Were they linked to Air Inter of France or did they acquire the Caravelles from them ? I remember the Orion 737's, didn't they get absorbed into some larger airline at some point ? Loving the old pictures btw.


SHJ

Orion was taken over by Britannia.

Altair
 

During my time with Altair, they started with 3 Caravelle llls F-BNKG, I-GISA and I-GISE. Luton mainly saw I-GISE and F-BNKG and one was 'based' at Luton and one at Gatwick. The remaining aircraft operated from MXP (Milan Malpensa) with an engineering base at (BLQ) Bologna. They then 'updated' with lease-purchase of 3 Caravelle 10Bs I-GISI, I-GISO, I-GISU from Finnair. Head Office for Altair was in Parma, Italy (midway between Bologna and Milan).

I still have that postcard Luton Man; oh so tranquil Ambassador and Britannia - A nice day in 1966/67 I guess

Thanks for the replies chaps, I used to fly a lot with Air Inter and the markings on that Caravelle photo were obvious at first glance. In my mind I'd thought that Orion were swallowed by either BA or their reply to the LoCo's, GO. Shows me that memory isn't always so reliable :hmm:


SHJ

For years BMA used to fly into Luton at weekends for their Channel Islands services. http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...psa6f77b91.jpg

For a time Manston based Invicta used to operate services from LTN

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps2b03278a.jpg

For those LTN types, the cars parked in the background of the above photo, were they part of the Vauxhall factory (finished cars or worker's cars), rather than those of airport workers ? I remember standing where the photo was taken (great spot!) and there being a tea stall nearby and have vague recollections of the layout back then, but only vague :8



SHJ

Photo was taken from the then spectator area, with a buffet type restaurant I imagine. AFAIK the cars are those of passengers and the some of this area remains the mid-term car park today. Can remember that area being turned into parking but when? - sometime between 1969 and 1973 I would guess.

Invicta also operated Boeing 720B G-BCBA out of Luton for a while- the only flight which I can remember both it and the Vanguards operating now with its callisgn was IM 555 which used to go to Rome. They did a lot of pilgrimage flights to Lourdes and picked up some IT work from other holiday firms like Jetway and Wallace Arnold when Court Line collapsed taking Clarksons with them so turbo propos re-appeared on the likes of Alicante which had become largely the preserve of jets by 1974.

There was a time when Vauxhall used to store HA Viva vans in that car park but it was usually used as a long term car park for the airport.

The spectators building behind the camera is still there but not for long as what is now the former easyjet HQ is about to be knocked down as part of the £100 million redevelopment of the airport.

My first flight from Luton was on F-27 G-BAUR to Jersey and back again a week later. Little did I know that I'd end up working there for 17 years!

I remember there was a cafe and bar in the spectators area also did have a sort of Dj who would give out a running PA system of aircraft comming in they where the days with regards to invicta they transferred all there charter flights from manston to there around 72 until they went out of business did operate a special spectators charter on a vanguard the last flyinging passenger vanguard in the uk

It's strange, I well remember the BMA weekend flights to Jersey & Guernsey - lots of Viscounts & DC9s and later ATP's & 737's but I dont remember many F27's.

As for the spectator building, wasn't there plans at one point, well before eadyJet got their hands on it as offices, to convert part of it into a terminal for domestic flights? In fact I think work started on converted it but it was never used?

And BMA Heralds and Fokkers on the CI routes too. Don't remember 737s on those but of course we had 737-400s operating the Air 2000 First Choice holiday flights from Luton for at least a couple of summers.

Yes part of the spectators building or an add on was kitted out for domestic operations but I'm not sure if it was ever used- it's all a blur now but think it was when Capital Airlines were operating domestic services.

The Invicta Vanguards
 

LTNman: thanks for posting that great photo of one of these wonderful aircraft, wearing one of the best liveries Vanguards ever wore, imho.

Talking of Vauxhall, wasn't there an incident where quite a number of brand new cars stored outside the plant had their paintwork damaged by a departing aircraft dumping fuel or losing hydraulic fluid or something similar? Probably about twenty years ago.

Even better before they overpainted the Maple Leaf. :O

It was a Templewood 707 that had a massive hydraulic leak on take-off from 26. The Vauxhall car park was sprayed with Skydrol and something like 100 cars were ruined. There was a story doing the rounds that one Vauxhall employee saw this as a golden opportunity to get a free respray so he covered his car in hydraulic fluid. Unfortunately for him, the insurance company were easily able to prove that it wasn't Skydrol!

It was one of Invicta's Luton based Vanguard's G-AXOP that flew Luton-Bristol- Basel that crashed killing 108 with 37 survivors on 10th April 1973. Can't tell if it the one in the photo though.

Re Invicta, they usually had three based Vanguards during the summer mainly parked on the pond (stand 16). As mentioned they did pilgrim charters to Lourdes and also did a series of flights to Dusseldorf for the families of servicemen stationed in Germany plus late night flights to Basle for a tour company maybe Blue Cars?.
I remember one summer Sunday evening - I think 1972 - with the cloud on the deck and raining hard watching an Invicta Vanguard do an overshoot from less than 100 ft and left of the centreline and then flew staight down the runway at the same height with the co-pilot (presumably) saying ´Invicta 191 didn´t quite make it' (191 was used as a positioning call-sign) and round for another go and landed safely at the second attempt. Just before this an Il-18 of Tarom had made a perfect approach and landing!

O8 Compton three bravo?

Ahh those surveillance radar approaches! .........."range five and a half miles check your downlocks are dangled". Sterling Caravelles would appear just before touchdown- wonder if they were pushing their minima a bit!

...will terminate half a mile from touchdown. Firemen used to count the runway lights.

Saturday, July 16th, 1938.
 

Luton Airport is officially opened. Here is a fascinating home-movie of the event.
Question;- Have any stills survived of the event, especially of Edgar Percival and his machines. The separation of the Shorts Composite is a rarity, though not unique, However, this must be one of very few clips of a Q6 in flight (Certainly the only one that I've ever seen...) - and jolly pretty it looks too...!
Are there any other pre-war films of Luton and Percival Aircraft...?
Were all of the pre-war Percival offices in the old farmhouse, or just the Drawing-Office...?

East Anglian Film Archive: Luton Airport, 1938

This second film is longer and not all so interesting, but there is a fascinating short section on Percivals and Napiers at Luton.

East Anglian Film Archive: Civil Defence of Luton, c.1945

Enjoy...! :ok:

GQ2.

East Anglian Film Archive: Civil Defence of Luton, c.1945 view from 24 minutes and 15 seconds

Ahh those surveillance radar approaches! .........."range five and a half miles check your downlocks are dangled". Sterling Caravelles would appear just before touchdown- wonder if they were pushing their minima a bit!

I remember sitting on the ramp one Saturday morning, airport covered in thick fog, listening to the talk down for a Balkan TU154 to then hear the roar of the engines as it broke off the approach but turned right and headed over Wigmore !!

Landed 2nd time round though but I wonder if the cloud cover/vis had increased !!

Did a lot of half mile SRAs a Luton on 424 and 430. The ILS was fitted on 26 quite early but the 08 approach remained an SRA into the 80s. Not always easy as at one and a half miles out co-incident with ground clutter from the "M1" ridge drift effect changed markedly and you needed to be ready for it!


Talking of Sterling Caravelles , one winters night shift snow forecast, radar very cluttered, trying all the devices to reduce it just commencing the approach with a Sterling Caravelle, Tower advise its started snowing. Aircraft lands and reports " I don't think anything else will land tonight, right on minimums" Tell the Tower to listen out and decide to go upstairs for a cup of tea. Radar was then in the old wooden buildings tried the door to the outside passageway couldn't get out, snow was blocking the door - some good memories of very different times

I did just over 500 SRAs between 2 Nov 1971 and 21 Feb 1986, I was sad enough to record them all. Some memorable occasions, like when I instructed an Aztec to go around as he was well off track and the pilot replied he couldn't as he didn't have enough fuel!! He landed. ;)

Ah those wooden huts-right next to Court Line ops-and few steps to the greasy
spoon.Access straight out on to the ramp and not a security fence in sight!,

Yes no fences.:eek:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps761bc87f.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ps001d64be.jpg
Dave Welch/www.abpic.co.uk

Looks like the two Yorks were being scrapped here at Luton at the rear of the Britannia hangar. In the foreground is G-AHEY of Skyways of London. Skyways of London was taken over by Luton based Euravia in 1962. Euravia became Britannia in 1964.

Thanks to Dave Welch for permission to use his photos here

Awesome photo of those Yorks LTNman and Dave Welch.

MAGEC/McAlpine Aviation
 

Just come across a number of clips of McAlpine Aviation at Luton Airport on You Tube. Only looked at a couple so far but wonderful memories of their HS125s and Short Skyvan. Hope this is of interest.
Type in Magec and/or McAlpine Aviation for the link.

Thanks for the tip.

Using the above I stumbled across Concorde taking off from Luton

It could be the angle but it didn't look like there was much room for an aborted take off !

http://youtu.be/urqC8AZBt94

A Ryanair 1-11 in one of the clips. Didn't they have Rumanian crews? If not was it a connection with Romac?

They certainly used Romanian crews, they only had 2 throttle positions, open and closed! I remember following a 1-11 crewed by Romanians down the runway as it backtracked, I couldn't keep up with it!

Is that an Atlantique DC3 holding at Delta/Bravo One (can't remember when that changed) - what a contrast to Concorde if that was next to go.

In the video of Concorde, there is a derelict construction laying on it's side, the base made me think of a VOR, but the rest looks like a water tower seen atop many a New York building, and yet again it looks like a refugee of a Soyuz space program. Put me out of my misery please ? :)


SHJ

It could be the angle but it didn't look like there was much room for an aborted take off !

You couldn't have seen a Caledonian Tristar to Cyprus or a Britannia B737-200 to Antalya taking off, they were practically in the turning circle when they took off!

The derelict construction lying in the field was the old storage tank for the runway de-icing agent, if my memory serves me right it was something called 'Urea' which was made from pigs s**t. I beleive it is still there after all these years.

Yes, the contraption was the hopper for "urea" pellets which did stand behind the fire station and used for de-icing/anti-icing for a number of years.( No need for any detail of what they contained ) Also purchased was a spreader much like grit spreader for roads. However they were not environmentally friendly as the stuff found its way into the local water table and we were forced to discontinue its use. Replaced by rather more expensive liquid agents.


Plenty of room for Concorde on a number of visits. however my scariest departure was a Court Line Tristar direct Gander with 350+ pax wind calm at night, runway 26 and it went out of sight for what seemed ages before reappearing well north of the required NPR.