Last big pistons scheduled in Europe
I got to wondering what were the last 4-engined piston ops on passenger service in Europe.
In July 1978 I flew on an internal flight in the Azores by the local airline, SATA. It was scheduled to be a HS748 but when I got to the airport I was delighted to see a DC6 on the apron – I knew they had used them but they disappeared from their schedules after the previous Winter season.
Although I had flown in a Six before, the 40-minute flight between two of the islands was sheer joy.
(Incidentally, the only other flight I ever made on SATA, many years later, was also supposed to be a 748 but was substituted by one of their brand-new ATPs, so I never did manage to get a ride on a 748).
It occurred to me that it was quite likely that the SATA 6s were the last heavy pistons in scheduled passenger service within Europe, and given that my flight was a one-off, it could have been one of the very last ops – who knows, even the last. I know I’ll never be able to prove that it was, but it might be possible to prove that it wasn’t.