1965 BOAC timetable details?
 

I am trying to locate the schedule of the regular LHR~JNB flights. To be specific, in December 1965 my family and I made our first trip to South Africa on a VC-10. We left at dusk and bounced at CIA and NBO for an early morning arrival at JNB.

Does anyone know where I might find the timetable with the scheduled sector times and so on?

BOAC - British Overseas Airways Corporation


Click on the "view the complete timetable" link and then work through the pages. Southern Africa is typically just over half way through.

specifically :

http://www.timetableimages.com/ttima...66/ba66-23.jpg

Crikey WHBM, that was fast!! Thank you, what a treasure trove. Whilst they have 1964 and 66, the actual years is missing but I'm guessing that not much changed between those two. Many thanks.

On a chance ... I have long tried to track down the BOAC publicity image of the VC-10 on the Honk Kong run. I have found many with the styalised, minimalist, drawings that they used in the 60s but there was one of the aircraft flying overhead with the line, "High Tail It To The East" Any ideas?

I've also got a 1966 and 1968 timetable online here: Routings and Timetables

I don't think I've got that particular publicity image, but it might be in one of the books I have. I'll see if I can find it. You could try getting in touch with the BA Heritage collection at Heathrow (https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...age-collection), or alternatively (and a bit of a long shot) trawl through the PDF archives for the old Flight magazines. It might be in one of them of course... (see here: https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/)

Probably done by the same ad agency who did other BOAC ads. I remember when they opened up the route through Moscow to Tokyo "Russiaway To Japan". It was on ads, and also on the sides of the BOAC buses which used to run from Victoria terminal to Heathrow. There was also "Try a Little VC10derness". Bet they were all by the same guy.

Thanks Jhieminga, links noted.

I did not see the Russia one but the 'Tenderness' is famous. :ok:

January 1966 OAG shows six BOAC VC-10s a week LHR-JNB-- two of them stop just at FCO and NBO. They leave LHR at 1945 Fri Sat, stop FCO 2300-2345, stop NBO 0825-0910, arr JNB 1200.

Many thanks Tim Zukas. That seems to be the timing. Looking back, my sister and I (aged 9 and 14) thought we were at NBO in the very early morning - like 05:00 and at JNB around 09:00/10:00 but then it was 50.5 years ago and I lost my Junior Jet Club log book many years ago :{

Of those two rotations that did the double stop, could you please tell me on what days of the week they left LHR? Thanks.

They left LHR Fri-Sat.

Thanks again. That means we left on Saturday 4th, a day earlier than my memory.

Slight thread drift, but I was on detachment in what was then Salisbury, when the first VC10 staged through en route to Johannesburg circa May/Jun 64. I remember speaking to AVM Ted Jackling, formerly of the RRAF, in the Terminal, who was there to welcome the crew.

Interesting thread drift, was that the first scheduled service to Johannesburg? The VC10s went there for tropical trials in October 1963 and January 1965 but I don't know when the first regular service headed that way.

I seem to remember BOAC had the odd VC10 into Aden in 1966/7, alternating with their 707s. I believe these aircraft may have set off from JNB, en route to London.

In the June 1964 OAG BOAC just flew Comets to JNB. No VC10s south of Lagos.

In January 1966 the Sun-Mon VC10s to JNB left LHR at the same 1945 but stopped at FRA, NBO and Salisbury.

First scheduled VC-10 to Jo'burg was Tuesday 21 July 1964, routing London-Frankfurt-Rome-Nairobi-Salisbury-Johannesburg, replacing Comets. Before that was likely to be a proving flight.

All of Nairobi, Salisbury and Jo'burg were mile-high places, which the Standard VC-10 was designed for to give runway performance. Of course, by the time it came along they had all been extended, to suit the 707. SAA 707s had been banned from Nairobi and mid-Africa by this time, but still came in across Angola to serve Salisbury, as frequently as BOAC did, on the way from London to Jo'burg. Other European, US and Indian operators were coming through Nairobi with 707s and DC8s of course (Pan Am were using their small DC8 fleet on their Africa flights).

KelvinD
Yes there was a VC10 service to Aden that went via Khartoum - I think once per week. I have in my logbook a trip that went LHR-KRT (3 days off) KRT-ADN-KRT shuttle (4 days off) KRT-LHR in April 1967. And we had a jolly good time in Khartoum.