BOAC Captain O.P. Jones
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Somewhere in my email log is a series of personal recollections of Capt. Beaty - the gist of all of them being that while he could be genial when the mood took him, he could also be very crotchety if you said or did the wrong thing. Personally speaking, given what we know of other Captains of the war era, I doubt it was a class or colonial issue which raised his ire as much as the wrong word at the wrong time.
Another OP story has him taking of at Croydon in an HP42 bound Paris. As the 42 lifted off one of the four engines failed. There was plenty of runway left ahead to land but Jones appeared to his F/O to have not even noticed the engine out.
"Whoa sir ", called the F/O . . . . . and "Whoa" again.
OP, ignoring the F/O completely, made a wide lieisurely circuit. Landed, taxied to the terminal and shut down. Only then did he address the man on his right, as he drew off his leather gloves -
"Mr Fletcher, you say 'Whoa' to a horse, never an aeroplane."
"Whoa sir ", called the F/O . . . . . and "Whoa" again.
OP, ignoring the F/O completely, made a wide lieisurely circuit. Landed, taxied to the terminal and shut down. Only then did he address the man on his right, as he drew off his leather gloves -
"Mr Fletcher, you say 'Whoa' to a horse, never an aeroplane."
At the risk of being labelled a cynic, I suspect that many of these ancient airmen believed all the media hype and jutting beard profile photo opportunities that put them on the front pages of the newspapers of those days. They then became legends in their own minds. And so the myths were born. Read David Beaty's book "Call me Captain" where, after his own distinguished war service, he joined BOAC as first officer and was treated with utter contempt by the white kid-gloved "Commanders". The book was fiction but based upon his personal experiences.
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Centaurus, when I was hired into a major airline the rift between the ex wartime decorated aircrew and those who were known as the "draft dodgers" made for the most nasty work environment one could imagine, most of it coming from the non ex -military group, {with a few notable exceptions}. I think some of these guys used O.P. Jones as a model for their juvenile behavior, I flew one month as F/E/ Second Pilot when the left seat refused to talk to the right seat, instead passed all messages through me , towards the end of the month I booked of sick having tired of this crap, by then even the cabin crew we in on the game, mixing up the "Sky Gods' meal orders and drinks, CRM? not a sign of it!
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Thought I might as well revive this thread as I found a small snippet about this gentleman. It's from the recently released 'The Pictorial History of B.O.A.C. and Associated Airlines'.
This flight is also mentioned in Heathrow Director's post #2 but it only mentioned the year in which this flight took place.
The book also mentions his inaugural flight to Moscow on which the Soviet Ambassador Mr. Maisky acted as interpreter while over Russia.
A new service to South America was also planned and, on the 9th October, BOAC Captain O.P. Jones undertook a survey flight in a Lancastrian (G-AGMG) to Argentina, Chile and Peru in readiness for the new service.
The book also mentions his inaugural flight to Moscow on which the Soviet Ambassador Mr. Maisky acted as interpreter while over Russia.
Last edited by Jhieminga; 14th Feb 2015 at 15:18. Reason: Added registration
