Heathrow - Your first flight
 

Millions have flown in & out of Heathrow, so whether pax or pilot, do you remember the first flight into or out of Heathrow?
When, what airline and what type?
I have some interesting airfields in my logbook - but never EGLL, but my first flight in and out was on a delivery flight to Transcontinental. Who on earth were they....go on - you tell me:D

Mods - hope suitable in this section?

December '69 - BOAC VC-10 to Embakasi. May have stopped en-route, but I was only five and don't remember more than that - and I lost my Junior Jet Club log book! :{

If I can find the exact date (still have passport somewhere with Nairobi entry stamp!) I'll bet one of you illustrious lot could find out the reg, Captain, etc...:ok:

R.A.F. Trooping flight.Feb 14 1964 [co-incidence, or what?] ATA 0 it's dark and flippin' COLD...just back from Borneo [wearing a Singapore Special Lightweight suit], via British Eagle Britannia from Payar Lebar [Singapore], Colombo and Kuwait.
We flew out from Gatwick, on a Caledonian [Super, so said the Hostie] DC7C
watp,iktch

Not Changi, Chiglet? That was a long way in a Brit from SIN
Were you sat facing aft, like in the BUA 1-11's for trooping flights?
Transcontinental flight was into Heathrow from Filton - in a Brit, either LV-PPJ or PPL.
You thought it was cold in the U.K.;) The flight ex EGLL (it was December 1959) went to...Idlewild via Goose Bay and that was sooooo cold.
Treadigraph - was headed to Embakasi in '64 but from LGW in one of the light blue & gold 10's. Old man flew it to Entebbe and then family on staff travel - flight full and we got offloaded:ugh: Took forever to get to the beach!

February 63 - middle of the coldest Winter in my lifetime. BEA Viscount to Dusseldorf.

From logbook 2 of 5 -

19Jun70, VH-EBX, B707-338C, BAH-IST-FRA-LHR

I can recall the holding [at whatever the aid near LAM was then] and having to write down all the levels/freqs/hdgs as the "simple" cockpit had no reminder/flip-flop stuff in those days.

AND, then to go out for a drink with the crew, you had to wear a suit in LON town or they wouldn't take you. [Around the same era, one of our F/E's was told by the Capt. "You're not an Officer of the crew and therefore we won't be socialising with you in London."......different age.] OTOH some [considerable!] time later, the S/O on my 1st command trip to LHR had two pairs of jeans; he wore the blue ones everywhere else and saved the white ones for LON!!

Amazing stuff when you think back.

G'day ;)

Into Heathrow , my first commercial flight , from Manchester in 1969 (?). Bealine Vanguard (GAPEB) student standby return Lstg5 !!!!! Back on one of the new 1-11s (GAVMJ) that evening . Funny how one remembers these things .

First passenger flight from LHR 29 Aug 1986 to AMS on a BA 757, first operating flight to HKG, 7 Aug 1996 VS A340-300 (the ground hugger!) as part of a four man crew.:ok:

First ever flight was on East African Comet 4 to Entebbe, 1st April 66, flight no EC717. My mum still has the ticket.........
Still have a perfect picture in my mind's eye of the Curtiss C-46 which followed us as we taxied out to the runway.



33 years later, and equally memorable - my wife & I in seats 1A & 1B on Concorde G-BOAG having won a long weekend in Barbados in a BA competition. Same runway too, but no C-46 this time.

LHR-CGN December 1977 on a Lufthansa 737-200, back again two weeks later on a 727-200. Still got the tickets too.

Bunch of sproggets the lot of you.

1949 Dragon or Rapide. Down to the Tower of London and back standing beside the (lady) pilot.

An Air Canada DC8 to Vancouver sometime in 1966, but an earlier trip out of Croydon to Geneva in a Dak in winter was more interesting. :)

Transcontinental eh? Brings back memories of a hurried spotting visit to London Airport on 18th January 1964 to cop one of their Brits on the north side in the fog.. Piccy here:
http://www.brendan-mccartney.fotopic.net/p22395895.html

My first ride out of Heathrow was on a Vanguard in June, 1967 en route to Malta, where I started my ATC career. Great flight. During the flight the captain came out and saw a lonely boy of about 12 years old, presumably heading to or from school, and beckoned him to the flight deck. I later went up and was amazed to see the boy in the captains seat! They were the days...

4 nov 73. B/A vc10 G.ASGB.dhahran.dubai.dacca.singapore.darwin.brisbane.i dont think you ever forget your first flight.we were buzzed over india by an iaf hunter a couple of times.

First flight ever BEA Viking to Malta out of Northholt, took 9 hours via Nice and Rome and back in a DC3

05aug62 Britannia G-AOVJ BA632 Prestwick London
and back same day 707 G-APFE BA563.

Used to confuse immigation and customs no end as these were international flights and of course Prestwick passengers were travelling without passports.

Brendan,
That pic has brought a tear to my eye. Never ceases to amaze me how there is always someone else in the aviation world who can relate to others memories. Fabulous.

My first Heathrow departure was a familiarisation flight in a BOAC 707 which did a few circuits at Bedford before returning whence it came. Summer 1968.
First commercial departure was in a BKS Britannia to Newcastle, first international departure was a Finnair Caravelle to Helsinki. Possibly most unusual (for LHR) would be a British Island Herald operating a Sabena Antwerp service.
During a posting to Prestwick in 1969 I used to fly PIK-LHR on the BA606 coming through from Toronto. The domestic passengers - never more than ten or so - would be seated at the back and accompanied by a Customs man to make sure they didn't interact with the transatlantics. Then when everybody else was off the aircraft they would be led through bits of Terminal 3 which bypassed customs & immigration. In the other direction there were no problems.

Summer 1957. British European Airways Pionair (DC3) to Jersey.:)

Starways Dak G-AMPY Speke-LHR Oct 1958. Later did the bus tour with my Dad and saw the unique Canadair C.5 in the BOAC maintenance area. A North Star with radials. And for HD's benefit and possibly envy if he never got the chance to fly in one, I later took a day trip to the Paris Air Show in a Starways DC-4.