Early days of Virgin Atlantic
Discussion
I can remember flying the Luton to Dublin route on the Viscount with both Virgin and Dan Dare. The planes seemed ancient even in the 80's, one particular journey stands out, my seat along with the adjoining one either came loose or had not been bolted down following some maintenance. We had to hook our feet around the base of the seat in front to stop the whole thing ending up in the aisle.
Thanks for the replies.
I can remember the reaction of some of my fellow passengers the first time I flew from Gatwick.
The aircraft were kept away from the main terminus ,in with the private and business stuff so it was a short bus ride to the plane .
Most had never been on a prop aircraft and many had never even seen one up close .
I think it was about £20 each way and it was about an hour and 15 mins flight ..
It was very handy to pop over and see my parents who were stationed at RAF Rhinedahlen,just a 45min car ride from Maastricht .
I can remember the reaction of some of my fellow passengers the first time I flew from Gatwick.
The aircraft were kept away from the main terminus ,in with the private and business stuff so it was a short bus ride to the plane .
Most had never been on a prop aircraft and many had never even seen one up close .
I think it was about £20 each way and it was about an hour and 15 mins flight ..
It was very handy to pop over and see my parents who were stationed at RAF Rhinedahlen,just a 45min car ride from Maastricht .
kapiteinlangzaam said:
KLM were still flying Maastricht to Amsterdam until about 10yrs ago with the Fokker 50. Replaced with a bus/train service now 
And for a period (about 5 yrs ago) I think, Ryanair gave it a go with a limited service to Stansted.
MST will never make it as a commercial success for passenger business IMO, theres just too much competition in the area.
Flybe/stobart were doing it for a short while from Southend maybe 2 years ago I think. Much like their Manston to Edinburgh route it was withdrawn pretty quickly.And for a period (about 5 yrs ago) I think, Ryanair gave it a go with a limited service to Stansted.
MST will never make it as a commercial success for passenger business IMO, theres just too much competition in the area.
Thats three of the four Iconic 50s 60s British aircraft that I have flown in .
Viscount ,Brittania and VC10 .
I have been on a Comet but never flown in one .
I have also been on most of the Concords ever made ,I was lucky to have a tour of the Concorde hangers at Heathrow when the whole fleet were in .Also Yeovilton. .
I get excited about old aircraft but regard modern stuff as just public transport..
Viscount ,Brittania and VC10 .
I have been on a Comet but never flown in one .
I have also been on most of the Concords ever made ,I was lucky to have a tour of the Concorde hangers at Heathrow when the whole fleet were in .Also Yeovilton. .
I get excited about old aircraft but regard modern stuff as just public transport..
I've been lucky enough to see a number of Connies over the years - including one as recently as 2014 at the Farnborough airshow.
The first one I saw was back in 1974 when N7777G arrived at Dublin to carry out some meat charter flights to Libya (yes - Libya!).
The company went bust and the plane was abandoned at the airport where it sat for nine more years. Luckily, it was rescued and is now preserved in TWA colours at Wroughton.
This was a very rare short fuselage L749 standard Constellation as opposed to the 1049 Super Constellation.
I also saw this Super Connie at Shannon in 1978 (not my picture but it is Shannon) -
The first one I saw was back in 1974 when N7777G arrived at Dublin to carry out some meat charter flights to Libya (yes - Libya!).
The company went bust and the plane was abandoned at the airport where it sat for nine more years. Luckily, it was rescued and is now preserved in TWA colours at Wroughton.
This was a very rare short fuselage L749 standard Constellation as opposed to the 1049 Super Constellation.
I also saw this Super Connie at Shannon in 1978 (not my picture but it is Shannon) -
My fascination for aircraft apart from spending so much time on RAF stations growing up was being able to play in all the old aircraft at RAF Catterick back in the 60s . It was a fire training depot .
Many aircraft were flown in then positioned all over the location and used for training.
Spent much time as an early teen in the aircraft including Vampires ,hastings and V bombers .
Can't see that happening these days ,too much H+S for enquiring minds to have fun !
Many aircraft were flown in then positioned all over the location and used for training.
Spent much time as an early teen in the aircraft including Vampires ,hastings and V bombers .
Can't see that happening these days ,too much H+S for enquiring minds to have fun !
The timing of this thread is odd, BBC4 showed a very good hour long documentary on commercial aircraft of the 50's and 60's last night.
This one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01m9vjl
I've also just realised that its a 2 parter and need to watch the first now.
This one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01m9vjl
I've also just realised that its a 2 parter and need to watch the first now.
It's what got me thinking Bobbo .
That and having too much time on my hands do to an enforced break from work .
It seems to be doing a loop on freeview tv at the moment as I watched part one a couple of weeks ago .
The section about the Comets was also shown on another programme recently.
Weren't the air shows wonderful back then !
That and having too much time on my hands do to an enforced break from work .
It seems to be doing a loop on freeview tv at the moment as I watched part one a couple of weeks ago .
The section about the Comets was also shown on another programme recently.
Weren't the air shows wonderful back then !
I still think the Rotodyne would have been a potential success, and the noise problem on that program seemed exaggerated from the books and other documentaries. Think Oil Rigs, city hopping, and military. The silencers that were being developed along with the type Z was a lost opportunity.The model built seemed to be ready to sell as proven by the various test and demonstration flights. I wonder how much to build now...Who owns the rights to the Fairey logo and property? Westland? They did support it for a while but like VC10 Trident and the Viscount even if someone did order 50, they couldn't build them...
Edit to add a good article: http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/fairey_rot...
Edit to add a good article: http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/fairey_rot...
Edited by Scotty2 on Thursday 9th March 17:09
Eric Mc said:
Fairey didn't disappear when their helicopter production was handed to Westland. Part of the company survived. There was a Belgian division and for a while they teamed with Britten Norman.
That was in the 70s. I don't know what happened top the brand after that.
The Belgian subsidiary Avions Fairey went into receivership in 1977 and was bought out by the Belgian Government and renamed SONACA and is still producing aircraft today - https://www.flyer.co.uk/sonaca-new-european-light-...That was in the 70s. I don't know what happened top the brand after that.
They also built under licence the F-16s for the Belgian and Danish air forces.
Edited by FourWheelDrift on Thursday 9th March 18:02
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