The last BOAC Boeing 707 in existence?
 

I always thought the last BOAC/BA 707 was the one outside the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia which was scrapped in 1989. That was certainly the last one still in British Airways colours. See photo below.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6a5b89e9e.jpeg

However there may be one ex BOAC 707 that still exists....

In 1968 BOAC Boeing 707 G-ARWE was destroyed in a fire at Heathrow. BOAC needed a replacement aircraft. Later that year BOAC acquired a Boeing 707-39C registration G-AWHU which was an oddball aircraft originally on order to Saturn Airways. It was very different to the other BOAC 707s. One of the differences was the switches went up for on and down for off. I seem to remember the flight directors were different too,This was thought to be confusing so BOAC just trained 9 crews to fly it and those pilots and flight engineers flew only that aircraft until it was converted in the 1970's to the standard config.

It flew for BOAC / British Airways until May 1982 where it made its last flight from Cairo to Heathrow in the hands of Captain Hugh Dibley. After leaving British Airways it had 14 different registrations. That might be a record! I last came across it in Nairobi in the 1990s when it was flying for Phoenix Aviation and was parked next to my aircraft. I saw the pilots on the tarmac and they said it was an old BA one, they invited me to have a look so I walked up the their steps and had a look in the flight deck. I doubt you could do that these days without upsetting security!

Its last registration was 4L-GAS with Mach Avia who bought it in 2009 when it was 41 years old. It sounds like it made its last flight in 2013 when it landed at Fujairah in the UAE. In 2017 aged 49 it was still stored there. It may have been scrapped since or it may still be there but I have put out a request on the Middle East forum under the title "A Boeing 707 in Fujairah" as I was interested to know if it still exists.

Other than the former G-AWHU, which may or may not be extant, I believe the following still survive more or less intact, unless anyone knows otherwise:

ST-AOW (707-336C) at Khartoum, formerly G-AYLT
5X-CAU (707-436) dumped at Entebbe, formerly G-APFL
LV-WXL (707-365C) at Buenos Aires/El Palomar AB, formerly G-ATZD
HL-442CT (707-399C) at Santo Domingo, formerly G-AVTW

I read that 'VTW was only on a short 5 wk lease to BOAC. Not sure it ever traded its Lion for a Speedbird

707-436 G-APFJ was intact at Cosford museum until 2006, when unfortunately scrapped, and had worked through the full BOAC/BA/Airtours progression; was preserved in the last colours. Exceeded the one in the opening post by quite a margin

4L-GAS has been seen at Furaija as late as 25March 2018
Spotter forum

Looks like it at 25.1139 56.3074

Interesting thread. I can’t tell from the photos but is 4L-GAS fitted with RR Conways?



Rob

Just out of interest and a bit of thread drift but the aircraft pictured at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia was G-APFP which earlier in its life had suffered an engine turbine disc failure while being ground run at LHR around 1973, the incident and fire that burned through the wing and the subsequent repair is mentioned in a previous PPRuNe discussion about the G-ARWE accident https://www.pprune.org/aviation-hist...-1968-a-3.html post #33.
The repair to FP was extensive and afterwards Boeing presented BOAC with a nicely worded and framed certificate saying something like 'Presented to BOAC Engineering by the Boeing Company in recognition of the extremely Challenging and Technically Complex rebuild of the wing on B707-436 aircraft G-APFP' this was attached to the wall at the front of TBA near the Barclays Bank, I have always wondered where it went.

The front section (forward of the wing root) of FJ is now at East Fortune Museum of Flight, near Edinburgh, and in exceptionally good condition.

No, as the original post says, it's a 707-300C.

Dave - (707-399C) at Santo Domingo, formerly G-AVTW was ex Cale/BCAL and sold early on to TAP along with sister G-AVKA

Sorry but I’m not an expert on these types. 300 or 399 means nothing to me I’m afraid :confused:


Rob

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....78cb0f5da9.jpg


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5c1755ccd7.jpg

707-3xxB/C: powered by P&W JT3D
707-4xx: powered by RR Conway

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_707#Variants

100, 200, 300 and 400 were the series numbers of the 707, however Boeing always referred to them as 120, 220, 320 and 420. Aircraft powered by JT-3D turbofans were 120B and 320B/C. Boeing allocated customer numbers to airlines buying its aircraft which applied to the aircraft throughout its life and which also applied to any other Boeing types the airline bought. Thus a 707-436 was built for BOAC and 36 was added to any other Boeing type bought by BOAC or its successor British Airways, hence 747-136, 737-236, 757-236 etc. 99 was the customer number for Caledonian Airways for the two 707-320Cs that they bought, hence 707-399C.

I'm intrigued by the four instruments on the leading edge of the upper FE panel? Suspect they are either N1 or N2 gauges, maybe EPR that would be in the vsision scan of the FE when facing forward? Were these a BOAC mod, or was the airplane delivered this way as I have never seen that config before.

Wub Great photos! Thanks for sharing. Funny how Boeing moved the engine fire handles from the control panel on the 707 to the overhead panel on the 747 and then the centre console on the 777.

Sandringham1 very interesting about your info on FP. I was not aware of that incident.

While on the subject of British Boeing 707s. Many years ago a relative knew the pilot who had flown the Dan Air (Ex Pan Am) Boeing 707 the sector before it crashed at Lusaka in 1977. He had noticed that the stab trim was at an unusual position, almost fully forward and he kicked himself afterwards for not reporting it. Apparently the abnormal position was due to the fact the stabiliser was already bending prior to total failure.

Many of the late model 707-320 series were delivered with the fire handles on the overhead and the flight director controls in the lace formerly occupied by the fire handles. This was part of a product improvement package tha boeing developed around the 1967 time period. Some airlines, notably Pan Am operated with both configurations. The Hyd controls were also moved from the bottom of the F/O panel to the FE panel. Of course saying that one has to recall the Boeing built so many varieties of the 707 based on customers wishes.

Thanks for the extra info Alan Baker and Dave Reid. I’ve only ever been aware before of the Conway engined version for BOAC / BA.


Rob

Air India, El Al, Lufthansa and Varig each had a few Conway powered 707s. Can't think of any others.