TUI 757 Retirements
 

Sad to learn last flight is scheduled for Sunday 3 October, LGW-HER-LGW. TOM 4606/7 dep LGW 0710, arr LGW 1710.

Many are going to DHL as freighters, one currently at BHX (STS) for conversion. Two others going to St Athan after final flights in the next few days.

Perhaps when Jet2 retire theirs, they'll consider a farewell flight (or two!) for spotters, unlike TUI who never thought about it....

I will be sad to see them go far too soon IMO!

I first flew on a 757 on Air 2000 from Manchester to Kos in 1987 and enjoyed the bucks fizz, hot towel and the Ferrero Rocher. I've flown them quite a few times, mainly with AMM/TOM and also BA. I liked to see the "RR" on the engines as they are made near where I live. I loved the takeoffs, so much power and I wish I'd gone on a 757 from Skiathos instead of the 737 which had to refuel.

I will miss those lovely 757s.

As a passenger, I found coach in a 757 to be horrible (unless I was in first class - which makes just about any aircraft acceptable :ok:). That long, narrow tube just felt so claustrophobic, especially on a long flight (much worse than in a shorter 737). Of course, the 757-300 is even worse.
My least favorite narrow body aircraft - and yes, I did spend several years working on the 757 program.:sad:

Flew on them with Air 2000 and Caledonian - ok, but not sure I'd have wanted to be on one trans-Atlantic.

Amazing - coming up to 40 years since both the 767 (late 1981) and 757 (early '82) first flew - seems like yesterday...

The "mainline" BA 757s were configured with 3 cabins which mitigated the long tube effect. But one day, I came home from Manchester on the Shuttle to Heathrow, boarded this 757 and found a single, long, cabin with TV screens over the aisle. BA had a subsidiary to run the holiday charters to the Med and it was one of theirs. Horrible. There were more cabin crew on board than there were crew seats - one ended up on the jump seat in the cockpit.

I hope you never flew on a stretched DC-8. :O

My first ever international flight was 1972 on a DC-8 60 series - charter flight between Denver and London (with fuel stops). 250 people crammed in.
Difference was I was a teenager at the time - comfort wasn't a big concern back then :}...

Having suffered quite a few sectors at the back end of Continental B757-300s, totally agree. Deplaning often took longer than the flight (or certainly seemed so!)

DaveReid - Yes, I flew on an Air Canada DC8-61 London/Montreal. The difference between that and the Caledonian 757 was that I was expecting a standad BA 3-cabin 757 and was very surprised by what I actually saw. Such was my surprise that I made a comment along the lines of "Oh my God a Cally 757" and the crew member standing next to me replied "How do you think we feel"!

First flew in a '757 (N505EA) at Farnborough at the 1982 airshow.
Noticed when taxying out that in the forward fuselage section there was an unpleasant 'resonance period' in power setting which the crew were continually throttling through to avoid; I also noticed this with the RB211s in BA Tristars.
After departure noticed a sort of high frequency sideways oscillation of the forward fuselage for a short period which was also noted on later flights by both Monarch and Britannia.

Yes, somehow very sad that the 757 is fast disappearing from the passenger market for the enthusiasts at least. It's flight performance was/is pretty impressive, especially when light on take-off, a veritable rocket. As mentioned the longer sectors were cramped, I did a few 5hr jaunts in the -200, including over water and (at the time) the thought of only having one engine if there was an issue was discomforting. Business was fine, but as mentioned economy was 'tight' and strangely the -300 was even tighter, probably due to the blaggards stuffing more seats into the cabin. Most of the flights I did were of the 2-3hr length and in such sectors it was absolutely fine.

In my 21st year of 757 flying. It’s a thing of beauty at the front. Massively overpowered with big brakes - typical Boeing. Wasn’t aware that we’re getting Tui freighter conversions in DHL but you never know ……Edit 22nd!

Big brakes! I knew a BA 757 captain and, purely by chance, he was operating an ORY-LHR sector and as I boarded I saw him through the cockpit door and I was invited in. The approach to Heathrow was "interesting" and he set eveything to stop us quick to such an extent that as we exited 27L to head for T4 the brake overheat warnings went off, What I found fascinating (but in retrospect was entirely logical) was I was asked to pass over the (large) "handbook" and he started thumbing through it to find out what he should do next (wait an extra 30 minutes I seem to recall).

Poshgirl
I can not say it’s my favourite as I used it a little on MAN - JFK route in Business with BA, and not that great but got me home quick instead of via LHR. I did use Flying Colours for some dashes down to Palma as well, and it was ok for that, as long as you got larger leg room seats. With regards DC8 stretches I did a couple of flights, and never noticed much difference from 707 when tricked out for First , Business etc.

Cheers
Mr Mac

Strange how aircraft get remembered and there is a big contrast between the 757 and its big brother the 767. From the outside the 76 seemed to me the dullest aircraft ever made but it was very economical and if you got the two window seats in the 2-3-2 formation one of the most comfortable trips in Y class . 75 on the other hand with its slow landing speed and cute nose configuration looked and sounded great from the outside .

Unlike some I enjoyed flying on the 75 , only went on 300 once, Icelandair, and i have to admit most of my trips were in business, including the 300 in which case it was fine , I also loved the take off performance when on board , that tremendous growl as the 524s spooled up and crossing the far end of LHR 27L at what seemed like 3000 ft . Or a windshear prompted GA at Kindley Field, Bermuda in a AA 75 which literally rocketed back into the sky. I understand that they were designed for a common type rating and the flight decks had an almost identical layout . A BA pilot friend said the main difference was you stepped up on the FD on a 76 and down on a 75 . I imagine the overall differences were minimal but do not recall 767s which I have flown on a lot on short haul as well as long haul had anything close to the 757s take off performance. Sad they should end their days in the hideous DHL colours they always looked pretty cool in most of the majors schemes

PB

I remember taking off from 07 at Tenerife South in the Air Two Bob 757, climbing like a homesick angel to a few thousand feet and almost bunting to level flight for a minute or two before resuming the climb - no idea why, passing below inbound traffic perhaps; vague recollection of the inbound flight seeing Mount Teide on our right and a right hand circuit to land on 07.

A Britannia 757 was the last thing I got a flight deck landing in, about 2004 at TFS. Tiede on the LHS then descended and continued the left turn to land on 07, I remember Golf Del Sur on short finals.

And there was I thinking that the C-130 was the largest aircraft to have landed on a carrier ...

Feel as though I said good buy to the TUI 757’s 10+ years ago! After flying on BY 737’s and 767’s didn’t get on a 757 until 1999 which was BYAJ.

over the next 10 years made 8 return BY 757 flights , a few JMC and TCX 757 flights and finally on an ex First Choice G-OOAG in 2009 of Thomson Airways.

it’s been 737’s since back where I stated.!!

as a parting comment loved the BY 360 service flights and was quite sad to see a great British brand being eroded over the years morphing into TUI which is not quite the holiday experience it used to be! I know it was driven by low cost completion etc but still not the same!!

75 and 76 indeed a common type rating and swapping is easy. Both astonishingly capable. 76 a bit more sedate as you’d expect a 186T airplane to be. 75 lively to say the least. Beauty in the eye of the beholder and I like the colours of my office, just wish I had shares in DHL yellow paint manufacture and at least they are ending their days making money in a profitable enterprise. All that said I don’t believe any of the Tui are going to end up in yellow and red!