Look at Life - City of the Air LHR 1964
 

Apologies if this is a repeat but for those of us who currently (or previously) might consider Heathrow as a second home, this might be an interesting 10 minute diversion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_Om7kdR_Pg

Your link didn't work, but thanks for the information!

Happier days!

Britain was building new roads, airports were expanding, virtually all the cars in the film were British-made, passengers were well-dressed, the ground announcements were made by young ladies who spoke English correctly, the in-flight catering was top notch (a 4-course meal to be served at 20000 ft or so over Europe....) etc etc.

Compare that with the 'delights' of travelling today....:uhoh:

Thanks for the memories ....


I was a "spotter" in the mid to late 50's of the wonderful piston engined airliners at Northolt and later at Heathrow. DC3 (Pionairs?), Vikings, Ambassadors, Yorks, Constellations, Stratocruisers, then the early smokey 707's which one could see approaching miles away, the pretty Caravelles, Comets, and many more; then the shriek of the Dart engines of the Viscounts one heard whilst watching from the roof of the Queens Building ..... memories.
Later, 62-64, I working in the Met Office at SATCC on the Bath Road, where the controllers worked in total darkness .... all very different to the bright and spacious pictures I have seen of Swanwick.


It really WAS much better then!

I bought a compilation DVD of six Look at Life aviation films from Video 125 (who also have train films) :

City of the Air, The Spirit of Brooklands, Air Hostess, Controlled Landing, Flying to Work and the Big Take Off.

There is some fantastic period footage of planes, cars, trucks and buildings, including the stylish BEA 1 1/2 Decker coaches, and the high-windscreen AEC tankers.

Most highly recommended for all who remember air travel in the 50s and 60s or who just want to have a look.

Great piece of nostalgia. One thing hasn't changed though: the comment near the beginning..."In a few years it won't be able to cope with the growth of air traffic". I like the optimism of the statement that by the seventies Stansted will have been developed as another London airport. 1991 IIRC.

Also interesting to hear how they were planning to cater for what seemed to be the impossible number of 10m passengers a year.
If you watch on YouTube, you can see links to many more films from the series with a number being about various flying subjects.

Just watched it all the way through-superb! Especially as I transited LHR/Thiefrow in 1964, aged 6, flying in on a BEA Vanguard from Manchester, then on to Biarritz via Bourdeaux, on a BEA Viscount. I remember parts of it pretty clearly and the return journey. Later, from 1971-5, I was a spotter, mainly in M/C, but with occasional-wonderful-visits to LHR.