Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 History
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That's interesting about #1. I was to take it from Christchurch to Sydney on Christmas Day after an overnight. When we got to the airport the aircraft was solidly iced with no deicing gear available as its summer time.
When we started number #1 it ran for 2 minutes and shut down so we immediately thought spar valve not open. Never did get it to run on Christmas day but the next day when we came back there was no problems despite no maintenance whatsoever.
When we started number #1 it ran for 2 minutes and shut down so we immediately thought spar valve not open. Never did get it to run on Christmas day but the next day when we came back there was no problems despite no maintenance whatsoever.
Another off-topic tale (sorry, original poster !). Back in the 1990s there was an aviation enthusiasts etc bookshop on the main King Street in Twickenham, just a couple of miles from Heathrow, I think run by a man called Smith. By its position it also got a fair number from the industry come through. Smith was one of those characters who liked to tell lengthy stories that sounded rather improbable but later turned out to be correct. He said that one day a few years before, so 1980s, he had several browsers in his shop when in came Freddie Laker, after Laker Airways went under, who came in from time to time. They got into conversation about what he was doing. "Come to see a 747, aircraft xxxx, thinking of doing something with it" says Freddie. Voice from a book browser at the back of the shop "If I were you I wouldn't touch xxxx, it's a right Lemon". Sudden silence. Fred goes over, introductions, and they have a lengthy word.
Now I said, hearing this, that Fred never ran 747s. "No, he was advising someone else" was the answer. But it all fits for dates, Freddie, long-established aircraft trader from pre-Laker Airways days (Aviation Traders Ltd at Southend) now being a consultant, it just being the time when Randolph Fields was looking at the market (possibly even for Virgin at its startup, or shortly after for HEX), and a 747 which was indeed "a right Lemon". Anyone else remember that shop ?
Now I said, hearing this, that Fred never ran 747s. "No, he was advising someone else" was the answer. But it all fits for dates, Freddie, long-established aircraft trader from pre-Laker Airways days (Aviation Traders Ltd at Southend) now being a consultant, it just being the time when Randolph Fields was looking at the market (possibly even for Virgin at its startup, or shortly after for HEX), and a 747 which was indeed "a right Lemon". Anyone else remember that shop ?
Last edited by WHBM; 29th Nov 2020 at 10:52.
Forgive me for going off-thread but I have heard similar tales of the reliability problems of one of Britannia's Advanced 737s, G-BAZI. I don't know the particular issues with ZI but she was offloaded to Airways Cymru at a time when Britannia was still operating it's earliest standard 737s, e.g. AVRL. They must have had a good reason for getting rid.
The 747 100 spent it time between Highland Express and Virgin with Qantas as VH-EEI. It was Qantas' only 747 100 and was a bit of an orphan, particularly with 2 lower lobe galleys. Rumor was that is was obtained to keep another Australian domestic operator from getting it.
Qantas in turn sub leased it to Air Pacific of Fiji in which Qantas had a 50% share at the time. In its early days it was a real problem child and after one adventurous day as an FE on it, I was marched up to the Qantas CP's office by the Air Pacific CP to tell him how bad it was. At the time the FEs on the operation were Qantas loaners.
From then on Qantas spent a fortune on it and when RB eventually took it of our hands it was a good aircraft. It even had 4 identical series engines on it. When we got it it had 3 different types which was a bit sporty on takeoff.
Wunwing
Qantas in turn sub leased it to Air Pacific of Fiji in which Qantas had a 50% share at the time. In its early days it was a real problem child and after one adventurous day as an FE on it, I was marched up to the Qantas CP's office by the Air Pacific CP to tell him how bad it was. At the time the FEs on the operation were Qantas loaners.
From then on Qantas spent a fortune on it and when RB eventually took it of our hands it was a good aircraft. It even had 4 identical series engines on it. When we got it it had 3 different types which was a bit sporty on takeoff.
Wunwing
Let's try what I think is their 747 fleet
1 Airline Type Sub Cn1 Cn2 Reg In From Out To notes
2
3 Virgin Atlantic B747 287B 21189 274 G-VIRG Jun 84 dealer Sep 01 Kabo Air
4 Virgin Atlantic B747 243B 19732 134 G-VGIN Jan 86 CAAC Oct 01 Kabo Air
5 Virgin Atlantic B747 212B 21939 449 G-TKYO Mar 89 Singapore AL Dec 94 Tower Air
6 Virgin Atlantic B747 212B 21937 419 G-VRGN Aug 89 Singapore AL Feb 95 Tower Air
7 Virgin Atlantic B747 283B 20121 167 G-VOYG Feb 90 Caledonian Nov 98 scrapped
8 Virgin Atlantic B747 123 20108 87 G-VMIA Mar 90 Air Pacific Jan 00 scrapped
9 Virgin Atlantic B747 238B 20842 238 G-VJFK Feb 91 Qantas Jul 01 Kabo Air
10 Virgin Atlantic B747 238B 20921 241 G-VLAX May 91 Qantas Jul 01 Kabo Air
11 Virgin Atlantic B747 267B/RR 22872 566 G-VCAT Oct 98 Cathay Pac Oct 03 dealer
12 Virgin Atlantic B747 267B/RR 23048 582 G-VRUM Oct 98 Cathay Pac Oct 03 dealer
13 Virgin Atlantic B747 219B/RR 22723 527 G-VBEE Apr 99 Air NZ Oct 01 Air Atlanta
14 Virgin Atlantic B747 219B/RR 22722 523 G-VZZZ Jul 99 Air NZ Mar 02 Transaero
15 Virgin Atlantic B747 219B/RR 22791 568 G-VIBE Sep 99 Air NZ Mar 02 dealer
16 Virgin Atlantic B747 219B/RR 22725 563 G-VPUF Mar 00 Air NZ May 02 dealer
17 Virgin Atlantic B747 219B/RR 22724 528 G-VSSS May 00 Air NZ May 05 Air Atlanta last VS 742 TF-ABW Jan 02-Jan 04
18 Virgin Atlantic B747 267B/RR 22530 531 TF-ABA Jan 01 le Air Atlanta Oct 01 ret
19
20 Virgin Atlantic B747 4Q8 24958 1028 G-VFAB Apr 94 New Sep 15 scrapped
21 Virgin Atlantic B747 4Q8 26326 1043 G-VHOT Oct 94 New Jan 16 scrapped
22 Virgin Atlantic B747 4Q8 26255 1081 G-VBIG Jun 96 New Nov 19 scrapped
23 Virgin Atlantic B747 4Q8 28194 1100 G-VTOP Jan 97 New Mar 13 Orient Thai
24 Virgin Atlantic B747 41R 28757 1117 G-VAST Jun 97 New Mar 20 wfu
25 Virgin Atlantic B747 41R 29406 1177 G-VXLG Sep 98 New Mar 20 wfu
26 Virgin Atlantic B747 443 30885 1268 G-VROS Mar 01 New Mar 20 wfu
27 Virgin Atlantic B747 443 32337 1272 G-VGAL Apr 01 New Mar 20 wfu
28 Virgin Atlantic B747 443 32338 1274 G-VLIP May 01 New Mar 20 wfu
29 Virgin Atlantic B747 443 32339 1275 G-VROM May 01 New Mar 20 wfu
30 Virgin Atlantic B747 443 32340 1277 G-VROY Jun 01 New May 20 wfu last VS 747
31 Virgin Atlantic B747 41R 32745 1287 G-VWOW Oct 01 New Oct 15 wfu
32 Virgin Atlantic B747 41R 32746 1336 G-VROC Oct 03 New Apr 16 wfu
Pasted out of a spreadsheet. Possibly best if pasted back into one.
1 Airline Type Sub Cn1 Cn2 Reg In From Out To notes
2
3 Virgin Atlantic B747 287B 21189 274 G-VIRG Jun 84 dealer Sep 01 Kabo Air
4 Virgin Atlantic B747 243B 19732 134 G-VGIN Jan 86 CAAC Oct 01 Kabo Air
5 Virgin Atlantic B747 212B 21939 449 G-TKYO Mar 89 Singapore AL Dec 94 Tower Air
6 Virgin Atlantic B747 212B 21937 419 G-VRGN Aug 89 Singapore AL Feb 95 Tower Air
7 Virgin Atlantic B747 283B 20121 167 G-VOYG Feb 90 Caledonian Nov 98 scrapped
8 Virgin Atlantic B747 123 20108 87 G-VMIA Mar 90 Air Pacific Jan 00 scrapped
9 Virgin Atlantic B747 238B 20842 238 G-VJFK Feb 91 Qantas Jul 01 Kabo Air
10 Virgin Atlantic B747 238B 20921 241 G-VLAX May 91 Qantas Jul 01 Kabo Air
11 Virgin Atlantic B747 267B/RR 22872 566 G-VCAT Oct 98 Cathay Pac Oct 03 dealer
12 Virgin Atlantic B747 267B/RR 23048 582 G-VRUM Oct 98 Cathay Pac Oct 03 dealer
13 Virgin Atlantic B747 219B/RR 22723 527 G-VBEE Apr 99 Air NZ Oct 01 Air Atlanta
14 Virgin Atlantic B747 219B/RR 22722 523 G-VZZZ Jul 99 Air NZ Mar 02 Transaero
15 Virgin Atlantic B747 219B/RR 22791 568 G-VIBE Sep 99 Air NZ Mar 02 dealer
16 Virgin Atlantic B747 219B/RR 22725 563 G-VPUF Mar 00 Air NZ May 02 dealer
17 Virgin Atlantic B747 219B/RR 22724 528 G-VSSS May 00 Air NZ May 05 Air Atlanta last VS 742 TF-ABW Jan 02-Jan 04
18 Virgin Atlantic B747 267B/RR 22530 531 TF-ABA Jan 01 le Air Atlanta Oct 01 ret
19
20 Virgin Atlantic B747 4Q8 24958 1028 G-VFAB Apr 94 New Sep 15 scrapped
21 Virgin Atlantic B747 4Q8 26326 1043 G-VHOT Oct 94 New Jan 16 scrapped
22 Virgin Atlantic B747 4Q8 26255 1081 G-VBIG Jun 96 New Nov 19 scrapped
23 Virgin Atlantic B747 4Q8 28194 1100 G-VTOP Jan 97 New Mar 13 Orient Thai
24 Virgin Atlantic B747 41R 28757 1117 G-VAST Jun 97 New Mar 20 wfu
25 Virgin Atlantic B747 41R 29406 1177 G-VXLG Sep 98 New Mar 20 wfu
26 Virgin Atlantic B747 443 30885 1268 G-VROS Mar 01 New Mar 20 wfu
27 Virgin Atlantic B747 443 32337 1272 G-VGAL Apr 01 New Mar 20 wfu
28 Virgin Atlantic B747 443 32338 1274 G-VLIP May 01 New Mar 20 wfu
29 Virgin Atlantic B747 443 32339 1275 G-VROM May 01 New Mar 20 wfu
30 Virgin Atlantic B747 443 32340 1277 G-VROY Jun 01 New May 20 wfu last VS 747
31 Virgin Atlantic B747 41R 32745 1287 G-VWOW Oct 01 New Oct 15 wfu
32 Virgin Atlantic B747 41R 32746 1336 G-VROC Oct 03 New Apr 16 wfu
Pasted out of a spreadsheet. Possibly best if pasted back into one.
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I recall while I was at BA we were all sent to a meeting in the old helicopter hangar where BA were telling us all bout their 3 biggest competitors. One was PanAm, I cannot remember the second but the third was Virgin. We did laugh at that point as they only had two aircraft and we were servicing them. That said, even as lowly engineers we could see how much better the cabins were compared to the BA aircraft. Not a patch on BCal but Bcal were history by then
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WHBM
Looking at my logbook and aussieairliers.org it is more accurate to say that HIHO/EEI/VMIA was operated by Qantas rather than Air Pacific. All the images that I can see shows it in Air Pacific colours for its whole time, but from memory and records it flew mainly Qantas services and except for the the change to Irish for a short period it was VH registered.
I suspect that once Air Pacific commenced NRT services it was" a bridge too far" for the old girl.During that period Qantas often had at least 2 aircraft in Air Pacific colours even though they never had more than one on the Fiji service. The Fijian pilots for most of the time held Australian licenses and the FEs were Australian from Qantas and later a hire company.
Wunwing
Looking at my logbook and aussieairliers.org it is more accurate to say that HIHO/EEI/VMIA was operated by Qantas rather than Air Pacific. All the images that I can see shows it in Air Pacific colours for its whole time, but from memory and records it flew mainly Qantas services and except for the the change to Irish for a short period it was VH registered.
I suspect that once Air Pacific commenced NRT services it was" a bridge too far" for the old girl.During that period Qantas often had at least 2 aircraft in Air Pacific colours even though they never had more than one on the Fiji service. The Fijian pilots for most of the time held Australian licenses and the FEs were Australian from Qantas and later a hire company.
Wunwing
The "we were servicing them" comment is notable, because in their early times Virgin subcontracted a lot of work out to BA, and BA were happy to take the work. Not just maintenance. Didn't BA host the Virgin reservations for the early years ?
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Love reading all these responses, thank you all so much. I will keep you informed of when the article is published.
And no problem re the going off-thread, still makes an interesting read for this geek!
And no problem re the going off-thread, still makes an interesting read for this geek!
Early on in their Boeing 747 operations, Virgin maintenance checks were carried out by BCAL. Then BCAL got bought out by BA and BA Engineering found themselves carrying out a number of checks on Virgin Boeing 747s at LHR as it would have cost BA a lot of money to default on the contract.
WHBM
Virgin in summer 1993 also leased from ANZ for 6 months a 747-219B that was painted up in full Virgin colours (all white, red tail, large flying lady) and used on the Miami.
ZK-NZX
(In 1999 VS bought all 5 ANZ 747-219's)
When Dan Air had bad delays one summer (1991 or 92) we did a few sub-charters at night to play catch up for them to Faro, TFS, and Palma.
VIRGIN ATLANTIC BOEING 747-400 ROUTES
From - LGW LHR MAN GLA BFS
To-
MCO MIA
EWR JFK BOS LAX SFO IAD ATL
NAS
BGI ANU UVF TAB GND
KIN MBJ
HAV VRA SJU
CUN
CPT JNB LOS
NRT HKG
747-4Q8 (ILFC)
G-VFAB LADY PENELOPE
G-VBIG TINKER BELLE
G-VHOT TUBULAR BELLE
G-VTOP VIRGINIA PLAIN
747-4IR
G-VXLG RUBY TUESDAY
G-VWOW COSMIC GIRL
G-VAST LADYBIRD
G-VROC MUSTANG SALLY
747-443 (GECAS, built and completed for Alitalia but NTU, flown to AKL for repaint and reconfigure for VS)
G-VLIP HOT LIPS
G-VROY PRETTY WOMAN
G-VGAL JERSEY GIRL
G-VROM BARBARELLA
G-VROS ENGLISH ROSE
The 747-443 fleet were mainly dedicated to the LGW & MAN leisure routes to Florida, The Caribbean and Mexico, operating in a Low J, High density W Premium and Y Economy seating configuration.
3 747-443's all shiny and new at AKL in 2001
all shiny & new at Auckland 2001
Virgin in summer 1993 also leased from ANZ for 6 months a 747-219B that was painted up in full Virgin colours (all white, red tail, large flying lady) and used on the Miami.
ZK-NZX
(In 1999 VS bought all 5 ANZ 747-219's)
When Dan Air had bad delays one summer (1991 or 92) we did a few sub-charters at night to play catch up for them to Faro, TFS, and Palma.
VIRGIN ATLANTIC BOEING 747-400 ROUTES
From - LGW LHR MAN GLA BFS
To-
MCO MIA
EWR JFK BOS LAX SFO IAD ATL
NAS
BGI ANU UVF TAB GND
KIN MBJ
HAV VRA SJU
CUN
CPT JNB LOS
NRT HKG
747-4Q8 (ILFC)
G-VFAB LADY PENELOPE
G-VBIG TINKER BELLE
G-VHOT TUBULAR BELLE
G-VTOP VIRGINIA PLAIN
747-4IR
G-VXLG RUBY TUESDAY
G-VWOW COSMIC GIRL
G-VAST LADYBIRD
G-VROC MUSTANG SALLY
747-443 (GECAS, built and completed for Alitalia but NTU, flown to AKL for repaint and reconfigure for VS)
G-VLIP HOT LIPS
G-VROY PRETTY WOMAN
G-VGAL JERSEY GIRL
G-VROM BARBARELLA
G-VROS ENGLISH ROSE
The 747-443 fleet were mainly dedicated to the LGW & MAN leisure routes to Florida, The Caribbean and Mexico, operating in a Low J, High density W Premium and Y Economy seating configuration.
3 747-443's all shiny and new at AKL in 2001
all shiny & new at Auckland 2001
Last edited by rog747; 3rd Dec 2020 at 08:57.
Here is a nice tribute to a retiring VA skipper who had flown G-HIHO with Highland and then flew G-VMIA when it joined Virgin's fleet.
https://blog.virginatlantic.com/extr...ike-abu-nayla/
https://blog.virginatlantic.com/extr...ike-abu-nayla/
