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LUTON History and Nostalgia

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LUTON History and Nostalgia

Old 30th Jun 2018, 09:25
  #3261 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by dc9-32
There always seemed to be a "them and us" stigma with the Monarch and Britannia ramp staff. It was worse in the terminal where Britannia girls wouldn't even look at you let alone say hello !
In fairness to the Britannia staff, the "them and us" approach could be blamed on the training which no doubt stemmed from the Britannia management. One of the Monarch girls I used to have coffee with decided the Britannia grass was greener and joined them. Drummed into her and the other trainees was the strict instruction that Britannia staff were not allowed to be seen "fraternising" with other airport staff in public, including staff from Monarch. Our coffee breaks continued but were restricted to the Britannia staff restaurant.

dc-9-32 I have sent you a PM
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 11:02
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more photos


YR-BCM 12/4/80. Tarom 1-11's first made an appearance with a weekly flight summer 1979.


I-ATIQ 26/3/83. Only remember a short series on Saturdays March-April 1983, from & to Milan-MXP.


TF-VLB, TF-VLC 17/6/78. Mainly in for maintenance, Eagle Air used to put passengers on the maintenance flights from Keflavik IIRC. VLB had just returned from lease to Air Malta hence the colours. VLC had just returned from lease to Kenya Airways, still in part Kenya airways colours.


YU-ANC 10/5/82 This aircraft was destined for Republic Airlines but was never delivered to them, but wore their colours during summer 1982.


9H-ABB 14/6/83. Air Malta first operated to Luton summer 1977 with Boeing 720B's leased from P.I.A., then with 737-200's leased from Transavia Holland summer 1981 until they acquired their own 737's summer 1983. Their 720's still made an appearance, such as this one in 1984:-


9H-AAO 3/7/84

Balair operated a DC-6 into Luton in the summers of 1967-1970, early hours of Saturday mornings. Their only subsequent regular flights were with MD-80's in 1987, mostly operated by Swissair aircraft, although their own aircraft also made an appearance:-


HB-INR 31/8/87


HB-INK 17/4/87

Also in 1987 although probably on diversion, possibly from Southend, was this Canafrica MD-83:-


EC-ECO 30/8/87

They visited the previous year, when they were known as CTA, with a DC-8-61:-

EC-DZA 29/10/86

Another DC-8 operator was Rich International who did flights to Orlando summer 1988, making a fuel stop in Shannon. Flights switched to Stansted for summer 1989.


N1808E 6/8/88.

Also in 1988 Austrian made a welcome return with a weekly charter to Vienna using MD-87's. They originally began a late night Sunday flight in November 1975 with their DC-9-32's, then with their DC-9-51's early 1976 and MD-81's in 1981-82.


OE-LMK 6/6/88

Last edited by cj241101; 30th Jun 2018 at 19:55.
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Old 30th Jun 2018, 11:07
  #3263 (permalink)  
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cj, Thanks for another batch of proper airliner pictures. As well as evoking fond memories, your images have the ability to trigger the smell of kerosene, the clatter of baggage trucks and the shrill whine of proper jet engines

Aviaco and of course Spantax were as much a part of the 1980's UK holiday makers travel experience as Dan Air, Monarch and Britannia. I managed a pair of Aviaco DC-9 flights to and from Majorca in 1983 as a spotty 18 year old on my first solo trip abroad.

Love the Ryanair 1-11 under the tail of the Kar Air A300.Who would have possibly guessed back in 1990 what was to emerge from that company.
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Old 1st Jul 2018, 01:27
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Whose is the Britannia / CL44 (?) with the B on the tail behind the Inex Adria MD81?
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Old 1st Jul 2018, 01:47
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Heres the first recorded log I have from LTN, lunch time 14.08.95 (I have lost my logs before then....)

UR-78755 ... Ilyushin IL-76MD ... Air Ukraine / Air Foyle
N916SJ ... Lockheed L100-30 Hercules ... Southern Air Transport
G-SBEA ... Boeing 737-204 (ADV) ... Sabre Airways
N7788 ... Canadair Challenger 601 ... CAPX Transfer
G-JEET ... Reims Cessna FA152 ... Luton Flight Training
G-BYAW ... Boeing 757-204 ... Britannia Airways
G-MANJ ... BAe ATP ... Manx Airlines
G-BUTZ ... Dornier Do.228-202K... Suckling Airways
G-OBMM ... Boeing 737-4Y0 ... British Midland Airways
G-HOPE ... Beech F33A Bonanza ... Hurn Aviation [Bournemouth]
G-BIOB ... Reims Cessna F172P ... Aerofilms [Elstree]
N757ML ... Canadair Challenger 601 ... never positively ID'd
G-OBAL ... Mooney M20J ... Britannia Flying Club
EI-CJD ... Boeing 737-204 (ADV) ... Ryanair
G-MANC ... BAe ATP ... Manx Airlines
OO-DHO ... Boeing 727-31C (F) ... European Air Transport (DHL)
G-SIZL ... Bell 206B JetRanger III ... BLS Aviation
G-COIN ... Bell 206B JetRanger II ... C. Sarno
G-JONI ... Reims Cessna FA152 ... Luton Flight Training
G-MFHL ... Ribinson R22B Beta ... MFH Ltd
F-GHXK ... Boeing 737-2A1 (ADV) ... Emerald Airways
VR-CBQ ... Boeing 727-212 ... Aravco [LHR]
N555KC ... Grumman Gulfstream III ... Odin Aviation [Burbank CA]
N410US ... BAe 125-800 ... Raytheon Aircraft
N11AB ... Cessna 551 Citation II/SP ... Heliair Aviation
N9026 ... BAe 125-1000A ... never ID'd
N688CP (??) maybe a Jet Commander or Westwind
G-BYAK ... Boeing 757-28A ... Britannia Airways
N125XX ... BAe 126-700A Surewings / Ambrion Aviation
G-BKUY ... BAe Jetstream 3102 ... BAe PLC - pretty sure this operated for some short lived airline
N615X ... Gulfstream IV ?? never ID's
N988TT ... PA-34 Seneca ?? - never ID'd
VH-NCP ... Gulfstream IV ... News Corp [SYD]
A6-ESH ... Boeing 737-2W8 ... Sharjah Royal Flight
N243FJ ... Dassault Falcon 50 ... TRW Inc
G-BUXT ... Dornier Do.228-202K ... Suckling Airways
G-ATHR ... Piper PA-28 Cherokee 180 ... Britannia Flying Club
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Old 1st Jul 2018, 06:25
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Originally Posted by YVRLTN
Whose is the Britannia / CL44 (?) with the B on the tail behind the Inex Adria MD81?
Not a "B", it's an "R":

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Old 1st Jul 2018, 07:43
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YVRLTN thanks for posting your list. Here's some updates from my anorak log:-
14/8/95:- Westwind was N868CP and G3 N6513X. N980TT a Gulfstream 1 was present. Jetstream G-BKUY was in BAe house colours and titles, flying with an "Air Foyle Executive" sticker. The Challenger was N757MC. N9026 was a 125-1000B c/no 259026.

The Redcoat aircraft behind the Inex Adria would have been their CL-44 G-BRED which was their sole aircraft by summer 1982.

Here's some photos:-

G-BUXT 22/12/94. Leased from Dornier hence the titles.


VR-CBQ 13/8/95. Regular for many years.


F-GHXK 11/8/95. Leased from Europe Aero Service by Emerald European but only ever operated 1 flight for them, sat at Luton for 3 weeks before returning to Toulouse on 31/8/95.


VH-NCP 15/8/95.


N22320 22/6/94. Never managed a photo of N980TT, this is the best I can do in its previous guise.


A6-ESH 24/7/85. Another regular for many years.


OO-DHO 31/7/94.

Last edited by cj241101; 1st Jul 2018 at 08:36.
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Old 1st Jul 2018, 07:49
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DC9-32 have sent you a PM
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Old 1st Jul 2018, 07:51
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Ex OM/LTN Staff

DC9-32 Have sent you a PM
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Old 3rd Jul 2018, 06:54
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Originally Posted by YVRLTN
Heres the first recorded log I have from LTN, lunch time 14.08.95 (I have lost my logs before then....)


G-BUTZ ... Dornier Do.228-202K... Suckling Airways
- Anorak mode on -

I had to check that reg as I didn't recognise it as a Suckling one, no wonder cos it's a Pa28!

- Off -
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Old 3rd Jul 2018, 07:47
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Old 4th Jul 2018, 04:56
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Seem to remember that Sucking started off flying out of Ipswich from its grass runway but moved to Cambridge due to waterlogging of the runway. Did they then move to Luton or did they still fly to Amsterdam from Cambridge at the same time? I used to listen to the company frequency when the crew used to report passenger numbers to their Cambridge ops. They then upgraded their aircraft to something faster but I can’t remember what to.
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Old 4th Jul 2018, 07:21
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Suckling started at Ipswich and then moved to RAF Wattisham for a while before settling on Cambridge. They did IIRC operate from both Cambridge and Luton to Amsterdam. When British Airways Express gave up Paris they replaced them on Paris CDG with Dornier 328s. I flew on both routes - the 228 was unpressurised and I remember descending over the North Sea as ice was forming on the wind shield. Both routes ceased when the business fares charged by Suckling became very expensive compared to EasyJet. Stagecoach took a share in the airline - it became Scot Air and flew form London City to Scottish destinations - Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee. The airline was eventually sold to Loganair, with whom the 328s continue to be operated.
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Old 4th Jul 2018, 08:23
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At the time of YVRLTN's list Suckling were flying Cambridge to Amsterdam and Manchester and LTN to AMS and Waterford. The first Do328 was either just delivered or just about to be. istr they had five 228s at that time, three in livery and two not, at least one of which was leased/loaned from Dornier and used as a spare. HQ was at Cambridge. I think I had just left (after ony 3 months, so dreadful were their standards) at that time and was voluntarily back on the dole, and sleeping soundly again!
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Old 4th Jul 2018, 15:06
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Suckling's first 328 was G-BWIR registered on 18/10/95. It arrived at Luton at 2100 on 24/10/95, all white with no titles and disappeared into hangar 125. Here it is the next time I saw it on 30/10/95:-

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Old 4th Jul 2018, 23:12
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Fascinating!

I find reading these posts fascinating. I did my PPL cross country from White Waltham to Cambridge with an intermediate stop at Luton back in 1955, non radio and had light signals from what looked like a lighthouse! All grass, and I was the only aircraft there. What an incredible change from all those years ago!
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Old 5th Jul 2018, 01:48
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CJ, I am blown away you have that information, incredible. I might take advantage an PM you some of my queries, back then it was binos from the gate at the lane supplemented by a drive by round the back and it was common to misread off some regs.

Re Suckling, I remember for a very short period when the 328 came online they actually did a CBG-LTN-AMS rotation, the CBG flight was even listed in the BAA timetable of the time from LTN. EZY killed them at LTN of course.

Another memory from that period was Debonair. They did NCL, CPH, MGL - what else? MAD maybe.
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Old 5th Jul 2018, 02:45
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Originally Posted by DaveReidUK
Not a "B", it's an "R":

That's the one that crashed in the USA in 1980 is it not?
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Old 5th Jul 2018, 06:32
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Originally Posted by LynxDriver
That's the one that crashed in the USA in 1980 is it not?
Yes.

http://libraryonline.erau.edu/online...s/AAR81-03.pdf
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Old 5th Jul 2018, 09:28
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I was surprised to see "meleagertoo's" comment about the standard of service on Suckling Airways. I flew Cambridge to Manchester with them several times in the early 90s and was impressed with the on-time performance and friendliness of the cabin crew.. A warm meal and decent wine served from a proper bottle, none of your miniatures on Suckling and all this on a 40 minute sector..I seem to remember that the hosties had a maximum height limit of 5ft 3ins because of the low cabin height and regulars were greeted with a peck on the cheek on boarding. You don't get that with Easyjet or at least I don't.
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