The Britannia
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Just a point in the 70-80s we had a number of Tridents at BEA and BA that had rear facing seats. Now in Club / Business sleeper seats it is the norm to have a number of rear facing.
A very interesting thread gentlemen!
A very interesting thread gentlemen!
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From memory the T1s and T2s had one or two rows, the T3s had about seven. Used them many times and didn't like the the sensation of 'hanging from the lapstrap' in the climb.
Also a Malev Tu-134 where the first two rows faced each other across a fixed table
Also a Malev Tu-134 where the first two rows faced each other across a fixed table
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Britannia engine starting
An understandable reaction to being asked to hold a prop.
An incident at LGW in the 70's resulted in the guy holding the prop getting hit by the blade that was in the 3 o'clock position when it arrived at where he was still standing. The reason he was still there was that the engine started but the blades didn't move as the rear turbine blades were stuck on the turbine shroud, which is driven by the propeller shaft. He pushed, it freed but he was hit by the next blade.
Fortunately he survived but all were wiser to the power of the propellor.
An incident at LGW in the 70's resulted in the guy holding the prop getting hit by the blade that was in the 3 o'clock position when it arrived at where he was still standing. The reason he was still there was that the engine started but the blades didn't move as the rear turbine blades were stuck on the turbine shroud, which is driven by the propeller shaft. He pushed, it freed but he was hit by the next blade.
Fortunately he survived but all were wiser to the power of the propellor.
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As a once upon a time Pax in Transport Command Britt's, let me point out what it was like to be SLF in them.
Previously all of my time as SLF on Transport Command A/C was on Beverley's and Hastings. Including a trip from Marham to Mauripur and return that was 3 days each way
The Britt was quiet, it was smooth, it was fast, it was pressurised, it had a proper galley with hot food and drinks, so no more 'lunch boxes' and that 'orrible 'Orange Drink'. You could smoke on board, the seats reclined but the most welcome luxury of all, it had FLUSH TOILETS!!!!
No more stinking Elsans.
Previously all of my time as SLF on Transport Command A/C was on Beverley's and Hastings. Including a trip from Marham to Mauripur and return that was 3 days each way
The Britt was quiet, it was smooth, it was fast, it was pressurised, it had a proper galley with hot food and drinks, so no more 'lunch boxes' and that 'orrible 'Orange Drink'. You could smoke on board, the seats reclined but the most welcome luxury of all, it had FLUSH TOILETS!!!!
No more stinking Elsans.
Last edited by ian16th; 9th Mar 2010 at 18:03.
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Flying the Brit
I have many fond memories of flights on the Brit , the best was most probably when we (the british Army ) were airlifted out of Aden in 1967. We were piled onto Hercules aircraft in Aden and flown to Sharjah (approx 12000 troops) We then waited at Sharjah until the constant flow of RAF transport command Brit's arrived to take us all home. I was one of the lucky ones travelling on an early flight with the Argylle and Sutherland Highlanders (Of Mad Mitch Fame ) and we were welcomed at Akrotiri at 5.45 am with a pyramid of cans of lager from all the boys there. I think we slept most of the remaining seven hours to Lyneham. Fond memories.
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The Brit really got me stuck into aviation...
Well, I'm sure I mentioned this in a similar thread a few years ago but...
My introduction to aircraft maintenance came about because of Air Faisal and the Brit. They operated live and dead cargo out of Bombay to the ME in the mid-70s and the crews/maintenance guys stayed at a hotel close to my home (we were ex-pats). Regular trips to the airport ensued and I learned - or so I thought - about iso-speedic switches, HP/LP cocks (I got to start the engines, too), prop computers etc. A friendly FE soon had me on an overnight flight to Dubai and back (thanks, Eddie) and I had quite a few after that.
A few months later I moved back to the UK and started to work for Air Faisal's maintenance organisation at Luton. Less happy times, to be honest but I did have a long adventure to Bombay and back before I left to join AEL/MAEL in 1978. I've done the prop hold, too!
Still got to work on Brits: Redcoat, Afrek, African Safari, Aer Turas, Katale, Gemini (Geminair?) and Cubana stick in the mind; a mixture of 253s and 312s.
Who the hell designed the torqumeter installation? One continuous run of capillary from the firewall to cockpit (but it would have been difficult to do otherwise with an instrument and sensor of that nature).
My introduction to aircraft maintenance came about because of Air Faisal and the Brit. They operated live and dead cargo out of Bombay to the ME in the mid-70s and the crews/maintenance guys stayed at a hotel close to my home (we were ex-pats). Regular trips to the airport ensued and I learned - or so I thought - about iso-speedic switches, HP/LP cocks (I got to start the engines, too), prop computers etc. A friendly FE soon had me on an overnight flight to Dubai and back (thanks, Eddie) and I had quite a few after that.
A few months later I moved back to the UK and started to work for Air Faisal's maintenance organisation at Luton. Less happy times, to be honest but I did have a long adventure to Bombay and back before I left to join AEL/MAEL in 1978. I've done the prop hold, too!
Still got to work on Brits: Redcoat, Afrek, African Safari, Aer Turas, Katale, Gemini (Geminair?) and Cubana stick in the mind; a mixture of 253s and 312s.
Who the hell designed the torqumeter installation? One continuous run of capillary from the firewall to cockpit (but it would have been difficult to do otherwise with an instrument and sensor of that nature).
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This post is so interesting, only downside is agism. Do you remember the series on TV maybe the BBC about a cargo airline operating out of LTN. A Brit was used in the filmiing a lot a Redcoat ??. The star of it played a dectective more recently - Adam Dalglesish??
On another note at LHR in 1970 on the North side were 2 Brits parked up I remember them so well and were they 'North East Ailines'
Keep the thread going?
On another note at LHR in 1970 on the North side were 2 Brits parked up I remember them so well and were they 'North East Ailines'
Keep the thread going?
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Just a point in the 70-80s we had a number of Tridents at BEA and BA that had rear facing seats. Now in Club / Business sleeper seats it is the norm to have a number of rear facing.
A very interesting thread gentlemen!
A very interesting thread gentlemen!
I seem to remember that I noticed on a visit a while back that the current maintenance guys had installed the seats in a rear-facing pattern. Would Foxtrot Bravo have been one of those so configured?
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HZ123: On another note at LHR in 1970 on the North side were 2 Brits parked up I remember them so well and were they 'North East Ailines'
BKS became Northeast. It, along with Cambrian, were absorbed into the BEA family and were given similar colour schemes, Northeast was yellow and Cambrian an unusual shade of purple.
Even on the one-hour trip to Newcastle the elderly Brit was an ordeal, with a very intrusive vibration-noise cycle. Throttling back at top of descent came as a blessed relief.
Buttonpusher
Do you remember the series on TV maybe the BBC about a cargo airline operating out of LTN. A Brit was used in the filmiing a lot a Redcoat ??. The star of it played a dectective more recently - Adam Dalglesish??
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Redcoat??
The series was about Redcoat Air Cargo. The aircraft was VS I believe and I think the aircraft's name was Amy, the daughter of the founder Mike - and now memory fails me - I cant remember his surname. Ex navigator from African Safari Airways/African Cargo Airlines.
I remember the series writer coming to Manston and sitting with Dad Newphry, an ex ASA/ACA skipper, and myself whilst stories were told about the adventures whilst flying cargo in Africa and other parts of the world. Always thought there was a book in it......
I remember the series writer coming to Manston and sitting with Dad Newphry, an ex ASA/ACA skipper, and myself whilst stories were told about the adventures whilst flying cargo in Africa and other parts of the world. Always thought there was a book in it......
The BKS Brit 102s were G-ANBD, H, K and the infamous G-APLL, re-registered by Sir Basil Smallpiece after a disasterous tour of East Africa with (I think) the prime minister of the day when registered G-ANBG where it spent most of the time AOG and was consequently nicknamed "No Bloody Good".
Only one, G-ANBK, made it into Northeast where it was used largely as a back-up for the Trident 1Es and the occasional IT, of the others BD and LL were broken up in Newcastle in late 69/early 70 and BH in Southend in 9/69. BK was eventually scrapped in NCL in March 72 and was the only one to bear the yellow Northeast colour scheme.
Spent many hours dead-heading up and down Amber 1 in them - the cockpit was like the bridge of a ship.
Only one, G-ANBK, made it into Northeast where it was used largely as a back-up for the Trident 1Es and the occasional IT, of the others BD and LL were broken up in Newcastle in late 69/early 70 and BH in Southend in 9/69. BK was eventually scrapped in NCL in March 72 and was the only one to bear the yellow Northeast colour scheme.
Spent many hours dead-heading up and down Amber 1 in them - the cockpit was like the bridge of a ship.
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Northeast Britannias
I only got to see one of these-and that by the skin of my teeth-when I transited LHR in December 1971 and saw NBK just before she was retired, at the end of that month. One of the best "cops" of my early planespotting days-I began in April 1971.
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A few maintenance nightmares such as adjusting the SEP 2 autopilot, replacing inverters (ors), all those batteries, TRU regulator packs. Lovely to fly in 'though and an abiding memory was watching the (ex) military pilots show the flight engineer the torque they wanted using their fingers instead of the intercom (or have I mis-remembered?)
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I think I am right in saying the rear-facing seats in Kemble's Britannia actually came from a Nimrod, as XM496 was used as a civilian freighter after its RAF service and all seats had been taken out and scrapped by the time it was retired?
Used them many times and didn't like the the sensation of 'hanging from the lapstrap' in the climb.
Warmtoast Thanks for the article on rear facing seat safety. Maybe a psychological thing, but I still feel safer facing backwards.
Redcoat??
The series was about Redcoat Air Cargo. The aircraft was VS I believe and I think the aircraft's name was Amy, the daughter of the founder Mike - and now memory fails me - I cant remember his surname. Ex navigator from African Safari Airways/African Cargo Airlines.
The series was about Redcoat Air Cargo. The aircraft was VS I believe and I think the aircraft's name was Amy, the daughter of the founder Mike - and now memory fails me - I cant remember his surname. Ex navigator from African Safari Airways/African Cargo Airlines.
I think I am right in saying the rear-facing seats in Kemble's Britannia actually came from a Nimrod, as XM496 was used as a civilian freighter after its RAF service and all seats had been taken out and scrapped by the time it was retired?
