1969 documentary on the coming "Jumbo Age"

[25F]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p041byzm/tuesday-documentary-jumbo
Fascinating stuff.

[washoutt]

Alas, not for man in the common world, only for the Brits.

[India Four Two]

Alas, not for man in the common world, only for the Brits.

YouTube comes to washoutt's rescue :ok:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhvqEwveBv4

Click "Quote" if you can't see the link.

[washoutt]

Thanks, India, We are once more part of the family of Man.
Interesting documentary. As a student, I saw the prototype 747 at the Le Bourget airshow in 1969, with my friends. We were flabbergasted by the sheer size of the airplane. Many years later, I was involved in the certification of the 747-400, and I thought when looking at it: "Mwah" . Ah, lost youth...

[longer ron]

Thanks for posting 25F
Interesting little documentary and some nice viewing during the emergency slide practice ;),mini dresses definitely get my vote for appropriate apparel :ok:
I used to be a young and shallow young man - now I am older and shallow :)

[India Four Two]

A fascinating time capsule.

So much speculation about future travel and so little of it came to pass.

[longer ron]

Indeed IFT - although some of the baggage handling tech did evolve into something like the systems in use now.

[India Four Two]

longer ron,

Very true, but I did laugh at the prediction of not having to wait at baggage carousels!

I was also amused by the dour predictions of the head of BALPA (Captain Speaking?) who was obviously thinking ahead to the pay negotiations with BOAC!

[longer ron]

longer ron,

Very true, but I did laugh at the prediction of not having to wait at baggage carousels!

!

So did we - also had a laugh about actually having a wee manny to sort/straighten the luggage as it popped out onto the carousel :)

[Jhieminga]

Skip to 13:04 to see a real airliner.... ;)

[ATNotts]

I have just finished an absorbing 45 minutes watching this gem, and apart from the content, from the point of view of some of the wide of the mark predictions, and some that were far less "wrong" what struck me was the quality of the programme and its presentation; such a far cry from the sensationalist "documentaries" that broadcasters, including the BBC now seem to churn out with "celebrity" presenters / narrators who are there to draw the viewer in, however poor the content.

The archive stuff on BBC I-player is one of the best things about the corporation's output these days, not just from a nostalgic standpoint, but it illustrates just how good their standards were 50 years ago, and just how poor they are now in comparison.

[treadigraph]

Skip to 13:04 to see a real airliner.... ;)

Let me guess... Dart Herald? :p

[India Four Two]

Skip to 13:04 to see a real airliner.... ;)


As BEagle would say, the Vickers Funbus.

[Jhieminga]

Let me guess... Dart Herald? :p
Oh dear, did I give the game away? :}

Actually, I quite like the 747, having spent some time around them at Schiphol. The upper deck made them different, they were the largest type around at the time and only the A380 beat them at that. The Jumbo age may be mostly over, but we haven't seen the last of them I guess.

[SQUAWKIDENT]

Excellent documentary thanks for posting this gem. I was only 4 yrs old when this was shown on the TV.

Loved the shots of the male Japanese tourists all wearing suits. No selfie sticks to be seen.

Lufthansa worried about how to clean 500 ashtrays during a turnaround! Ah happy days..

Did Roissy Airport become Orly then or CDG? I'm confused..

[treadigraph]

Roissy became CDG - Orly has always been Orly hasn't it?

[SQUAWKIDENT]

Ah ok thanks for the info. No idea about Orly. I'm not an expert on French airports (as you can probably tell..).

[25F]

Thanks for the thanks. When you punt a post into the ether you're never sure how it's going to be received.
A couple of things stood out for me:
- that the exponential rise in airliner size would continue.
- that an accident involving *one* 747 would be horrific. In the end we had one that involved *two*.

[SQUAWKIDENT]

Thanks for the thanks. When you punt a post into the ether you're never sure how it's going to be received.
A couple of things stood out for me:
- that the exponential rise in airliner size would continue.
- that an accident involving *two* 747 would be horrific. In the end we had one that involved *two*.
Re the accident involving *two* - yes I immediately thought of the Tenerife collision. I guess you're referring to that? I still have the front page of my parents Daily Mail the day after that collision occurred.

It also reminded me of the JAL (?) accident where the pressure bulkhead hadn't been fixed properly and the tail came off. That was carrying ALOT of people I seem to remember.

My first ever flight at age 14 was in a JAL 747-200 from London to Rome. It was fantastic and I believe at one stage we were cruising at FL410 but not sure if that's my imagination..could they cruise that high up?

[tdracer]

The Jumbo age may be mostly over, but we haven't seen the last of them I guess.

Why do you say the jumbo age is over? Quad engine jumbos - yes, but jumbos not really. The 777-9X can carry the same number of passengers (in a similar class mix) as the 747-200 - with better range to boot.

My first ever flight at age 14 was in a JAL 747-200 from London to Rome. It was fantastic and I believe at one stage we were cruising at FL410 but not sure if that's my imagination..could they cruise that high up?

Yes, when 'light' they could cruise at 43k.

[SQUAWKIDENT]

Why do you say the jumbo age is over? Quad engine jumbos - yes, but jumbos not really. The 777-9X can carry the same number of passengers (in a similar class mix) as the 747-200 - with better range to boot.



Yes, when 'light' they could cruise at 43k.
Thank you! I remember I had my small Sharp Airband receiver with me on the flight and was sure they'd accepted a climb to at least FL410. First flight ever and the highest altitude I have flown since! I guess they fuelled up in Rome for the rest of the flight to Tokyo.

[SpringHeeledJack]

Didn't JAL have dedicated mx/ground crew for each of their 747's back inthe day, so as to engender an unrivalled 'intimacy' between crew and individual aircraft ? This was told to me by a Japanese colleague when I spent time in Tokyo early 90's. If this is true, might it have been a reaction to the 747SR crash in 1985 ?