Discussion of the take off capabilities of differently powered aircraft reminds me of the first 747 sent to Mt Pleasant in 1986 after the Tristar had failed to round out from its autoland approach in UK. First 747 down had US engines - we thought it was not going to make it taking off from MPA, and apparently it was even more dramatic at Ascension. All other flight by BA were with RB211 powered aircraft, to the relief of all.

I do love threads like this - a relatively simple question leads to a wealth of stories and info. :ok:

Ah, the 591/592 rotation.

Sixteen, or was it a 14 day trip.

All the way to Melbourne via JFK, LAX, HNL, NAN (Nandi, Fiji), SYD and back.

Did several of those in the early 70s.

Remember being the nav on a delayed flight - between NAN and HNL having a meridian passage - look it up, a navigators dream - better than sex!!

Bid-Line
 

I remember this splendid VC-10 trip which as BOAC/BA Cabin Crew could be 21 days . Senior Captains usually operated the ‘Sydney thru the West’ on Thursdays. One skipper had strawberry’s loaded for him at LAX for the HNL sector. We slipped in Melbourne transiting SYD in both directions. England cricket teams used to turn up at our hotel opposite Carlton footie ground where some rooms had cooking facilities.Always operated on VC10/S/VC10 on the route but we could operate the final JFK -LHR sector on B707 if so required.

The 591proved so popular with one crew that, it is rumoured, they all had ‘591’ tattooed on their arse!

I remember the TWA 761 LHR-LAX and the PAA 121 LHR-LAX did on occasion flight plan to KONT (Ontario in Calfornia) and then re-release in flight to LAX which is an FAA thing?

I'm certainly not the expert but en-route re-clearance - hoping that you don't use up your contigency fuel en route was (is?) quite common. The first Pan Am 707 from New York to Paris did just that. Could make an interesting thread...

On the 707-436 we often had to reclear on the BDA-LHR in the summer by filing BDA-SNN and then reclearing once en-route and we can reduce the contingency fuel

Yes 21 days for cabin crew and we carried on round the world on those that I did. HKG/CCU/DXB etc I did two in a row and the second one was extended to 6 weeks due to Mid East war.

I was a member of the BOAC cabin crew rostering team during 70's.

The trip was a 21 day RTW. Round the world, with 6 days off on return. SVC 10 west bound to Sydney, then continuing on the B707 from Sydney back across India and Europe. This swap of aircraft was designated the integrated fleet.

It was VC10 all the way round on the ones I did? The only 707 routes I did to/from Australia were on the freighters.

How did things work like that for the occasional stops at places like Wake? USAF fuel? USAF fuelers? or would they have company/contractor folks still there waiting for the occasional drop in?


I realize that there were places for routine fuel stops with dedicated fuel and ground crews, of which Wake was one along with Midway and Canton island among others, but as range increased in the jet age these stops became less frequent, and I imagine a general phase out of having dedicated refuel crews?

Wake and Guam were regular stops for Pan Am 707s across the Pacific in the 1960s. Of course, Pan Am had built facilities all across the Pacific when they started their China Clipper flying boat pre-WW2. Commercial charter carriers operating for the US military to Vietnam would also use the facility. Strangely, the Pan Am 707s stopped at Wake both ways in the deep middle of the night. It must have had adequate lighting. It would be USAF military personnel.

In 1967 there was a significant shipwreck on the reef at Wake of the tanker bringing in 6 million gallons of aviation fuel, which gives a bit of a pointer to the usage.

sandiego89 yr. last

How did things work like that for the occasional stops at places like Wake? USAF fuel? USAF fuelers?

My Other,(sorry dear, Better),Half was a B.O.A.C. hostie and remembers dropping into Wake during the late 60s when their 707 could not manage HNL-HND against the headwind. She recalls that she and the two other female crew were definitely the main event of the day as they walked to the terminal, and that the numbers of USAF personnel involved in the refueling had increased remarkably by the time they walked back to the aircraft. I guess young ladies were a rare sight for the guys in those parts back in the day.

Ian BB

And of course in those days there was always a flight engineer on board who could do the refuelling...given a bowser.

cue the song

From the musical 'South Pacific'.

Unfortunately Wake Island is in the North Pacific :)

Me too always there and back e.g. Xmas 74/75 with Dougie Cooper for once not a senior Capt watched some bruising cricket from Thompson and Lillie in Melbourne.
Freighters.....hmmm.....memories of The late great Fannie Bay Hotel in Darwin.

The 707/VC10 swap for cabin crew in Syd was late sixties, early seventies. I did this RTW twice as pax.

707, LHR, FRA, TLV, THR, (try doing that now) BOM, SIN, PER, SYD, then VC10, SYD, NAN, HNL, LAX, JFK, LHR. 21 day's altogether.

QF start their PER, LHR non stop in a couple of months, how things have changed.

Still at about 100ft when it did it’s flypast down the runway at Stanley........