Originally Posted by
aterpster
Perhaps that was a TWA 707-300 diverted to BOAC. TWA "customized" their orders to have the switches go the wrong way. This came to an end with the L1011 and 767, which had push switches.
I see that I flew G-AWHU in 1970, but can't remember a switch position issue?
I do recall that BOAC bought 3 "second-hand" 707's originally owned by a USA company, forget which, but pretty sure it wasn't TWA, to operate the Tokyo - Moscow route. These were707 -336's as opposed to the majority of the 707 fleet, which were the original 707-436's, and had a longer range, Tokyo - Moscow being about the longest sector operated at that time, we also had a stash of high density fuel available for uplift at Tokyo, to make the route possible.
I don't know about 9 crews, but -336 crews were separate from the -436 crews, pilots didn't mix and match between the two fleets.
These first three -336's, being originally of USA origin, certainly had switches that operated in the opposite direction, just as American household light switches operate in the opposite way to British light switches, the Brits knock a switch down on entering a room, the Yanks knock it up.
BOAC decided that it was dangerous to leave these 3 a/c different to the rest of the 707 fleet, so changed them around - at enormous cost I believe.
In another era, years later, I was involved with a company who put an originally American 747 freighter on to the British register. The C.A.A. insisted that we re-write all the Flight Manuals, changing the word "light" for "lamp", ( or v.v. ? ) as they had been first written for the U.S. F.A.A.
I'm sure if a pilot hears a loud warning bell, and sees a bright red warning "light" in an engine fire handle, he doesn't care if it is called a "light" or a "lamp" - he still sh**s himself !