Superb memories and photos - thank you so much!

That is the C404 I was thinking of.

My grandad gave me a huge model of a National B200, but it wasn't that reg

Re Datapost moved their operation to Coventry, anyone remember when? (late 80's I think). - my grandad retired in 87 and it was a while after that. IIRC, the thing evolved into Parcelforce and they had a BWA Viscount painted up, that was around 91-92 I think.

Photobucket
 

Following a change of management it seems Photobucket have retracted their absurd pricing structure and all photos on this (and other) forums have been restored !! Mine certainly have, starting here :- https://www.pprune.org/aviation-hist...talgia-34.html

Mine as well have been restored but I still won't be using them for new uploads.

707's were always special at Luton

https://i.imgur.com/5sjneyh.jpg

Special but dwarfed by the DC-8-63

https://i.imgur.com/Gypnk7X.jpg
PH-DEF, G-AYSI 17/4/71

https://i.imgur.com/7aNp3Q0.jpg?1
PH-DEF 17/4/71

The lighting looks brand new with trees cut around it
https://i.imgur.com/bKC4uIW.jpg

Good pic, not seen before.

Great that the PhotoBucket pictures seem to have been restored - sifting through I found this one:of the old Percival Factory.
Can anybody tell me what the tall white building was used for in the middle of the picture - it's still standing there I notice..




Ah - I still cannot post pictures it seems (which is infuriating!) Page 3, about half way down

Yes it is still there. Seems to have appeared between 1946 and 1951 thus closing access to the hangar. No idea why it was put up.

1946
https://i.imgur.com/5KCHlsP.jpg
1951
https://i.imgur.com/14iKFt0.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Is42p2N.jpg

So what happened to the Luton Aviation Society? I used to buy EGGWords every month from the shop in the spectators building.
https://i.imgur.com/M15Y7iW.jpg

Is that Brown sauce on the cover ? Enquiring minds need to know ;-)

I sincerely hope it is brown sauce! Great picture from "metal Mickie" Williams.

Good man! I had pictured you reading it whilst huddled against the fence of the then spectator's area eating a bacon sarnie with a cup of tea whiling away the time between arrivals and departures ;-)

EGGWords fizzled out due to the rise of the Internet (many similar publications have suffered the same fate over the years)

Its also sad that many previously well regarded publications aimed at the enthusiast community (Aviation Letter, JP Airline Fleets and Brian Gates Biz-Jet book) have been bought-up by commercial outfits who have now effectively turned their back on enthusiasts by either charging a ridiculous price and/or no longer offering the same product.

The staple diet of a good plane spotter, I remember working at Miami Airport in the 80s and going up to the roof because nice young ladies would sunbath there, not hassled like they were on the beaches - anyhow plenty of UK folk with their prised books in hand! Me, my eyes were somewhere else! Much the same as a hot day at the Luton Spotters enclosure..........not?

Not quite the world cup but the Euro 2004

https://i.imgur.com/17Lw9t0.jpg

On the way to the World Cup in 2002 (Japan and South Korea) on 13/5/02:-
https://i.imgur.com/GDTzEPX.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dPgb4ce.jpg

Another publication but this time from the airport
https://i.imgur.com/kiKvyr0.jpg

With the current flights being operated by Travel Service, Alba Star, Sun Express and Freebird, the airport has more foreign operators than it has had for a few years. Here's a reminder of past operators, mostly long gone if not forgotten:-

https://i.imgur.com/vCgz6pW.jpg
EC-CPI 20/8/83

https://i.imgur.com/jYZfVQi.jpg
OY-APV 20/9/81. In for a check but operated by Maersk summer 1977 and 1978.

https://i.imgur.com/maSITnM.jpg
EC-CTU 25/11/82

https://i.imgur.com/yvljand.jpg?1
EC-BSD 29/5/82

https://i.imgur.com/mp1v1GN.jpg?1
YU-AGG 10/8/79. J.A.T were a regular operator for many years from 1979 until the war in the Balkans, but only used the 707 in 1979.

Mostly they used the DC-9:-
https://i.imgur.com/5X1LCY1.jpg
YU-AJK 30/10/81

Tunis Air operated weekly flights with 737-200's during summer 1983 and 1984:-
https://i.imgur.com/4kQ3GQa.jpg
TS-IOC 13/5/83

Finnair operated on behalf of Kar Air for several years using a wide variety of aircraft types, including DC-9-40's:-
https://i.imgur.com/RwlDZS0.jpg
OH-LNE 2/6/82

plus the occasional DC-10:-
https://i.imgur.com/xFGQInW.jpg
OH-LHA 3/7/80. Only Finnair DC-10 to visit until summer 1989 when they were a weekly occurrence

Kar Air also used their own aircraft:-
https://i.imgur.com/NqtAe2n.jpg
OH-LFZ 3/1/86

https://i.imgur.com/2EljTHR.jpg
OH-LAA 12/7/90

More to follow

The first loadsheet I ever completed was for an Aviaco DC9 (possibly hence my name on here).....

I remember the crew had to record the wind speed and direction on the loadsheet before sign-off and on this flight, the Captain licked his finger and held his hand out of the cockpit window then wrote something on the loadsheet. He knew I was new to the job but naive I was not :=

Those photos from cj just evoke so many memories, and every single one a good one. Yes it was cr@p when it rained or was freezing cold, but in the summer months, just being outside doing a job I loved was just perfect. I worked with a great bunch too. There always seemed to be a "them and us" stigma with the Monarch and Britannia ramp staff. It was worse in the terminal where Britannia girls wouldn't even look at you let alone say hello !

The visiting foreign airline crews were so hospitable back in those days. As soon as the punters were off, they would invariably offer the dispatcher a drink of tea, coffee, juice etc. I got to know a regular Aviaco crew member quite well over the summer months one year, so much so she offered me more than a drink :eek: It was deemed rude not to accept you understand.....

In those days we were respected by crews and management alike and I know I felt proud at the end of a shift knowing I had completed another days work safely. These days, people are on zero hour contracts, hand out loadsheets like they are worthless pieces of paper and get no respect from their management.

I had just under 5 excellent years on the ramp at LTN and a couple of years in the terminal prior to that. Every single day was a new day offering a new challenge and locked in a new memory.

cj keep the photos coming and maybe PM me if you know where the other ex OM girls/boys are these days.