Ancient Airliners

[andyadam]

DC3!! - DC8 and 707

Up until maybe 1985 they were still flying between Boston Logan Airport and Provincetown.  My first airline job was for Boston - Provincetown Airways so I got to fly them alot.  Flight was less than an hour and flew low and very very noisy.  I was the only flight attendant on board due to airline regulations but no service offered!  As a kid in 1969 fliew DC8 on TransAmerica Airways (now defunct) from Shannon, Ireland to New York!  Remember the plane being very long and narrow!  When I started working for Qantas they still had some 707's which flew from London to Sydney!  Quite a few stops in between!

Those were the days!! Oh and I'm only 43 so really not that long ago.

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DC3, STILL flying in service, in Cuba to this day!!!!!

[Euqruob]

I rode a DC3 in Alaska, all done up inside like 1945, they had a stewardess in full garb. You could go to the cockpit mid flight (pre 9/11) all original cockpit, but a little GPS added.

I had the "joy" of flying an Ilyushin 62M (narrowbody 4 engines on tail) from JFK to Prague, and a few flights on the Tuplev 134 and 154.

But, when you work for an airline, you take any free seat you can get!

[cdnvic]

I rode a DC3 in Alaska, all done up inside like 1945, they had a stewardess in full garb.  You could go to the cockpit mid flight (pre 9/11) all original cockpit, but a little GPS added.

I had the "joy" of flying an Ilyushin 62M (narrowbody 4 engines on tail) from JFK to Prague, and a few flights on the Tuplev 134 and 154.

But, when you work for an airline, you take any free seat you can get!

I'm afraid the IL-62 is probably the last of the rear mounted quad jets left as I think even the African carriers have ditched the VC-10.

There's an outfit flying out of Auckland that will still take you on DC-3 tours... quite reasonably priced too if I recall.

cv

[cdnvic]

I found a photo of a 707 carrying passengers to From the Congo to BKK in 2002. Wonder if its still flying? The pic's too big to post here but the link is:

http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=2922...&prev_id=746640

cv

[lampard10]

I found a photo of a 707 carrying passengers to From the Congo to BKK in 2002. Wonder if its still flying? The pic's too big to post here but the link is:

Looking at the reg it could be wet leased from TAAT out of Khartoum. We handled them at Manston but they put one down in Lake Victoria ( There was a famous picture of it sitting in the water after about a week,and I've got it somewhere)Apparently it was on finals when all the airport lights went out. The final words were 'It's ok I can see the runway clearly. Touching down now. Oops'

They either swam or rowed to shore and left it there. So I heard shortly afterward DAS AIR, also based at Manston put a couple of DC 10's in the same stretch of water

[cdnvic]

Totally off topic, but this is just about the most beautiful aerial photo I've ever seen and just had to share it.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=772868

cv

[flackjacket]

DeHavilland Comet.... can't remember the model number and too lazy to do a google .... it was a propeller job and a School trip in 1974 .... never been more than 30" off the ground before this experience ..... a couple of years later my Mum had a jaunt on Concorde ... amazing how things changed in a relatively short space of time

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The Comet was a four jet engine aircraft, in fact the first jet airliner to cross the Atlantic.

[midas]

I flew on an Illushian with Aeroflot between Moscow and Sydney !

Not the most comfortable Business Class I have ever been in !

This was just after they stopped flying the Airbus A320 after the accident

over Siberia which stopped the new divison from flying to Australia a

altogether. The Aeroflot Airbus service to Moscow was really good.

I remeber we were in a holding pattern over the Pacific quite low waiting for

clearence to land in Sydney and looking down seeing the water below thinking god i hope this plane makes it !

Have you noticed how these planes never ever take off with a steep

ascent ( unlike the Boeing 737 ) and they always leave a black

smoke trail witnh a hellof a lot of noise !

[Rinrada]

Have you noticed how these planes never ever take off with a steep

ascent ( unlike the Boeing 737 ) and they always leave a black

smoke trail witnh a hellof a lot of noise !

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Probabally because unlike normal countries who use standard aviation fuel these old Russian bombers still run on heavy diesel

[lampard10]

Have you noticed how these planes never ever take off with a steep

ascent ( unlike the Boeing 737 ) and they always leave a black

smoke trail witnh a hellof a lot of noise !

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Probabally because unlike normal countries who use standard aviation fuel these old Russian bombers still run on heavy diesel

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You're not so far from the truth....... .........Remember Jet fuel is only refined parafin, some of it is just not refined enough.... .......I've heard of an instance where the captain has had to have a whip round from the passengers because the small airport where they dropped into refused to accept Aeroflot's Aviation Fuel Card.

[cdnvic]

I read an article in Airliners comparing western and soviet/russian airliners of the past 30yrs. The ruskies never quite had the technology the west did so they always built heavier to compensate for the lack of knowlage as the western designs could be built to tighter tolerances, and less weight. To lift these weighty beasts they had to come up with alot more thrust. The engines are none too efficient, hence the smoke, but to make up for the robust airframe they pack alot of power, and shake the airports when they do their takeoff run.

That's why I love 'em

cv

[pjallittle]

We flew in a Tupolev from BKK to Phnom Penh (with Royal Phniom Penh Airlines) in 2002!!! Big portholes for windows, wobbly seats and steam in the cabin just before Landing. There were a total of five people on the flight!! Not my best flying experience!!

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There's a few of these still being flown as commercial airliners in China.

My gosh, I must be the old guy here! My first flying experience goes back into the early 40's, DC-3's and others which I'm unable to name. Have flown in the old Pan-Am Clipper, also the Boeing Stratocruiser in the early 50's, Pan Am from Hawaii to San Francisco. This plane had a downstairs, larger than the upstairs on the 747. Almost forgot, also took a flight in the old Ford tri-motor at an airshow.

An old airlines that was called BPOA ran between Australia and No. America, landing in Honolulu, then to SFO, and on to Vancouver. The overhead area now used for storage was a bed. After dinner, the cabins were set up just like a train with upper and lower bunks, the seats were reclined absolutely flat and made up into a nice bunk. The basic plane was probably a DC-3, I don't recall that the British had come up with this size of a plane.

Flew in one of the first of the DeHaviland Comet jets that were all eventually grounded because the engines kept falling off due to metal fatigue. That spelled the death of the plane and the airlines although the engines themselves were great.

I've been in every kind of commercial prop, turbo and jet made and hope to do more of it before packing it in.

[cdnvic]

Have flown in the old Pan-Am Clipper, also the Boeing Stratocruiser in the early 50's, Pan Am from Hawaii to San Francisco.  This plane had a downstairs, larger than the upstairs on the 747.  Almost forgot, also took a flight in the old Ford tri-motor at an airshow.

I'm sure I'd still take a clipper flying boat these days if I were given the option.

cv

[pjallittle]

Have flown in the old Pan-Am Clipper, also the Boeing Stratocruiser in the early 50's, Pan Am from Hawaii to San Francisco.  This plane had a downstairs, larger than the upstairs on the 747.  Almost forgot, also took a flight in the old Ford tri-motor at an airshow.

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I'm sure I'd still take a clipper flying boat these days if I were given the option.

cv

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They were great but the landing in the water was freaky. First, a giant slap, then the water cascading up above the windows. Of them all, the bunk beds were most impressive, that was in 1949 and the best of the lot was the Pan Am Stratocruiser, they were superb. My grandfather was, for many years, the oldest retired CPR employee and had been awarded a Gold Pass that entitiled him to passage on any CPR conveyance. Back then, CPR had passenger ships, airlines, obviously trains, etc. Being an old RR man, he only went by train.

[Rinrada]

Have you noticed how these planes never ever take off with a steep

ascent ( unlike the Boeing 737 ) and they always leave a black

smoke trail witnh a hellof a lot of noise !

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Probabally because unlike normal countries who use standard aviation fuel these old Russian bombers still run on heavy diesel

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're not so far from the truth....... .........Remember Jet fuel is only refined parafin, some of it is just not refined enough.... .......I've heard of an instance where the captain has had to have a whip round from the passengers because the small airport where they dropped into refused to accept Aeroflot's Aviation Fuel Card.

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It happens all the time.

Most of the majors insist (so I a have been told) that their pilots are ordered to carry a Amex Card just in case they get stuck.

Was on a flight in Algeria (think Air Algerie)once,maybe Tamanrasset or similar,and the Americian captain told me it was a regular occurance.

Even although their National Airline the smaller places dont trust them with credit to pay for the juice.

[Martin]

I have happened to come across this old thread whilst looking for some thing else.

And it has given me a real 'trip down Memory Lane'.

I first flew in 1959 in the days of DC3s (which carried us around the Arctic radar stations) and DC4s (Montreal to Cape Dyer in 11 hours 50 minutes and usually no stewardess, so no coffee). Also Britannias and early 707s across the Atlantic.

The Russians buying fuel reminds me of the first Lithuanian Everest Expedition coming to Kathmandu in a medium-sized Tupolev in 1992.

Because of foreign currency shortage, the Captain was given a full load of fuel in Lithuania and two big briefcases stuffed with banknotes to spend on fuel, on the way out and the way back, at the furthest point that would take roubles. (Near Tashkent, I think.)

The passengers told me that they sat for nearly an hour whilst a grumpy woman counted the piles of notes before she would let the bowser couple up so they could take on the fuel at that point!

I will try to add a photo, but there's more in my 'war story' of the Cold War.

For that you'll have to put "Nineteen months in retrospect" into Google, because I'm ignorant about how you all post your links!

[Martin]

Cor, I actually managed to get those photos up!!

The DC3 in the coloured one is landing at Kivitoo on Baffin Island on a fine day.

The landing (and take-off) had to happen at that end of the strip as there was a hill in the way at the other end.

So to get to the touch down point meant flying up the fiord from left to right and doing a U-turn in front of the cliff in the centre. It could be a 'white-knuckles job' when there was fog in the fiord!

I am sorry that the black-and-white one isn't very clear, but underneath the centre of the trailing edge of the wing is the end of the airstrip at Brevoort Island.

It had the reputation of being "The most frightening runway in the world".

Landings and take-offs again had to take place at that point on top of the cliff.

As the strip was short, and there was usually an updraft at the cliff just in front of the threshold, the landing procedure involved heading the aircraft at the cliff and letting the updraft boost it over the edge of the cliff.

Strong men have been known to pray.

(Some pilots wouldn't do it, and would turn back if they found the updraft there. They were disliked by the station staff waiting for their mail and movies---but they were the pilots that I preferred to fly in with!)

[Martin]

Rather better is this ancient Kodacolor print, taken with a 'point and press' camera, through a perspex window that had been flying around for over twenty years by then, and was well scratched.

Imagine flying in from the right hand edge of the photo, aiming at the threshold on the lip of the cliff, finding the updraft bounced you up so you wouldn't be able to touch down with enough strip left in which to stop, and going around to try a lower approach.

As far as I know, no plane ever flew into the cliff, but at least three ran out of runway at the far end and mangled themselves beyond economic repair.

[Florin]

Very nice thread

Though I've only started flying in 1990, I've been on my share of old planes...for a domestic flight in Romania the plane being used was a turboprop IL-18, even though I was a skinny 8-year old boy I felt very cramped in that thing. At that time transatlantic service was being done with Boeing 707s, which were actually pretty comfy.

Definitely better than the IL-62 I was on when first coming to Thailand - I hadn't seen the spelling of the plane's name and I asked my mom if they named it "Illusion-62" because it just had the illusion it could fly

Another memorable occasion was when flying alone to BKK (about 12 yrs old at the time) on a leased DC-10 because TAROM's previously used A310 had crashed a couple of weeks before - I was sitting next to a very chatty Brit who was really irritating me, so I just told him (true story) that the DC-10 we were on had also nearly crashed just a week before while flying over the same portion of India we were currently flying over. That definitely shut him up

When in Japan, I also had the unique opportunity of using one of JAC's NAMC YS-11 turboprops, which was actually very decent and smooth in flight.

Just last year I was "fortunate" to be on a non-refurbished TU-154 belonging to Aeroflot...when first seeing it in Budapest, I noticed it was the only plane taxiing around the gate area that could be HEARD. No wonder they only use them for Eastern European/CIS routes, no Western airport would allow that kind of noise pollution. Also, onboard, the doors to the toilets in the rear were constantly banged open and closed because of all the engine vibration...and yet their breakfast was smoked salmon on rye! That just says it all about Russia...land of contrasts indeed.

[Martin]

My wife first flew in 1957 in a Super Connie from Montreal to London (with re-fuelling stops, I think).

We had sailed to Montreal in 1956, and she was going back in her summer holiday from schoolteaching to visit our parents.

I got a letter that said, in effect, that she had had twelve hours with her fingers in her ears and sod that!: she was coming back by ship.

However, within five years, the Britannias were whispering their way from Montreal to Gander, Shannon and Prestwick, Manchester and London. And they were followed by the 707s, and soon sailing on the Cunarders and Canadian Pacific liners was no more.

I last flew in a 707 from London to Karachi, when going to Kathmandu in 1997. It had a weight-restriction on and they had left the middle block of seats in Economy empty. As soon as the seatbelt light went off, I dived across and got stretched out.

The previous time that I had been able to get stretched out across a complete row was in an SIA 747-200 from London to Singapore.

It was the first night of the Gulf War in 1991 and all the passengers booked had 'scratched' bar 15 of us.

At the gate, we were wondering if SIA would cancel the flight. Our view was that if the three at the front were willing to go, it would be safe to be behind them. After all, in case of incident, they would be first on the scene, not us!!

Through the night, the Captain kept us updated on the progress of the war, and re-routed so far north that he had to put it down at Bangkok for fuel, and another crew from Bangkok.