Bit of a thread drift Having had a reread of this thread due to a canceled conference call I can remember both call signs and registration call signs in use at LHR , Kcockayne kindly corrected my assumption about why they were sued with the advice that as traffic grew flights began to operate daily and ATC introduced flight strips as the same flight operated same time every day and hanging on to registrations wasnt practical or sensible any more but no doubt it wasnt accomplished overnight as in the early to mid 60s there were still lots of routes especial;;y long haul that only operated once or twice a week , Iraqi Viscounts Aerolineas Argentinas Comets or Panair Brasil DC8s stick in my mind .
I think ATC was less proceduralist and LHR although very very busy was nothing like today back and SK was usually Skandi and LH often Lufty along with a bit of banter with crews who were well used to LHR and spoke good English which was not the norm back then with even AF IB TP and the like having crews whose English was very limited along with the Eastern Europeans and occasionally even the then unusual 'Southern 'US voices from Braniff and National. My wife worked for Speedbird London some years later and even then Braniff were one of the hardest to understand. And as for the comments about FAA aircraft in Europe I remember seeing an FAA Convair but no ATC and one time, the holy grail for spotters at LHR , N1 the FAAs Lockheed Jetstar. Maybe better in nostalgia I know but was an interesting thread