Modern civil aircraft *yawn*
Discussion
mph1977 said:
what aobut the VC 10 given it was deliberately over engined for 'hot and high' conditions ion 'empire' routes to East and Seth Effrica
I was at Brize the other day; the RAF still has a few Tristars and VC-10s but they're all under sentence of death owing to age, condition, lack of spares and :cough: cracks :cough:.One hangar had a Tristar, three Hercules and a C-17: you think the Herc is a big plane until you see a C-17 casting its shadow over one
Wow, some amazing pictures here and incredible history.
Amazing too that the 707 formed the basis of the 727 and 737 families, is still in production and the new 737-900 can carry nearly as many passengers as the 707-320....
Aircraft spotting isn't as interesting when all you can do is spot the difference in length between the main manufacturers products...
I guess the regional jets from Embrear and the likes are a little different.
TBL
Amazing too that the 707 formed the basis of the 727 and 737 families, is still in production and the new 737-900 can carry nearly as many passengers as the 707-320....
Aircraft spotting isn't as interesting when all you can do is spot the difference in length between the main manufacturers products...
I guess the regional jets from Embrear and the likes are a little different.
TBL
Hi,
I remember flying on the old Gulf Air L1011's to Muscat during the mid 70's. I remember in particular the trip was the airline equivalent of a number 22bus, stopping at Doha, Dubai, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi (in whatever order...) . We would always fly from lhr,and I recal the old flight board being a huge black sign which the letters would flick round each time a flight was boarding or leaving.....
IIRC back then the Sultan of Omans Royal Flight was a VC 10 which he donated to a UK museum, I'm not sure if GF were using VC10's at the same time, don't recall ever going on one but I was only 5 years old back then.
The GF lockheed had a bar in the first and business class sections, and being a small, inquisitive kid was always allowed into the cockpit to have a look around, crewed by 3 with an engineers array to the right. I recall being told not to touch anything at all, ever. Smoking was also allowed on the flights, as soon as the light went out all you could hear was the flicking of lighters.........
Thanks for the pic of the GF, bout back many fond memories.
I remember flying on the old Gulf Air L1011's to Muscat during the mid 70's. I remember in particular the trip was the airline equivalent of a number 22bus, stopping at Doha, Dubai, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi (in whatever order...) . We would always fly from lhr,and I recal the old flight board being a huge black sign which the letters would flick round each time a flight was boarding or leaving.....
IIRC back then the Sultan of Omans Royal Flight was a VC 10 which he donated to a UK museum, I'm not sure if GF were using VC10's at the same time, don't recall ever going on one but I was only 5 years old back then.
The GF lockheed had a bar in the first and business class sections, and being a small, inquisitive kid was always allowed into the cockpit to have a look around, crewed by 3 with an engineers array to the right. I recall being told not to touch anything at all, ever. Smoking was also allowed on the flights, as soon as the light went out all you could hear was the flicking of lighters.........
Thanks for the pic of the GF, bout back many fond memories.
Thanks Eric, but you have to admit that the nacelles look similar.
As for size, I have probably never seen the two side by side. My recollection is that most types turn up with the holiday charter lines once their scheduled service life ends but that never seemed to happen with the Vanguard. Posh BEA livery one minute, gone the next!
As for size, I have probably never seen the two side by side. My recollection is that most types turn up with the holiday charter lines once their scheduled service life ends but that never seemed to happen with the Vanguard. Posh BEA livery one minute, gone the next!
Eric Mc said:
The Vanguard had Tynes for a start.
The Vanguard was a lot bigger than the Viscount 800. The 800 series Viscounts sold very well - unlike the Vanguard.
Never really understood that either; the Guards' van didn't do anything the Britannia didn't do already, except maybe extra fuselage volume and constant diameter. Competition with BS is one thing, but it must have all been at the behest of BEA; was it some weird BEA/BOAC rivalry thing?The Vanguard was a lot bigger than the Viscount 800. The 800 series Viscounts sold very well - unlike the Vanguard.
52classic said:
Thanks Eric, but you have to admit that the nacelles look similar.
As for size, I have probably never seen the two side by side. My recollection is that most types turn up with the holiday charter lines once their scheduled service life ends but that never seemed to happen with the Vanguard. Posh BEA livery one minute, gone the next!
The Vanguards did indeed have a second life. They were only over orderd by two airlines, Trans Canada (later renamed Air Canada) and BEA (later merged into BA). In the late 60s some BEA Vanguards were remanufactured into a freighter version called the Merchantman (or the Guards Van by BEA staff). As for size, I have probably never seen the two side by side. My recollection is that most types turn up with the holiday charter lines once their scheduled service life ends but that never seemed to happen with the Vanguard. Posh BEA livery one minute, gone the next!
Air Canada retired theirs in the late 1960s and many of these ones ended up in France being operated by an airline called Europe Air Serrvices. Some went to a British airline called Invicta.
BA retired all the remaianing passenger Vanguards by 1974 but retained the Merchantmen into the early 80s. They then sold the freighters to cargo airlines such as Air Bridge Carriers. They were finally retired in the mid 1990s.
hidetheelephants said:
Eric Mc said:
The Vanguard had Tynes for a start.
The Vanguard was a lot bigger than the Viscount 800. The 800 series Viscounts sold very well - unlike the Vanguard.
Never really understood that either; the Guards' van didn't do anything the Britannia didn't do already, except maybe extra fuselage volume and constant diameter. Competition with BS is one thing, but it must have all been at the behest of BEA; was it some weird BEA/BOAC rivalry thing?The Vanguard was a lot bigger than the Viscount 800. The 800 series Viscounts sold very well - unlike the Vanguard.
The Vanguard was a private venture by Vickers designed to capitalise on the popularity of the Viscount. The thinking was that with the Viscount selling so well, a BIG Viscount would sell even better. There was nothing wrong with the Vanguard - except for the fact that it emerged in a world where every airline felt it needed to be operating pure jets. It was never going to be able to compete with aircraft like the Caravelle, 727, DC-9 and BAC 1-11.
The museum at Brooklands is well worth a visit
Off the top of my head
The Oman VC-10
Viscount
Vanguard (which they fire up now and again)
Viking
BAC-111
CONCORDE!!!!
ALL Open to visit
London Bus Museum
Superb Brooklands museum of cars and bikes
And Mercedes World Pay and Drive round a tst track/skid pan etc
More pics tomorrow
Off the top of my head
The Oman VC-10
Viscount
Vanguard (which they fire up now and again)
Viking
BAC-111
CONCORDE!!!!
ALL Open to visit
London Bus Museum
Superb Brooklands museum of cars and bikes
And Mercedes World Pay and Drive round a tst track/skid pan etc
More pics tomorrow
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