UK Caravelle?
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Abiding last memory of the Caravelle should have been late night at Glasgow in 1981 trying to sleep before early holiday flight and being woken by astonishing roar that not even triple glazing could keep out - source unknown. Actual last memory was a 1st anniversary trip a year later in September 1982 to Paris from Glasgow and discovering that the aforementioned roar from the year before was an Air Toulouse Super 10 that was our transport to Beauvais and back. Have some phots somewhere. First and only Caravelle flights.
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The first production batch of Viscounts were divided equally between BEA and Air France, odd construction numbers to BEA, even numbers to AF. The AF ones held the Paris to London route down until the arrival of the Caravelle, later supplemented by spare L-1049 Constellations on occasion.
My own last Caravelle sighting was about 1992. I was in Berlin, post-wall coming down, and had seen previously that one was still scheduled with Syrian Arab on a once-weekly Saturday Copenhagen-Berlin-Damascus run, which seemed a bit unlikely. Forgot about it, was out on the Saturday on the local S-Bahn train which passes some miles to the north of Schonefeld airport, and there it came by absolute coincidence, just gliding down finals into the field. And I did run across in the train from left to right to watch it disappear. Last one.
My own last Caravelle sighting was about 1992. I was in Berlin, post-wall coming down, and had seen previously that one was still scheduled with Syrian Arab on a once-weekly Saturday Copenhagen-Berlin-Damascus run, which seemed a bit unlikely. Forgot about it, was out on the Saturday on the local S-Bahn train which passes some miles to the north of Schonefeld airport, and there it came by absolute coincidence, just gliding down finals into the field. And I did run across in the train from left to right to watch it disappear. Last one.
Gnome de PPRuNe
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Sad isn't it? I can't recall the last time I saw a Caravelle in the air. A beautiful piece of kit...
First jet I ever landed in the cockpit. Still remember the gauloise stuck to the lower lip of the flight engineer as we touched down. It may have been loud outside, deafening even as you walked up the tail air stair, but there was just a muted hum inside. The French have built some beautiful looking aircraft as well as some real shockers.
First jet I ever landed in the cockpit. Still remember the gauloise stuck to the lower lip of the flight engineer as we touched down. It may have been loud outside, deafening even as you walked up the tail air stair, but there was just a muted hum inside. The French have built some beautiful looking aircraft as well as some real shockers.
A lot of the Caravelle came from the UK. The Rolls-Royce engines, of course, and the design of the nose and flight deck was by De Havilland (and the early noses were actually built at Hatfield), which is why it looks like a Comet (unkind suggestions that the noses of grounded Comet 1s had been cut off and sent to Toulouse 
). A lot of the systems stuff as well, there wasn't a great French aerospace supply industry in the 1950s.
). A lot of the systems stuff as well, there wasn't a great French aerospace supply industry in the 1950s.
One bit of caravelle trivia was the french fitting one out with cameras and in clear weather on trips eastwards straying off the airways to snap pictures of interesting features.....nothing the other side did not do of course. I think Paris Match (of all unlikely mags) might even have run an article on this (much later of course). The other unlikely fact I remember was Sterling (in jet vicar days) using them on transatlantic passenger flights, probably via Iceland (so I suppose not that different from Wow today). Either way I have always had a soft spot for the caravelle.
The other unlikely fact I remember was Sterling (in jet vicar days) using them on transatlantic passenger flights, probably via Iceland
I'm sure someone out there had log books or planning documents confirming the routings.
We had an extensive discussion about Sterling's transatlantic Caravelle operations over on Flyertalk.
Favoured destinations in the late 1960s-1970s included Santo Domingo, Orlando, and San Francisco/Los Angeles. The latter were a real haul and typically routed from Copenhagen via Keflavik, Bangor and Omaha. It was the more advanced P&W-engine Caravelles used, of course. Notably, Omaha was as far west as United Caravelles were scheduled, and thus had licensed ground engineers, while SFO, although well removed from those eastern Caravelle schedules, was their main maintenance base, they would ferry to and fro.
Other Sterling ultra-long haul Caravelle holiday charters were to Toronto, Bangkok and Natal in Brazil. One of the Bangkok flights crashed into high ground approaching a Dubai refuelling stop one night.
The P&W engine aircraft also had a feature that most of the RR aircraft did not, namely a drop-down supplementary oxygen system. The Caravelle originally did not, but when the fleet of 20 was sold to United the FAA flat refused to give a jet a certificate without it. Hitherto they had relied on keeping under 30,000, a few portable sets with flight attendants, and a crew making an instant emergency descent if there was a decompression at altitude. I presume the Air France F- registered Caravelles that operated from the Caribbean into Miami at the time, or likewise the South American operators, were somehow accepted. I wonder what the UK CAA would have made of it if offered for a UK certificate. It never was.
Favoured destinations in the late 1960s-1970s included Santo Domingo, Orlando, and San Francisco/Los Angeles. The latter were a real haul and typically routed from Copenhagen via Keflavik, Bangor and Omaha. It was the more advanced P&W-engine Caravelles used, of course. Notably, Omaha was as far west as United Caravelles were scheduled, and thus had licensed ground engineers, while SFO, although well removed from those eastern Caravelle schedules, was their main maintenance base, they would ferry to and fro.
Other Sterling ultra-long haul Caravelle holiday charters were to Toronto, Bangkok and Natal in Brazil. One of the Bangkok flights crashed into high ground approaching a Dubai refuelling stop one night.
The P&W engine aircraft also had a feature that most of the RR aircraft did not, namely a drop-down supplementary oxygen system. The Caravelle originally did not, but when the fleet of 20 was sold to United the FAA flat refused to give a jet a certificate without it. Hitherto they had relied on keeping under 30,000, a few portable sets with flight attendants, and a crew making an instant emergency descent if there was a decompression at altitude. I presume the Air France F- registered Caravelles that operated from the Caribbean into Miami at the time, or likewise the South American operators, were somehow accepted. I wonder what the UK CAA would have made of it if offered for a UK certificate. It never was.
I found it interesting that the Swedish Air Force used the Caravelle as an Elint platform but the French never did. AFAIK
Abiding last memory of the Caravelle should have been late night at Glasgow in 1981 trying to sleep before early holiday flight and being woken by astonishing roar that not even triple glazing could keep out - source unknown. Actual last memory was a 1st anniversary trip a year later in September 1982 to Paris from Glasgow and discovering that the aforementioned roar from the year before was an Air Toulouse Super 10 that was our transport to Beauvais and back. Have some phots somewhere. First and only Caravelle flights.
Landed on 06 and both streamed their brake chutes; they then taxied in one behind the other with the brake chutes still attached and waving about in the jet efflux until they parked!!
Last edited by chevvron; 20th Dec 2016 at 23:05.
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I used to fly on a Caravelle regularly between 1977 and 1978 from Heathrow to Luxembourg with Luxair. I remember it being quite quiet inside. The cabin crew complained that they did not have any control of the temperature in the passenger cabin and were always asking the flight crew to turn it up or down. Correct me if I am wrong but I think it was the first of the tail mounted jets. I remember the 1967 Caravelle flight belonging to Iberia that crashed while going into Heathrow. The bodies were all buried at Brookwood cemetery.
I remember a couple of them at Glasgow in '72. They belonged to a subsidiary of Air France