LUTON History and Nostalgia
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The last photo of the wreck must have been taken nearer the Percival buildings and a little away from the original McAlpine hangar by the flying club.
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Where did the OCS Bandit's fly? They were registered to Willowair or something similar. Any affiliation to Streamline or anyone else? Were their Shorts operations independent? I seem to remember a SH330 ended up with OCS titles too and operated briefly from LTN, was G-BIFH if memory serves. Another SSW SH330 was lost at CDG operating from LTN in a collision with an Air Liberte MD83, I think that one was G-LEDN.
I guess it all got amalgamated into Emerald and the flying they once did is now done by West Atlantic.
I guess it all got amalgamated into Emerald and the flying they once did is now done by West Atlantic.
Nevil Shute's 'In the Wet' written in the early fifties but set in the eighties seems to regard operation of jet transports from grass as routine. The hero, David Anderson, flies the Queen's Flight's imaginary De Haviland Ceres to and from White Waltham, putting it down upon the grass after the sheep have been herded away.
Nevil Shute's 'In the Wet' written in the early fifties but set in the eighties seems to regard operation of jet transports from grass as routine. The hero, David Anderson, flies the Queen's Flight's imaginary De Haviland Ceres to and from White Waltham, putting it down upon the grass after the sheep have been herded away.
Anyway the Hatfield concrete runway was finished well before the Comet needed it (see spekesoftly's link) and although the prototype had single-wheel main u/c I'm pretty sure the huge tyres were not expected to operate from grass.
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airport mayflys
I have some old airport mayflys from Jan 1979-Jul 1980. Here's a sample:-
1979 was the busiest in terms of airline numbers, with 24 operators (including cargo) at the peak of the summer season. Most cargo flights were missing as they tended to be notified after the mayflys were published. Aer Turas and Redcoat were regular but missing from the above. Letters in the ETD and ETA columns refer to the handling agent. All the Monarch Boeing flights were shown as "720" although some would have been operated by their 707-123B G-BGCT which supplemented the 5 720's they operated in 1979.
1979 was the busiest in terms of airline numbers, with 24 operators (including cargo) at the peak of the summer season. Most cargo flights were missing as they tended to be notified after the mayflys were published. Aer Turas and Redcoat were regular but missing from the above. Letters in the ETD and ETA columns refer to the handling agent. All the Monarch Boeing flights were shown as "720" although some would have been operated by their 707-123B G-BGCT which supplemented the 5 720's they operated in 1979.
Last edited by cj241101; 30th Aug 2018 at 11:35.
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These sheets would be distributed to all the tour operator desks in the terminal each week and were left on the counters where I would help myself if I spotted a copy.
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At some stage a daily movement sheet was introduced which would obviously be more accurate and include cargo/horse/ad-hoc flights etc. Here's some more from midweek including some of the Scandivavian student flights by Maersk and Scanair:-
Great archives there of the May-flys from the very late 70's - Thank you, most interesting.
We notice Monarch OM and Britannia BY are now the major players at LTN with having the most departures to the Med resorts, Canaries,and beyond.
Italy and Sicily are very popular, especially with Monarch and the Greek Islands not yet much on the map - although Athens was then a big charter destination for both holidays, and to join cruise ships.
(The 720B was the long haul king then to the Caribbean via Gander or the Azores)
Britannia having a lone fleet of 737-200's with the newer ADV models coming on stream.
An OM 1-11 is booked going down to Corfu but I notice the corresponding inbound is back from Rimini, so I guess that was the tech stop on the way home.
Seems Malta Sicily, and Tunis, Monastir was about the furthest the 1-11 500 normally ventured.
Some very late hour 1-11 and 720 departures and early hours arrivals back in all through the night (imagine the noise!)
Note the big gaps in movements during the day which I remember when being at LTN - No arrivals or departures for hours, then a batch of landings zooming back in.
Dan Air no longer sees much of presence then at LTN as Clarkson's had gone bust in 1974, so no Comet, or much 1-11 or even 727 traffic.
DA had a busy 1-11 300/400 IT fleet base at LTN from 1969, and by 1971 had 5 1-11 jets based there, plus the Comets coming and going for the longer flights, some on W's)
We see here only weekend W flights from/to Palma Mahon and Malaga on a 1-11.
I think DA recovered at LTN as I seem to recall plenty of 727's and 1-11 500's operating in and out.
Some Yugoslavia charter traffic with JAT JR 707 and Inex Adria JP DC-9, but not as busy as the early and mid 70's, and surprisingly no Aviogenex JJ TU-134
No Aviaco AO DC-8 or CVL, and no Air Spain JA DC-8's who had gone bust a few years earlier.
Also no Spantax BX seen either - CV990 or DC-9.
Thomsons, Skytours and Budget Holidays (Direct sell, huge thick brochure, remember them?) were the biggest user of BY (plus the MOD)
and Cosmos Holidays were Monarch's in-house airline, with Pontinental a large charterer in their own right with both OM, BY and also BX.
With the loss of Court Line and Clarksons a few years before it seems that in 1979 LTN was getting quite busy.
Thanks for the memories!
We notice Monarch OM and Britannia BY are now the major players at LTN with having the most departures to the Med resorts, Canaries,and beyond.
Italy and Sicily are very popular, especially with Monarch and the Greek Islands not yet much on the map - although Athens was then a big charter destination for both holidays, and to join cruise ships.
(The 720B was the long haul king then to the Caribbean via Gander or the Azores)
Britannia having a lone fleet of 737-200's with the newer ADV models coming on stream.
An OM 1-11 is booked going down to Corfu but I notice the corresponding inbound is back from Rimini, so I guess that was the tech stop on the way home.
Seems Malta Sicily, and Tunis, Monastir was about the furthest the 1-11 500 normally ventured.
Some very late hour 1-11 and 720 departures and early hours arrivals back in all through the night (imagine the noise!)
Note the big gaps in movements during the day which I remember when being at LTN - No arrivals or departures for hours, then a batch of landings zooming back in.
Dan Air no longer sees much of presence then at LTN as Clarkson's had gone bust in 1974, so no Comet, or much 1-11 or even 727 traffic.
DA had a busy 1-11 300/400 IT fleet base at LTN from 1969, and by 1971 had 5 1-11 jets based there, plus the Comets coming and going for the longer flights, some on W's)
We see here only weekend W flights from/to Palma Mahon and Malaga on a 1-11.
I think DA recovered at LTN as I seem to recall plenty of 727's and 1-11 500's operating in and out.
Some Yugoslavia charter traffic with JAT JR 707 and Inex Adria JP DC-9, but not as busy as the early and mid 70's, and surprisingly no Aviogenex JJ TU-134
No Aviaco AO DC-8 or CVL, and no Air Spain JA DC-8's who had gone bust a few years earlier.
Also no Spantax BX seen either - CV990 or DC-9.
Thomsons, Skytours and Budget Holidays (Direct sell, huge thick brochure, remember them?) were the biggest user of BY (plus the MOD)
and Cosmos Holidays were Monarch's in-house airline, with Pontinental a large charterer in their own right with both OM, BY and also BX.
With the loss of Court Line and Clarksons a few years before it seems that in 1979 LTN was getting quite busy.
Thanks for the memories!
Last edited by rog747; 31st Aug 2018 at 13:42.
Interesting to see the daily flight sheets. BY482A/B, LTN-IBZ-LTN, feature in my logbook for 12 July 79. We left LTN on time, but were 10 min late on return. I was in the right front seat for that. My first Summer on the line with BAL.
Italy and Sicily are very popular, especially with Monarch and the Greek Islands not yet much on the map - although Athens was then a big charter destination for both holidays, and to join cruise ships.
I flew down to ATH several times with BY in the early 80's. At that time many of the airports on the popular smaller islands could not handle jet traffic (so a lot of holidaymakers ended up traveling on ferries via ATH which was indeed very busy with charter traffic)
I flew down to ATH several times with BY in the early 80's. At that time many of the airports on the popular smaller islands could not handle jet traffic (so a lot of holidaymakers ended up traveling on ferries via ATH which was indeed very busy with charter traffic)
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kenparry
Did my first line training flight with BAL from LTN 2/3/74 to Palma and back and then 6 days later a double trooper. Line check with Don Tanton 14/3/74 another double trooper Dusseldorf and Gutersloh. Then let loose.
.
Did my first line training flight with BAL from LTN 2/3/74 to Palma and back and then 6 days later a double trooper. Line check with Don Tanton 14/3/74 another double trooper Dusseldorf and Gutersloh. Then let loose.
.
Italy and Sicily are very popular, especially with Monarch and the Greek Islands not yet much on the map - although Athens was then a big charter destination for both holidays, and to join cruise ships.
I flew down to ATH several times with BY in the early 80's. At that time many of the airports on the popular smaller islands could not handle jet traffic (so a lot of holidaymakers ended up traveling on ferries via ATH which was indeed very busy with charter traffic)
I flew down to ATH several times with BY in the early 80's. At that time many of the airports on the popular smaller islands could not handle jet traffic (so a lot of holidaymakers ended up traveling on ferries via ATH which was indeed very busy with charter traffic)
Yes indeed! I guess you recall the old ATH international terminal with all the backpackers sleeping on the floor and the whole place buzzing at 1am in the morning with about 20-30 charter flights all checking in...dogs running around the terminal, cockroaches crawling up the check in desk.
Rhodes and Crete were just opening up - both having been quite upmarket and expensive destinations at first -
Cyprus (NCO) having been lost to the holiday market after 1974 invasion.
Rhodes was building a new airport to replace the old and rather scary Maritsa WW2 airfield located between, and surrounded by mountains with a dodgy set of Navaids, and no radar.
I remember going in there on the jump seat one night on a very delayed BCAL 707 and it was pitch black - the FE suddenly saw the sun rise slowly creeping up in the East and the silhouette of the mountains was revealed.
Mykonos started to get jets early-mid 80's (BY 737's i think, were one of the first UK charters to go in there)
Last edited by rog747; 31st Aug 2018 at 18:41.
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Dan Air no longer sees much of presence then at LTN as Clarkson's had gone bust in 1974, so no Comet, or much 1-11 or even 727 traffic.
DA had a busy 1-11 300/400 IT fleet base at LTN from 1969, and by 1971 had 5 1-11 jets based there, plus the Comets coming and going for the longer flights, some on W's)
We see here only weekend W flights from/to Palma Mahon and Malaga on a 1-11.
I think DA recovered at LTN as I seem to recall plenty of 727's and 1-11 500's operating in and out.
Some Yugoslavia charter traffic with JAT JR 707 and Inex Adria JP DC-9, but not as busy as the early and mid 70's, and surprisingly no Aviogenex JJ TU-134
No Aviaco AO DC-8 or CVL, and no Air Spain JA DC-8's who had gone bust a few years earlier.
Also no Spantax BX seen either - CV990 or DC-9.
Although shown on the weekly mayfly as a 707, the JR flights were mostly on the Yugoslav Government 727-200 YU-AKD. BCAL did operate some flights with a 707 but the JAT examples only appeared from the beginning of August. Aviogenex TU-134's never managed to operate a regular IT series and were mostly seen in the winter, often stopping over the weekend. When Aviogenex did operate regularly it was with 737-200's and 727-200's in the late 80's and 1990 IIRC.
The only Aviaco flights in 1979 operated to Madrid in April on Caravelles then a few in August, also Madrid, on DC-8's.
Spantax CV-990's did a short series in 1984 then 1985-87 they used 737-200's (and the occasional DC-8-61). Can't recall them using their DC-9's.
More mayflys coming shortly.
Dan Air S79 was indeed only 3 weekly flights on LGW-based 1-11's, with the crew base at LTN having been closed. Nov 79 they also closed their handling base with Monarch taking over the DA handling and most of their 3rd party work (and ground staff).
Although shown on the weekly mayfly as a 707, the JR flights were mostly on the Yugoslav Government 727-200 YU-AKD. BCAL did operate some flights with a 707 but the JAT examples only appeared from the beginning of August. Aviogenex TU-134's never managed to operate a regular IT series and were mostly seen in the winter, often stopping over the weekend. When Aviogenex did operate regularly it was with 737-200's and 727-200's in the late 80's and 1990 IIRC.
The only Aviaco flights in 1979 operated to Madrid in April on Caravelles then a few in August, also Madrid, on DC-8's.
Spantax CV-990's did a short series in 1984 then 1985-87 they used 737-200's (and the occasional DC-8-61). Can't recall them using their DC-9's.
More mayflys coming shortly.
Although shown on the weekly mayfly as a 707, the JR flights were mostly on the Yugoslav Government 727-200 YU-AKD. BCAL did operate some flights with a 707 but the JAT examples only appeared from the beginning of August. Aviogenex TU-134's never managed to operate a regular IT series and were mostly seen in the winter, often stopping over the weekend. When Aviogenex did operate regularly it was with 737-200's and 727-200's in the late 80's and 1990 IIRC.
The only Aviaco flights in 1979 operated to Madrid in April on Caravelles then a few in August, also Madrid, on DC-8's.
Spantax CV-990's did a short series in 1984 then 1985-87 they used 737-200's (and the occasional DC-8-61). Can't recall them using their DC-9's.
More mayflys coming shortly.
Wonderful! Seems the early 70's had more of the Spanish bigger jets coming in, especially at weekends plus Aviogenex Tupolevs and Index Adria were more frequent then in the summer, Plus more Dan Air of course.
Do you have any from the early 1970's please - Would lovely to see flights showing my first jobs with Air Spain and Court LIne - thanks!
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Those mayflys were available (by post) from the airport authority on request. I subscribed and paid £25 one year, and they kept on coming for about 7 - 8 years!
Add in the mix Autair/Court line 1-11's and Tristars.
Britannia AW Brits, and Invicta Vanguards and 720B's
Channel AW Tridents, which had a frequency of IT's. (PMI was one)
BMA 707's and Viscount charters.
Aviaco, Air Spain (and some Spantax Transeuropa and TAE)
Quite a lot of German Swiss, and Scandinavian traffic.
I think SAM Caravelles came in too, but they were seen more at LGW in 2's or sometimes 3's at a time.
All the coaches pulling up from the London air terminals (BY, OU and OM all had London coach terminals, which DA AO and JA all used to use them too for town check ins)
The BY Munich flights (140A/104B) on 29/07/79 were possibly two halves of W-patterns. My log book shows I was the F/O on the inbound. The duty for us was NCL-MUC-LTN. The a/c was 'RL, BAL's first 737 and the Capt was Bob Stockholm.