British Eagle Trooping Flight to Singapore 1965
Eagle had 17 Britannias at this time, including a few that had just been bought. Two were freighters, the remaining 15 were pax aircraft. Trooping was their No 1 area of operations. This was often not efficient for aircraft usage, little back-to-back operation of a holiday IT style, empty legs generally without revenue, no crew base in Singapore, so I wouldn't be at all surprised at a 5-day layover.
Aircraft at that date were :
G-ANCF
G-ANCG
G-AOVA
G-AOVB
G-AOVC
G-AOVE
G-AOVF
G-AOVG
G-AOVK
G-AOVL
G-AOVM
G-AOVN
G-AOVR
G-AOVS
G-AOVT
G-ARKA
G-ARKB
First two were the freighters. Most had come direct from BOAC but some were from elsewhere. AOVS had just arrived on short-term lease from Lloyd for 3 months so they must have had a good amount of work at the time.
Aircraft at that date were :
G-ANCF
G-ANCG
G-AOVA
G-AOVB
G-AOVC
G-AOVE
G-AOVF
G-AOVG
G-AOVK
G-AOVL
G-AOVM
G-AOVN
G-AOVR
G-AOVS
G-AOVT
G-ARKA
G-ARKB
First two were the freighters. Most had come direct from BOAC but some were from elsewhere. AOVS had just arrived on short-term lease from Lloyd for 3 months so they must have had a good amount of work at the time.
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British Eagle - Be they trooping, scheduled or charter flights, they all had a very British character. Oldish aircraft, from comfortable, spacious Britannia's - the 'whispering giants' - to noisy 1-11's, homely and unpretentious in everything, from aircraft to staff to in-flight catering, I liked their cheerful confidence. From Harold Bamberg downward they were a pleasure to work with. Those spacious Britannia cockpits. Gurkhas soldiers sat round a gas stove at the back of the Brit brewing up tea. Squaddies back from Singapore loaded down with the same old duty-free crap which they tried to smuggle in.
The nice maroon livery and the big black 'E' on the tail. Happy days and and an absolute tragedy when they closed down. Everybody seemed to know each other and get on well. Such sadness when they lost one going into Innsbruck. My association with them was with Heathrow Customs, boarding, passenger and crew clearance, duty-free stores, etc. Cheerful far off days (62 to 68), now distant memories, but I can sometimes still hear the powerful whispering growl of those big Proteus' winding up or down and the graceful and dignified take-offs, although the Brits used to bounce around a wee bit when landing in a cross-wind...best of British.
The nice maroon livery and the big black 'E' on the tail. Happy days and and an absolute tragedy when they closed down. Everybody seemed to know each other and get on well. Such sadness when they lost one going into Innsbruck. My association with them was with Heathrow Customs, boarding, passenger and crew clearance, duty-free stores, etc. Cheerful far off days (62 to 68), now distant memories, but I can sometimes still hear the powerful whispering growl of those big Proteus' winding up or down and the graceful and dignified take-offs, although the Brits used to bounce around a wee bit when landing in a cross-wind...best of British.
Last edited by Mr Oleo Strut; 23rd Feb 2017 at 22:30.
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Yes, memories have blurred Centaurus, Proteus and Tyne, even though I do recall (I think!) that a certain number of the Britannia derivative, the Canadair CL44, were Tyne-powered.
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pjac
G-ARXA was leased by British Eagle from EI AL not AI AI, it flew with the airline from 22 April 1966 to 08 November 1968 when it was returned to EL AL and was later sold to Monarch.
G-ARXA was leased by British Eagle from EI AL not AI AI, it flew with the airline from 22 April 1966 to 08 November 1968 when it was returned to EL AL and was later sold to Monarch.
