Plane Spotting - The Quiz

[SeaVisionBurma]

Give it to tw25rw - he's right about the KLM 777's.

Aeroflot in Skyteam livery....

Took ages to figure out the Skyteam colours...

[David48]

Give it to tw25rw - he's right about the KLM 777's.

Aeroflot in Skyteam livery....

Took ages to figure out the Skyteam colours...

SVB ... you are to modest ... and correct the first time!

So a combination effort to both SeaVisionBurma and tw25rw

An Aeroflot Airbus A330-343E

• Airline: Aeroflot (SkyTeam livery)
• Flight: SU272
• From: Geneva, Geneva (GVA)
• To: Moscow, Sheremetyevo (SVO)
• Aircraft: Airbus A330-343E (A333)
• Reg: VQ-BCQ
• Altitude: 6950 ft (2118 m)
• V/S: 64 fpm
• Speed: 239 kt (443 km/h, 275 mph)
• Track: 194°
• Hex: 424922
• Squawk: 2716
• Pos:
• Radar: T-VTBD1

[SeaVisionBurma]

That....was my favourite plane spot to date!!!

[spud67]

I just spent the morning going through this very interesting thread. A quick intro: I work at a northern Canadian airport; looking forward to retirement in LOS, eventually. The position allows me to see many aircraft, mostly regional 737's, ATR42/72's, Dash 8's. But also some military and trans-Atlantic charters.

In that light, I hope the following is within the intent of this thread.

I will try to learn to post pics properly soon and I will attempt to get more in-flight pics.

[GrantSmith]

Evening Gents,

Apologies for going quiet in this thread - have had more pressing concerns at hand for the last week and a half...

I believe someone asked a question about the airbus designations (A380-841)

Airbus do it differently to Boeing. Boeing's designation works on a customer number basis i.e a TG Boeing 'owned' aircraft has the D7 at the end of the model e.g 747-4D7. So when you see anything else other than D7 at the end of TG aircraft designator this aircraft belongs to someone else i.e the 77W which are owned by either Jet Airways or a leasing company.

Airbus do things by engine type and don't have customer numbers identifiable i.e on an A380-841 the 41 refers to the engine type and not the owner of the aircraft, the 8 designates the series of the model..

Hope that clears up some stuff..

spud67,

You're first post is a rather smart looking C-17 Globemaster of which airforce I can't tell, but you being a Canuck I'm going to say of the RCAF...

Welcome

[smokie36]

OK here's one for you....aircraft and airline please.

[GrantSmith]

Also just to add..

NZ don't fly to BKK or Thailand for that matter. The closest they get is HKG.

MI (SilkAir) don't have anything other than A319/A320 at the moment - they will be receiving some new 738's later this year though..

[SeaVisionBurma]

Odd - looks like a trijet without winglets... So its not an MD-11

[smokie36]

Extra point if you can name the year the photo was taken....only clue is I bet there was a smoking section on the plane!

[SeaVisionBurma]

Thanks Smokes - was thinking DC-10 era, but wasn't sure until you said that.... The stripes are throwing me. Back to bashing my head against a wall again...

[lubbkis]

Thanks Smokes - was thinking DC-10 era, but wasn't sure until you said that.... The stripes are throwing me. Back to bashing my head against a wall again...

I think they are SAS stripes. Flags of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from the front. How about 1983?

[SeaVisionBurma]

Thanks Smokes - was thinking DC-10 era, but wasn't sure until you said that.... The stripes are throwing me. Back to bashing my head against a wall again...

I think they are SAS stripes.

Yes, yes they are....

Now for the year.....

[smokie36]

Oho you are a clever bunch....just the year then....

[SeaVisionBurma]

Somewhere between 1974 and 1991 then..... Down to pure guesses now?

1987

[smokie36]

Year might be tricky....will reveal the full pic when I get home from the pub....and find a harder one for you clever folks.

[smokie36]

Yup 1987...flying over Brussels.

[SeaVisionBurma]

WOO HOOOOO

[smokie36]

I chose SAS cos they have recently closed their Bangkok operation sadly.

Now my thinking cap is in overdrive....

[Dancealot]

WOO HOOOOO

How did you know?

[SeaVisionBurma]

I won't lie - it was a random guess. I figured late eighties, and just guessed 87. Just lucky...

[Dancealot]

I won't lie - it was a random guess. I figured late eighties, and just guessed 87. Just lucky...

Naaaais! Hope I'm lucky next time.

[smokie36]

Since the last one was too easy here is another one...

Usual, aircraft and airline please!

[Dancealot]

This looks like a C-47A Dakota to me from Derby airways

Date stamp around 1962 i reckon.

Also the design of the C 47 B undermines the purity of the original intent to develop the C 47 A, IMHO

[smokie36]

This looks like a C-47A Dakota to me from Derby airways

Date stamp around 1962 i reckon.

Also the design of the C 47 B undermines the purity of the original intent to develop the C 47 A, IMHO

Gawd....too easy by half!

Your turn Dancealot!

[smokie36]

There was a story to go with this one so here you go....

EasyJet and Ryanair may think they broke the mould to achieve cheap and cheerful air travel, but Derby Airways was jetting off locals to distant shores before they were a twinkle in the eye.

Stuart Haywood, of Castle Gresley, recalls a holiday to the often overlooked European town of Ostend.

IT was 1957 and my brother, Clive, and I were wondering where to go on our holidays.

We looked at our finances and considered several British resorts but came across a holiday for a week in Ostend, flying from Bumaston.

The trip was organised by Frames Tours, who used to have an agency in Burton. We knew of no contemporary who had been on a foreign holiday, stayed in a hotel, or flown, and all this for £27 each!

Ryanair eat your heart out and pay homage to the early generation of jetsetters. We booked and looked forward to what we considered, then, to be a holiday of a lifetime.

Now, of course, a jaunt over to Ostend would be seen as somewhat mundane, to say the least. On the morning of departure, we took a taxi to Bumaston, known officially as Derby Airport.

When we arrived, the place was buzzing with people and we thought that the plane would be full. After the announcement was made, instructing passengers for the Isle of Man to assemble at a certain location, there was only Clive, myself and two other women for the Ostend trip. We were ushered aboard our aircraft by a stewardess who asked us to sit at the back.

Was this to tip the nose of the plane up so that we could take off? Surely this was a slender margin between success and failure?

Go by air and add two days to your holiday was the advertising slogan of Derby Airways.

The aircraft for our journey was a Douglas Dakota, which was named Dovedale, I believe.

It had seen service during the war before being fitted out for civilian duty by Derby Aviation.

I recall sitting in a space about the same size as a motor coach but with small windows.

Derby Airport did not have metalled runways and so we hurtled across the grass field before taking off.

I was amazed at how smooth it seemed, once we were airborne, compared to the rattle and vibration on the runways. We then made our way to Elmdon Airport, Birmingham, to go through customs, as there were none at Derby.

We also picked up the rest of the passengers and so the plane was full after all.

It is interesting to think that, in 1957, we travellers were only allowed to take a maximum of £10 in sterling out of the country.

When we arrived at the hotel, we left our luggage unpacked and went out for a look round before dinner.

Clive told me that Bill Brewin, a near neighbour of ours, was staying in Ostend that week. We had only gone about two minutes down the road when we heard Bill’s distinctive laugh. All we could see of him was his feet as he was standing behind a postcard display and was obviously amused by one of them. Strangely, we didn’t see him again all week.

When we arrived for dinner, we sat down at the first table we came to.

There was some food on the table, I cannot remember what, but we ate it all. The waitress then told us we were sitting at the wrong table and would we move to the correct one. This we did and ate the meals on that table, too, so we had two helpings.

We were very surprised by the jukeboxes in Ostend. In Newhall, there was only one pub with a jukebox and this contained 30 old 78s.

When a selection was made, the arm picked up the record and dropped it with a crash onto the turntable from a great height.

In Belgium they had machines with hundreds of choices. At the Kursaal (casino), a very young Shirley Bassey was appearing. We went to see her but were refused admission because we were not wearing ties.

The following night, suitably be-tied, we arrived at about 9pm for the performance.

The only other people in at that time were four elderly ladies, who were sharing a bottle of champagne. It was in an ice bucket and every time one had a swig, a waiter leapt forward and refilled the glass.

We ordered beer but were told they did not serve beer there and so we had a measure of whisky. We only had one after learning the price. When we left, there were still no customers. I wondered what time the show started! It would be late by Swadlincote standards!

As we left the casino, a plaintive voice called out, “What about the doorman?”, implying he required a tip. This called for a pithy rejoinder.

Of course, stepping out on to foreign soil is always a learning experience, a time to soak up the unique differences between cultures.

And differences are never more readily seen than when it comes to the call of nature.

One problem that reared its ugly head in 1950s’ Ostend was the difficulty we had in locating public toilets when we first arrived. We were looking for signs which said “Ladies” and “Gents” – in Belgian, of course – but could not see any, though we did wonder why men and women were going through the same door in the various establishments in which we took a drink.

After a time, we discovered that the usual system was that the ladies’ facilities were behind the gentlemen’s, the ladies having to pass through the gents to gain access to their section.

One time, we found the gents in an underground in the centre of a road. We went down the steps and were confronted by a woman seated behind a small desk with a plate containing money in front of her. We ignored her and I was just relieving myself when I felt a tap on my shoulder from the woman complaining that we had not paid her. This was not the system I had been used to on the Swadlincote Delph!

During our stay, we visited Middleburg on the Walcheren Islands, in the Netherlands.

In a souvenir shop window, we saw a cigarette dispenser in the form of a house.

The roof was lifted and cigarettes placed inside. The roof was then replaced and, when the chimney was pressed down, a cigarette shot out of an aperture at the side.

Clive thought it would make a suitable present for Dad so we entered the shop and a young lady assistant asked if she could help us.

“Yes,” replied our kid. “I would like a fag ’ouse, please.”

This seemed to puzzle her and, after another try, she went to get the manager who was similarly puzzled at our request. We had to take him out of the shop and point out what we required.

On the evening of our departure, we were presented with a packed lunch from the hotel and told how much they had enjoyed our visit.

On our flight home, we were flying in sunny weather at 3,000ft and at 230 knots when we suddenly ran into gale force winds as we approached the English coast. We were tossed about like a cork on the ocean and nearly all the passengers were sick.

Clive and I were all right, if a little ashen-faced.

When we arrived at Elmdon, we were all lined up and asked if we had anything to declare. No-one had so two people were picked out at random to be questioned.

Surprise, surprise, it was Clive and me. We had nothing but we were searched and even our packed lunch was disassembled. I can only surmise that we must have looked like dodgy characters. I can’t think why!

# bygonederbyshire.co.uk/articles/Derby_Airways:_Early_jets...

# www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/bd.htm

1. History

The airline dates back to the formation of Derby Aviation Limited on the 16 February 1949.

Derby Aviation was a subsidiary of Air Schools Limited which had been formed in 1938 to train pilots for the RAF.

In 1949, the company formed both Derby Aviation based at Burnaston near Derby and Wolverhampton Aviation based at Pendeford, near Wolverhampton offering ad-hoc charter and freight flights with De Havilland Dragon Rapides, as well as aircraft maintenance and brokerage. [5]

Flying instruction ceased in 1953 with the start of scheduled flights from Derby and Wolverhampton to Jersey.

When the first Douglas DC-3 arrived in 1955, Wolverhampton Aviation had been phased out and the company's sole base became Burnaston Airport. International services commenced in 1956 to Ostend and holiday flights to mainland Europe began.

The company was also contracted by Rolls-Royce to transport aero engines to customers throughout the world. In 1959, the company changed its name to Derby Airways.

[Dancealot]

From a Dutchman merely this humble question no aircraft, no airline, this time.

Only 1 question what year was this picture taken....

[David48]

To spud67 ... a warm welcome and your contribution is welcome ... please don't stop with just one plane.

GrantSmith ... a welcome back

smokie36 ... great work there.

Eventually, I'll run out of material, but with the members contributing here, it adds more depth to the thread ... and I can have some fun guessing also ...

.

[David48]

From a Dutchman merely this humble question no aircraft, no airline, this time.

FockherDutch.jpg

Only 1 question what year was this picture taken....

Finally I get to throw a dart! (have a guess)

Well, Fokker started in 1912 from my quick research.

It's plane #20

... so my guess is 1916

.

[Dancealot]

Far off! But as a Dutchman so therefore i am proud of Dutch heritage so i give you a hint.

Henry Ford himself organized the famous reliability tour for this occasion...

[twinpin]

Ok I will have a stab at the year of the FOKKER 1936