Retro 747 BOAC
Thread Starter
As a matter of interest was the level of deadheading common throughout the network or only certain routes? And what proportion of time was spent off-schedule? I presume that a lot positioning was required to cope with diversions and delays which were probably more common back then.
Also roughly how many nights away from home did cabin crew spend each year in thew 70s. I suspect that crews don't spend any longer away these days but fly many more productive hours.
Also a question for BEA (Back Every Night) crews. Looking at the schedules there appears to be far less overnighting at back stations back then. Did BEA cabin crews spend many nights away. (I believe that pilots flying Internal German Services would have stayed away more but most of the CC were locals.)
Also roughly how many nights away from home did cabin crew spend each year in thew 70s. I suspect that crews don't spend any longer away these days but fly many more productive hours.
Also a question for BEA (Back Every Night) crews. Looking at the schedules there appears to be far less overnighting at back stations back then. Did BEA cabin crews spend many nights away. (I believe that pilots flying Internal German Services would have stayed away more but most of the CC were locals.)
Another memory of early BOAC 747 -136 introduction. The short Conversion course necessary to get the aircraft into service promptly. A very "need to know" tech course, compared to my previous VC10 course, after which I reckon I could build one. ie The 747 has four engines, they're under the wing, started like this ,stopped like this , if it catches fire do this....end of.
Base training at Shannon, no ZFT Sims. 21 landings, including a run over the sea off, and below, the Cliffs of Moher.
One four sector Route Training trip (JFK BDA JFK, Route Check back to LHR) and on the next trip, supervising another pilot on his first trip. We were either all aces, or perhaps more likely, the 747 was so so easy to operate!
Although, for the first year or so we became very adept at engine out landings due to the ongoing JT9 surge problems.
Was that run over the sea below the height of the Cliffs of Moher with Bob Knights by any chance?
Below the Glidepath - not correcting
Semantic change (also semantic shift, semantic progression, semantic development, or semantic drift) is a form of language change regarding the evolution of word usage—usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage. In diachronic (or historical) linguistics, semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word. Every word has a variety of senses and connotations, which can be added, removed, or altered over time, often to the extent that cognates across space and time have very different meanings. The study of semantic change can be seen as part of etymology, onomasiology, semasiology, and semantics.
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Looks like the A319 is the next one to get the retro livery, and in the Red Square BEA colors: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...retroj-456026/
Looks like the A319 is the next one to get the retro livery, and in the Red Square BEA colors: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/ar...retroj-456026/
Thread Starter
That looks nice. My late father was a flight engineer on the 136's when they were painted like that. To be honest though he always prefered the 707, to the point where he eventually bid back to the -336. Small fleets in big airlines, the best place to be.
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As a matter of interest was the level of deadheading common throughout the network or only certain routes? And what proportion of time was spent off-schedule? I presume that a lot positioning was required to cope with diversions and delays which were probably more common back then.
Also roughly how many nights away from home did cabin crew spend each year in thew 70s. I suspect that crews don't spend any longer away these days but fly many more productive hours.
Also a question for BEA (Back Every Night) crews. Looking at the schedules there appears to be far less overnighting at back stations back then. Did BEA cabin crews spend many nights away. (I believe that pilots flying Internal German Services would have stayed away more but most of the CC were locals.)
Also roughly how many nights away from home did cabin crew spend each year in thew 70s. I suspect that crews don't spend any longer away these days but fly many more productive hours.
Also a question for BEA (Back Every Night) crews. Looking at the schedules there appears to be far less overnighting at back stations back then. Did BEA cabin crews spend many nights away. (I believe that pilots flying Internal German Services would have stayed away more but most of the CC were locals.)
i.e. cabin crew inbound from LHR would nightstop at the first German destination, then IGS cabin crew took over. Vice versa. This rule was very strictly observed.
Yes, that's a shame, but Flight is reporting that the undersides of the wings will indeed be red, so the photographers will be pleased, if not the passengers.
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RE my anecdotes in this thread about BOAC/BA crew life and lay-overs down route - may I extend the courtesy to Ian Burgess-Barber for his kindness in allowing his memories to be published here.
Best R.
Best R.
I believed that many of the pilots on the IGS were from Manchester base. The Super One-Elevens which operated the flights there for their last quarter century, which pretty much aligned with the aircraft's total lifespan with BEA and BA, were based at Manchester, but almost half the aircraft's flying hours were spent over in Germany. Towards the end of the IGS a small group of BA HS748s was set up there as well, to get some minor routes going; presumably these would have Glasgow base crews.
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For the last few years, 1-11’s did shuttle back up at LHR. A lucrative gig. And LHR 737 did IGS with ATP’s doing whatever they did. The 0545 something while the 737 guys were stumbling home from George’s Bar. Reunification ruined it but per diem would have achieved the same thing. Now what about the SYD posting?
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And a CSD once told me about a BOAC trip on, I can’t remember, either the 707 or VC-10 which was an around the world job. West through LAX, HNL, Fiji for quite some time, and AKL, SYD, whatever. Lasted about a month. And known as trip 503 or something, which only matters because she referred to the “503 divorce” when people had to split up at the end of those trips having become, well, familiar. I noticed the “503 divorce” thing mentioned a few times once I knew what it was.
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I believed that many of the pilots on the IGS were from Manchester base. The Super One-Elevens which operated the flights there for their last quarter century, which pretty much aligned with the aircraft's total lifespan with BEA and BA, were based at Manchester, but almost half the aircraft's flying hours were spent over in Germany. Towards the end of the IGS a small group of BA HS748s was set up there as well, to get some minor routes going; presumably these would have Glasgow base crews.
i.e. operating Berlin-Hanover-Manchester, then onto a 747 Service to JFK. The first two sectors took almost as long as the flight to JFK.
The reason, why BA introduced turboprops, was capacity on the Berlin-Muenster/Osnabrueck flights. With the introduction of B 737 on IGS, it was impossible to fill the aircraft and make a profit. As there was no other aircraft available to meet the demand, Highland´s 748s were choosen, later ATP. The alternative would have been to drop the service. Ironically the IGS flights had to be given up after re-unification, at a time, when the route was profitable. With 64 seats the ATP was the perfect aircraft for these routes.
The One-Eleven was operated for some more years, the last one I saw, was at Leipzig in September 1990, when it was flying the last trade fair flights.
