Originally Posted by
Wig Wag
IEA! Those were the fun days.
They were the master of the 'W' pattern where you started, or ended, with a taxi journey. Report Cardiff, taxi Manston, operate Manston - Larnaca, slip three days, Larnaca - Cardiff. Many UK regional airports in the logbook. Lots of 'night Larnaca' returns, loads of positioning flights the shortest being Bristol - Cardiff which took about 7 minutes.
Long duty days but quality time down route and great crews. All very practical stuff and you were left to get on with it.
Downside was the Europa Hotel during the troubles . . .
Good fun whilst it lasted, great characters to fly with and 'interesting' people to work for.
Ah, proper aviation ... Bristol-Cardiff 7 mins? Fond memories of BOAC having to operate a Bahrain-Dhahran leg back in the day. Urban myth had it that there was an unofficial sweep each month amongst the VC-10 crews.
I believe I was on the winning flight one month (only as SLF) with a time of 12 minutes. But they did have to raise the undercarriage after departing BAH. Probably covered elsewhere in the annals of PPRuNe.