LUTON History and Nostalgia

[wallp]

Originally Posted by Buster the Bear

As there is snow about, time for a BAC 1-11 image.

I can't figure out where this 1-11 is parked?

[LTNman]

I was just thinking that as well. Zooming in to behind the engine there are telegraph poles and a building I don't recognize. I will have to have a dig around my photo collection to see it I can line up the 1-11 nose background.

[vintage ATCO]

That is not Luton.

[ZeBedie]

Could it be Stansted?

[The Member]

Lasham me thinks!

[dixi188]

Three 1-11s in the photo.
Could be Lasham with aircraft stored for the winter.
Or maybe Manchester.

[squeaker]

It could be Luton. There are no hub caps on that mini...

[WHBM]

So which U.K. airlines flew the Tristar, who was the last and when did the last Tristar leave the U.K. register?

Possibly not the last G- reg, but the final Caledonian operation was 31 October 1999, when the fleet was withdrawn.

It was a Sunday. It was also the end of the autumn half term holiday, and wrapping up day for the holiday operators. No little Miss WHBM, or even Mrs WHBM at the time, but the lady of the era was a schoolteacher, so we needed those holidays as well. So you can imagine the scene at Faro airport departures on that Sunday afternoon.

We were on a brand new (at the time) Sabre 737-800 to Gatwick. But out on the ramp was a Caledonian L1011, stuck AOG. The handling agent had probably disposed of their Lockheed spares with them going out of service, and so they were waiting and waiting - for the relevant parts to come out from Gatwick on a subsequent flight. By the time we got to Gatwick, on time, the Tristar was still up on the board as "delayed". No expected arrival yet.

Monday morning, back in the office. Around lunchtime in comes the Chairman, often one of the first in. With a tale of woe. He had been away for the half term break. To Portugal. With his kids. They had been returning the day before at lunchtime. But the plane "broke down". And so they were stuck in this Portuguese airport for 12 hours. With kids.

If their airworthiness certificates expired at midnight that 31 Oct, there might have been a slight exceedance.


Did I tell where we had departed on time that previous evening ? Absolutely kept quiet.

[LTNman]

Could that 1-11 photo have been taken at Hurn, which was the BAC home of the 1-11? Hurn always struck me as collection of random buildings where cars were often parked by aircraft.

[oldandbald]

Dan-Air 1-11 photo

The Dan-Air 1-11 , originally posted by "Buster the Bear" is definitely at Luton. If you look at various photos on the web of Britannia Brits. being broken up behind the hangars they tally with the hangar gantry and the offices alongside.

[vintage ATCO]

I disagree. The background (in the distance) is all wrong for 'round the back' at Luton and there is a nose of another BAC 1-11 on the left of the shot. I don't recall there being enough depth round there for an aircraft in that position. Besides, G-ATPL was sold abroad to Chile in the 90s, it wasn't broken up so I cannot think why it would be pushed 'round the back'.

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by oldandbald

The Dan-Air 1-11 , originally posted by "Buster the Bear" is definitely at Luton. If you look at various photos on the web of Britannia Brits. being broken up behind the hangars they tally with the hangar gantry and the offices alongside.

I agree.

That's the western (landside) corner of the former Court Line hangar in the background.

Here's another view from the airside end a few years previously:

[vintage ATCO]

Oh yes, I see what you mean. Apologies all. I was working there then but do not recall them putting the BAC1-11s back there. I wonder when the BAC1-11 pic was taken?

Edited to add: I certainly don't remember cars parked there!!

[LTNman]

Never thought about the back of the hangar. Good detective work. Now the question is why were they there?

[Wee Clink]

Originally Posted by vintage ATCO

Oh yes, I see what you mean. Apologies all. I was working there then but do not recall them putting the BAC1-11s back there. I wonder when the BAC1-11 pic was taken?

Edited to add: I certainly don't remember cars parked there!!

There was a subtle change to the Dan Air livery which saw the thin black line at the top of the fin changed to be the same thickness as the black line at the bottom of the fin, and also extended aft onto the rudder.
The earliest photo I can find on the net of G-ATPL in the later variation of this scheme was dated 06/09/71, so the photo must have been taken sometime before then (and after 20/09/69 when Dan Air bought it).

[WHBM]

Now the question is why were they there?

The first two Dan-Air One-Elevens came in March 1969, from American Airlines. They were a hurried purchase following the bankruptcy of British Eagle the previous autumn who had a major holiday flight contract with Lunn-Poly out of Heathrow, which Dan-Air had moved quickly to pick up. Unusually for Dan-Air they were not based at Gatwick, but at Luton, where I always thought up to this time they were rare visitors and did not base aircraft there (you others here probably know more on this). G-ATPL joined them in October 1969, after standing a year since the Eagle failure. In those days there was not a lot of winter holiday charter work and it was common for aircraft to be parked for extended periods through the winter.

Dan-Air had their main engineering base at Lasham, of course, and also a substantial base presence at Gatwick. Who looked after them at Luton in their early days there ? Did they set up their own maintenance base ?

[thegypsy]

I had digs for a while in Luton with Ron and Lille. Stockingstone Rd Ron was Dan Air and several Gatwick based Dan Pilots stayed there when operating from Luton on the 1-11.This was in the 70's.

Ron was an ex RAF Master Pilot

[compton3bravo]

If I remember correctly when British Eagle went bust in November 1968 both Britannia and Monarch - which took on several Eagle Britannia's and many ex-Eagle crews - operated the vast majority of ski flights from Luton in early 1969 which should have been flown by Eagle from Heathrow.
When the two ex-American Airlines BAC-111s arrived Dan-Air decided to base them at Luton flying mainly for Lunn-Poly and Everyman Tours. They set up a handling facility at Luton with the ground equipment which included a bicycle and a green Mini van with a 'DAN-AIR LONDON' sticker emblazoned on it (many interesting stories abound about that van).
As regards the AA 1-11s a good friend of mine worked for Dan-Air handling at the time and as he was putting the chocks on to the nose wheel tyres the captain shouted down to him and I quote 'I have never flown such a load of s**t in my life' as the passengers were disembarking down the front passenger steps.
Comets also began to appear at Luton on an ad-hoc basis and Gatwick diversions.

[WHBM]

a green Mini van with a 'DAN-AIR LONDON' sticker emblazoned on it

There's actually a Morris Minor in Dan-Air markings still at Brooklands museum. Here it is. Not sure if it's original or any old Morris just painted up (which would go along with the Dan-Air ethic of "never buy anything new".

[OUAQUKGF Ops]

Court Line performed Ground Handling for Dan Air in the early days of Dan's BAC111 and Comet Operations out of Luton. I can remember the load sheets being produced in Court Line's traffic office by the tower and the occasions when the fuel carried by the Dan Comets certainly exceeded the amount shown on the load sheets.I suppose it was cheaper to tanker up at LTN than elsewhere. Nevertheless the Comets still lifted off the runway with ease often climbing like a rocket.