman Bristow soon got that changed!
Regarding the polar operations many moons later I was a Nav Instructer and found myself doing lots of ANC trips using the grid nav system others have mentioned. Actual navigation was fairley easy - quite a few NDB's and use of the weather radar to pick up some of the more recognisable landmarks.
We normally only went as far north as 80N but early 72 - 17th Jan. to be exact - Canadian ATC were on strike so we had to crawl up the FIR boundary to the North Pole and the south to ANC. AS far as we know that was the first BOAC aircraft actually to fly over the Pole. Wish I had pulled the chart and Nav log from the archives before they were destroyed.
INS's came a few years later and a command a couple of years after that!
I joined BOAC from Hamble in '67 and due to no pilot courses we spent the first summer doing some of the Nav course - 6 weeks in Braincrank then let loose on the Atlantic - under supervision of course. Most of the time it was back and forth to Bermuda with the occasional Toronto and JFK.
Bermuda was off the track system but the others weren't - certainly the lateral separation was 120nm - along track I think was 20mins at the same Mach number, but just about everybody flew at .82.
At the end of the summer we were given our pilot courses and having spent the summer on the 707 we were given the VC10 - similarly those who nav'd on the VC10 were given the 707! A quick visit by a number of us to the VC10 flight manager - the lovely Norman Bristow soon got that changed!
Regarding the polar operations many moons later I was a Nav Instructer and found myself doing lots of ANC trips using the grid nav system others have mentioned. Actual navigation was fairley easy - quite a few NDB's and use of the weather radar to pick up some of the more recognisable landmarks.
We normally only went as far north as 80N but early 72 - 17th Jan. to be exact - Canadian ATC were on strike so we had to crawl up the FIR boundary to the North Pole and the south to ANC. AS far as we know that was the first BOAC aircraft actually to fly over the Pole. Wish I had pulled the chart and Nav log from the archives before they were destroyed.
INS's came a few years later and a command a couple of years after that!
arem - I remember the event of the ATC strike and the first BOAC a/c directly over the Pole, didn't the skipper send a 'greeting' to the BOAC Chairman from overhead ?
Akcherly, flying directly over the pole could have been easier - just fly up the Zero (Greenwich) Meridian and down the other 180 Meridian on the other side ! Would have taken longer of course, not favourable with the bean counters.
Blind Pew - Anchorage was my favorite destination in those days too. Driving out to the Portage Glacier for the first time, we were told to stop at the (name?) bar halfway along the route, where the barmaid - Ciel ( can remember that !) was reputed to have the largest tits known to man - or woman - kind, wore no bra or knickers, and short mini-skirts.
Walking through the door one Sunday lunchtime, our mouths literally dropped at the sight before our eyes, and whilst walking to the bar she said, "Come in, you must be BOAC crew ?" Why, I said, is it tattooed on our foreheads ? No, she replied, y,all talk funny, what's it to be ?
Already pre-primed to order a less popular beer, 'cos that was kept on the bottom shelf of the 'fridge, she went A over T and treated us to a knickerless and braless exhibition to produce our requested drink !
Subsequently the first officer remarked that he would like a photograph of her tits, but was too embarrassed to ask. So I did it for him. Sure, she replied, but let's go outside, there's better light. Outside the building he wasn't sure where to stand, so she said - "don't you want to hold, them luv?" And promptly heaved them out of her loose fitting top and handed them to him ! I think I ultimately destroyed the photo. to preserve marital harmony.
Standing in ANC customs one morning our girls came over and suggested that we'd all be going to the (name again ? but see below !) bar and strip club that night ? Probably, we replied, after all, what else is there to do in Anchorage on a cold Winters' night ? Well, they said, we want to come with you. OK, down in the lobby at 7.00 pm, see ya.
Walking into the bar that night we were treated to the sight of two naked males cavorting on the stage to a frenzied mob of women crowded around the edge, many of whom were tearing the Presidents portrait out of dollar bills and threading them on to a certain part of the male anatomy.
Somewhat bemused, we left our girls glued to this scene, and went to the bar. Don't worry lads, said the barman, Wednesday's Ladies Night, they end at 8.00 and it all returns to normal.
Frontier Town indeed. What was the question - 707 navigation ?
Edited - name of Anchorage strip club was the Great Alaskan Bush Company of course, how could one forget ? Still can't remember the name of the bar on the road to Portage - the Bird Cage perhaps ?
Akcherly, flying directly over the pole could have been easier - just fly up the Zero (Greenwich) Meridian and down the other 180 Meridian on the other side ! Would have taken longer of course, not favourable with the bean counters.
Blind Pew - Anchorage was my favorite destination in those days too. Driving out to the Portage Glacier for the first time, we were told to stop at the (name?) bar halfway along the route, where the barmaid - Ciel ( can remember that !) was reputed to have the largest tits known to man - or woman - kind, wore no bra or knickers, and short mini-skirts.
Walking through the door one Sunday lunchtime, our mouths literally dropped at the sight before our eyes, and whilst walking to the bar she said, "Come in, you must be BOAC crew ?" Why, I said, is it tattooed on our foreheads ? No, she replied, y,all talk funny, what's it to be ?
Already pre-primed to order a less popular beer, 'cos that was kept on the bottom shelf of the 'fridge, she went A over T and treated us to a knickerless and braless exhibition to produce our requested drink !
Subsequently the first officer remarked that he would like a photograph of her tits, but was too embarrassed to ask. So I did it for him. Sure, she replied, but let's go outside, there's better light. Outside the building he wasn't sure where to stand, so she said - "don't you want to hold, them luv?" And promptly heaved them out of her loose fitting top and handed them to him ! I think I ultimately destroyed the photo. to preserve marital harmony.
Standing in ANC customs one morning our girls came over and suggested that we'd all be going to the (name again ? but see below !) bar and strip club that night ? Probably, we replied, after all, what else is there to do in Anchorage on a cold Winters' night ? Well, they said, we want to come with you. OK, down in the lobby at 7.00 pm, see ya.
Walking into the bar that night we were treated to the sight of two naked males cavorting on the stage to a frenzied mob of women crowded around the edge, many of whom were tearing the Presidents portrait out of dollar bills and threading them on to a certain part of the male anatomy.
Somewhat bemused, we left our girls glued to this scene, and went to the bar. Don't worry lads, said the barman, Wednesday's Ladies Night, they end at 8.00 and it all returns to normal.
Frontier Town indeed. What was the question - 707 navigation ?
Edited - name of Anchorage strip club was the Great Alaskan Bush Company of course, how could one forget ? Still can't remember the name of the bar on the road to Portage - the Bird Cage perhaps ?
Last edited by ExSp33db1rd; 17th Nov 2014 at 01:55.
......whilst not a lot to do with BOAC except I would be interested in the implications of the Hermes landing in the Sahara on BOAC Nav ticket philosophy.
On a Brit. once had a steward ask the name of the Caribbean island that we had just passed, looked at the chart and gave him a name. Shortly afterwards he appeared with a passenger, who had questioned my answer.
Oh! for f***ks sake, come and look, and directed him to my chart, we passed X at this time, we're flying at Y speed, and it is now Z time so we've covered A miles which means we are - Oh dear !! I was navigating by Loran, not islands, who cared what the name of all the various islands was ?
Turned out that the pax. thought he had seen his home on the Island he knew well, and still asked the question, and being given the incorrect answer by the professional navigator made his day. Passengers ! We've all had them !
Light aircraft out of Anchorage ....... once hired a Cessna 172 to go and look at the Portage Glacier with some of the crew. The instructor who signed out the aircraft told me not to approach the glacier from the bottom, but fly in high and then fly down it - the glacier has a greater rate of climb then the Cessna, he said. Good advice !
A crewmate pilot of mine hired a small aircraft to fly to Kodiak Island. I'm not sure if the wreckage was ever found, don't think so, likely disappeared into the sea, which was a bit cold up there.
The other incredible Anchorage bar was the Burning Embers. It was open 23 hours a day and it was staffed by very nubile young ladies who were probably the first Lap dancers.
I can still remember a whole BOAC crew being pushed out in the morning, standing around in the freezing cold for an hour and then back in!
I also remember witnessing a gun battle between a couple of locals from my hotel window.
They were obviously blind drunk and dressed more for Honolulu than Anchorage they also missed each other fortunately.
I can still remember a whole BOAC crew being pushed out in the morning, standing around in the freezing cold for an hour and then back in!
I also remember witnessing a gun battle between a couple of locals from my hotel window.
They were obviously blind drunk and dressed more for Honolulu than Anchorage they also missed each other fortunately.
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Sahara Incident
Visualising the track taken I can quite believe someone noticing the Sun was on the wrong side.
In the late fifties this unfortunate incident was used as an example to drum into us to check the graduations on compasses at 2 ANS.
In the late fifties this unfortunate incident was used as an example to drum into us to check the graduations on compasses at 2 ANS.
intruding as a hunble pax- and conceding that a nightstop in ANC was something I clearly badly missed out on always going t Japan via HK in those days.
Another BOAC Captain book of this era is called 'Can Anyone see Bermuda' but I cannot remember the authors name. Not as silly a title as it sounds as BDA is so tiny and has no real high ground (200 ft amsl I think) and of course frequently shrouded in (horizontal) rain and cloud . Trying to actually find it after 7 hours across the Atlantic was probably never easy in pre INS days .
From my recollection of many trips there it was still a pretty popular stop over for BOAC and later BA crews but as far away from the antics of ANC as could ever be imagined-in those days women could be fined for wearing shorts that came more than 2 inches above the knees away from the beach.
Another BOAC Captain book of this era is called 'Can Anyone see Bermuda' but I cannot remember the authors name. Not as silly a title as it sounds as BDA is so tiny and has no real high ground (200 ft amsl I think) and of course frequently shrouded in (horizontal) rain and cloud . Trying to actually find it after 7 hours across the Atlantic was probably never easy in pre INS days .
From my recollection of many trips there it was still a pretty popular stop over for BOAC and later BA crews but as far away from the antics of ANC as could ever be imagined-in those days women could be fined for wearing shorts that came more than 2 inches above the knees away from the beach.
Archie Jackson wrote 'Can Anyone See Bermuda'. See here:
I also have another one that he penned, but cannot for the life of me remember the title of that one.
On the subject of navigation, I can second an earlier suggestion: Gwyn's book is well written and he describes his training and initial flights on the VC10 both as a co-pilot, as a navigator and later on as BOAC's youngest VC10 captain.
I also have another one that he penned, but cannot for the life of me remember the title of that one.
On the subject of navigation, I can second an earlier suggestion: Gwyn's book is well written and he describes his training and initial flights on the VC10 both as a co-pilot, as a navigator and later on as BOAC's youngest VC10 captain.
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Blind Pew
I was reminded by your bit about the DC10 nav problem and had a similar?problem on a southerly (overhead or close to Bermuda) track Heathrow to Miami - you may recall BOAC (or BA?) had a DC10 from Air New Zealand, also KSSU.
We had a large along track error - I noticed the time to next waypoint kept increasing - and went back to basics from VC10 nav days by decoupling and navigating by track and drift.
When in range of BDA it started to autotune and updated itself.
If I remember correctly the 3 inertial systems had some kind of averaging and were supposed to chuck out any one which the system suspected was in error.
I came to the conclusion that this wasn't happening and it was still averaging all 3.
I wrote it up and discussed it back at base and I think they came up with a change of software.
We had previously had an aircraft that failed to turn toward JFK when it got to Canada and overflew the turn by a couple of hundred miles (20 minutes or so) before Moncton? managed to contact the crew - they didn't know they were in VHF range.
I was reminded by your bit about the DC10 nav problem and had a similar?problem on a southerly (overhead or close to Bermuda) track Heathrow to Miami - you may recall BOAC (or BA?) had a DC10 from Air New Zealand, also KSSU.
We had a large along track error - I noticed the time to next waypoint kept increasing - and went back to basics from VC10 nav days by decoupling and navigating by track and drift.
When in range of BDA it started to autotune and updated itself.
If I remember correctly the 3 inertial systems had some kind of averaging and were supposed to chuck out any one which the system suspected was in error.
I came to the conclusion that this wasn't happening and it was still averaging all 3.
I wrote it up and discussed it back at base and I think they came up with a change of software.
We had previously had an aircraft that failed to turn toward JFK when it got to Canada and overflew the turn by a couple of hundred miles (20 minutes or so) before Moncton? managed to contact the crew - they didn't know they were in VHF range.
Discorde
A considerable number of the BOAC 707 Captains were ex WW2 and highly decorated. They were mostly from Bomber Command and Coastal Command and there was even one who was a Battle of Britain pilot. I do not think there are any books written by these pilots.
However there is a book by Peter Duffey "Comets and Concordes". He had a very interesting career and there are a couple of chapters of his time on the 707.
Mike
A considerable number of the BOAC 707 Captains were ex WW2 and highly decorated. They were mostly from Bomber Command and Coastal Command and there was even one who was a Battle of Britain pilot. I do not think there are any books written by these pilots.
However there is a book by Peter Duffey "Comets and Concordes". He had a very interesting career and there are a couple of chapters of his time on the 707.
Mike