Heathrow Airport 1963

[aeropilot]

Ginetta G15 Girl said:

The Spey engined Tridents and BAC111s were certainly noisy, but I think the Conway engined 707s and VC10s were worse.

Tridents, Conway 707's and VC10's and the screech of Caravelle's were all very noisy.....but you didn't really take much notice to be honest......well, I didn't, and I can't remember it bothering that many others who lived under the flightpath back then. But, NIMBYism hadn't really been invented back then, most had lived through the war, so a RR Conway etc overhead for a min or two was more preferable than a 'Herman' going off!

[Eric Mc]

The older Caravelles had Rolls Royce Avons. Later ones had Pratt and Whitney JT8Ds.

Some Caravelles also had braking chutes -

[mph1977]

iirc the JT3d was the launched engine for the 707 and the related c135 and c137 military aircraft ...

Edited by mph1977 on Wednesday 27th April 17:10

[Eric Mc]

The original engines used on the first 707s and DC-8s were Pratt and Whitney JT3s (in A and C form). These were pure turbojets and were civilian versions of the Pratt and Whitney J57 which was also used on the Boeing KC-135 and the Boeing B-52 A to G models.

A low bypass turbofan derivative was the JT3D (military TF33) which was used on later versions of the DC-8 and 707.

Boeing and Douglas also offered Rolls Royce Conway powered aircraft - the 707-420, and the DC-8 - Series 40.
These weren't as popular as the American engined alternatives.

Turbojet JT-3C



Low bypass Rolls Royce Conway



Low bypass JT-3D

[mph1977]

I stand corrected on jt3 variants Eric

[Eric Mc]

The turbofan and pure jet variants are fairly easy to tell apart. The Pure jet JT3 had a narrow front end and a set of silencers at the rear. The JT3D turbofans had a wider front end no silencers.

The Conways looked a bit like the JT3 turbojets as they also featured silencers but the overall engine diameter was a bit wider.

On early DC-8s, the pure turbojets often had a ring set a bit behind the rear of the engine nacelle. I presume this was part of the silencing arrangement. In the early 1970s I remember seeing Air Spain DC-8 20s fitted with these.

[caiss4]

Came across these photos I took in 1971. They haven't faired too well but some features stand out.

The first one is a view from the control tower over the Queen's Building. The second one is a Pan Am 747 taxying in the background with a Qantas 707 in the foreground. The third is just a close up shot of the original control tower and the final one is a shot of a BOAC 747 taxying.

Edited by caiss4 on Monday 2nd May 18:31

Edited by caiss4 on Monday 2nd May 18:32

[aeropilot]

caiss4 said:

Came across these photos I took in 1971. They haven't faired too well but some features stand out.

The first one is a view from the control tower over the Queen's Building.

Great shot........with all those BEA Trident's lined up

Sadly, progress means that central area looks all very different now, and where I'm currently working is almost about the middle of that photo