I have a record of Airtours DC-10 G-TDTW 25/8/01, a rare -10 at that. Where did it operate to? Did anyone operate DC10 into LTN after that? VarigLog maybe?

SRA 08
 

I remember a dark and dirty winter night in 71or72. Cloudbase 300ft,south east wind,we
were all doing double AMS in the 1-11,shipping football fans. Most made multiple approaches having broken cloud right over the apron on the first one

SRA 08
 

Out of interest, and I’m sure Vintage ATCO would agree , that the SRA to 08 , particularly with a crosswind, was not easy. At about one and a half miles, coincident with ridge where the M1 motorway is, the effect of drift changed rapidly so you had to be quick to adjust for that. After a few, and I have done more than a few, on that day, you got the hang of it and started adjusting the heading before the “ridge” . However to complicate things the ridge produced a PE (Permanent Echo) so you also had to make sure you tilted the aerial up, not too much!, so you could see the blip but not the PE. I won’t even go into rain/snow clutter. It was a long time ago now .:)

The Airtours DC-10-10 was based for peak summer 2001 from 23rd July, staying until October - I last saw it on 10th October. It did the usual Mediterranean routes - think its longest sector was probably Larnaca.
Last DC-10 commercial passenger flight I have on record was Electra Aviation SX-CVP on 25th Aug 2002 operating for MD Airlines to Preveza.

https://i.imgur.com/M4ekCwi.jpg
SX-CVP 25/8/02
Only Varig example I saw was PP-VQY on 22nd March 2006. Subsequent visits used the MD-11F.

https://i.imgur.com/L5nYvoC.jpg
PP-VQY 22/3/06

Yes, totally agree. A NE'ly wind was the worst but as you say, after a few to get your eye in, you got use to applying the correction before it was needed. I never understood why certain individuals insisted on everyone swapping round after a while 'to have a rest'. If you've done 5 SRAs, you may as well do 45, as I did one day.

It was my practice to rest the ball of my left thumb on the ridge of metal of the central console so I could operate the aerial tilt switch with my index finger. On more than one occasion I caught the aerial rotation switch and switched the bl@@dy scanner off!!

What happy memories seeing the Electra Dc10 . Flew on this when it belonged to Skyjet airlines .When the Spanish property boom of the 80s was in swing so many ticket company's like Avro chartered a number of company's my late parents bought on the Costa blanca .I flew out from gatwick on Ambassador airways 757 should have flown back on European airlines A300 got to Alicante informed they had gone bust don't worry the ticket agent said there's a plane in its place wow a Skyjet Dc10 awaited to take us back. Only problem when landed at gatwick no luggage bins on the plane .All of this hand placed in the hold it took over 2hrs for luggage to come through they where the days.

Can't remember what it came in for; routed Oslo-Luton-Gatwick on 2/10/94.
https://i.imgur.com/TNYIYay.jpg

Nice background shot of the tower under construction. I can remember I think Vintage ATCO saying that they were taken up in a bucket to check out the view when the new tower was being designed. Was the chosen location the only one considered and is it still in the ideal location and right height?

I think at the time it was the second tallest in the UK.

For the sake of accuracy, these would either have been Air Spain DC8-21s, or Spantax Coronados - both noisy and smokey, and for enthusiasts at least, long lamented. Perhaps local residents who wound up with smuts on their washing, and hearing loss may not have been so enthusiastic!!

December 1992
That's me in the middle. The chap with the furry hat was from Aer Rianti who were the project managers. He didn't like heights!
https://i.imgur.com/7E9Lnee.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zSr0kpQ.jpg

We considered other sites on paper but didn't bother with the platform. It was the simplest for existing infrastructure, power etc.


ATNotts: Yes, Air Spain DC-8s, Spantax Coronados. Equally exciting!

Wot, no hard hat!! Tut tut!!

Hi vintage ATCO, since you kept records, did you do a late night SRA for a Monarch BAC1-11 on the 8th June 1982, or it could have been the very early hours of the 9th June.
If so it would have been me, a very memorable flight as we ended up diverting to LHR due to the unforcast fog at Luton and not a great deal of fuel! :)

Thanks for the happy memory of posting the Skyjet Dc10. I think the whole air crew where Belgium a happy lot .

New Tower...Very unpopular at the time with the BAL Engineers who were evicted from their rather handily located car park!:}:}

Not guilty! It was the other bloke. :)

I was on leave, unless it was a really good one!

vintage ATCO Thanks for the reply. Level bust it was a good one so it may have been you!
The flight was a good example of no matter how well you plan, there are rare times the plan turns to rubbish. The company was not too happy I ended up in LHR in the middle of the curfew, but every where else went out in fog, some of them unforcast.

Thursday was the 50th anniversary of Monarch

https://i.imgur.com/ChoaBxh.jpg
Published by LLA

Luton-Madrid on G-AOVI followed by a Palma on 6th.
On a different tack, was the building on front right of the photo the original fire station? I seem to remember it was still there in 1977 being used by Lep Air who did Customs and cargo clearances. And does anyone remember when the "new" fire station was built? It was there when I took my first pictures back in 1969.
https://i.imgur.com/wjrNXfg.jpg
10/4/69

I would think around 1967/68. Was definitely there in August 68.

I have a vague memory of visiting LTN with my Uncle in 1965 and there being fire engines housed somewhere near the old tower/terminal in use then.