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Post by okami on Jun 12, 2010 6:07:09 GMT -5
Hi Chris, Ray, Many thanks for the kind words! ^_^ You'll be glad to know, though, that there won't be a wait for the next few legs - most of them I flew a long time ago, I just had never gotten round to posting them! After the previous leg which saw us arrive in Africa, this one takes us South - more specifically, to Robertsfield airport in Monrovia, Liberia. This specific leg caused a whole thread of itself back when I flew it, due to reasons which I will explain as they happened. Airline: Air France Schedule: January 1962 Flight: Air France 309 Equipment: Lockheed L-1649A Starliner Frequency: Tuesdays only Departs: Paris/Orly (LFPO - France) Departure: 2110 local time (2010 UTC) Arrives: Robertsfield/Monrovia (GLRB - Liberia) Arrival:Wednesday 0855 local time (0940 UTC) Stops: 1 stop: - Dakar/Yoff (GOOY - Senegal) arrives Wednesday 0535 local, departs 0645 local Air France 309 sees the only Starliner leg in my entire World Journey, and through a quirk of planning it comes right after two Connie legs (Panair 294 and Lufthansa 503). Air France was still using its Starliners in 1962, mainly on long-haul flights to destinations which couldn't be served by its new fleet of 707s - Robertsfield being one of them. Other Starliners were still being used for internal African traffic. The Dakar - Robertsfield leg is a short-haul flight for a Starliner - barely two hours of flying. Of course, the really long leg is the one before: it's a 9 1/2 hour flight from Paris to Dakar. Despite it being such a short flight, Air France 309 makes for some wonderful viewing as it mostly is a coastal route - in the next picture, we're just about to pass Conakry, Guinea. Soon after, ATC radioes us to start the descent, and here the trouble begin. As the Starliner descends and its engines are throttled down, the number 3's RPM begins to surge (full discussion and aftermath, see: calclassic.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=2464 ) While at first not really problematic, number 3's problems soon appear to escalate, necessitating a shut-down. Unfortunately this all takes place while the Starliner is in final approach. By the time the Starliner touches down, its number 3 has been shut down, but the prop's still windmilling... Luckily the whole issue hasn't affected the landing itself, and the passengers don't seem to have noticed anything either. Minutes later we're on the apron; as the passengers start to deplane, the mechanics start to look at the engine. Next time: going Eastwards...
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Post by okami on Jun 13, 2010 14:56:00 GMT -5
One day after our arrival at Robertsfield we're gone again, and this time on an "Imperial" Airline: Airline: Etiopian Airlines Schedule: June 1963 Flight: Ethiopian 617 Equipment: Douglas DC-6B Super Cloudmaster Frequency: Thursdays only Departs: Conakry Intl. (GUCY - Guinea) Departure: 1100 local time (1100 UTC) Arrives: Addis Ababa/Bole (HAAB - Ethiopia) Arrival:Friday 0835 local time (0535 UTC) Stops: 4 stops: - Robertsfield/Monrovia (GLRB - Liberia) arrives 1125 local, departs 1210 local - Accra/Kotoka (DGAA - Ghana) arrives 1555 local, departs 1640 local - Lagos Intl. (DNMM - Nigeria) arrives 1850 local, departs 1935 local - Khartoum Intl. (HSSS - Sudan) arrives Friday 0420 local, departs 0505 local Back in the early 1960s, Ethiopian 616/617 was a new service, linking Africa's East and West coasts. It fitted in with the new business plan of Ethiopian, which at that time was evolving from a small state-run airline to a large international one. Ethiopian was also re-equipping itself: it was in the course of replacing its CV-240s by DC-6Bs, and was on the verge of acquiring Boeing 720s. Flight 617 was the East-bound leg of Ethiopian's transcontinental service: it linked Conakry, Guinea with Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, stopping in Robertsfield, Accra, Lagos and Khartoum. It's a reasonably cloudy day, but we're well up and clear of the weather, which not only makes for a comfortable ride, but also for some breathtaking views. 'Our' leg is a reasonably short one, just three hours long. So it's not long before ATC begins to guide us down into Accra. And as we touch down at Accra's Kotoka airport, we say goodbye to the aircraft's crew. They will continue on with their East-bound journey in less than an hour's time; we, however, have 19 hours to spend at Accra before our next flight leaves... Next flight: Ever further Eastwards...
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Post by okami on Jun 14, 2010 18:56:55 GMT -5
After the delightfully colourful DC-6B of Ethiopian, today's leg sees another flamboyantly painted aircraft: a Ghana Airways Viscount. Airline: Ghana Airways Schedule: November 1962 Flight: Ghana 850 Equipment: Vickers Viscount 838 Frequency: Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays only Departs: Accra/Kotoka (DGAA - Ghana) Departure: 0900 local time (0900 UTC) Arrives: Lagos Intl. (DNMM - Nigeria) Arrival: 1115 local time (1015 UTC) Stops: non-stop Founded in 1958, with a 60% government share and a 40% stake for BOAC, Ghana Airways started services with a wet-leased BOAC Stratocruiser. Soon the airline started operating its own domestic and regional flights on routes previously operated by WAAC, initially with one Heron, and at the start of 1959 with a second Heron as well as a DC-3. April 1959 saw the Stratocruiser services begining to be supplanted by Britannia ones, with the final Strat-flight in August - which also marked the end of BOAC's connection with that particular type. The next big step came in 1960, first with an order for 3 Viscounts in April and, to 'prove their neutrality' (you got to love geopolitics), an order for 6 IL-18s. 1960 also saw the wet-lease on the Britannias becoming a purchase: while the route-network of Ghana Airways ever expanded, their IL-18 fleet also increased in size from 6 to 8 aircraft. The airline was ever growing, both in size as well as in ambitions! 1961 saw Ghana Airways expand its network even more. By this time it flew as far West as Dakar, as far East as Nairobi, and as far North as Beyrouth. The airline also became entirely state-run, with Ghana buying out BOAC for the remaining 40 % of its shares. It seemed like there were no bounds to Ghana Airways: while in 1962 its network had expanded to include destinations such as Addis Ababa, London, Rome and Zürich, the airline was in negotiations with Boeing for 2 707s, with which they planned to establish both to the US as well as to Tokyo and Sydney. Meanwhile, the airline made an agreement with Swissair for leased Convair 990s However, it was too much, too soon. Lacking in funds for the purchase, Ghana Airways had to cancel their 707 purchase. Meanwhile, it handed Moscow back 4 of its (now) 8 IL-18s, as well as selling the Viscounts, and retiring the Convair 990s and Britannias in favour of VC-10s. A coup in 1966 brought further changes; however, the airline went on to become an established carrier - that is, until it ran into difficulties in the late 1990s and early 2000s, leading to its liquidation in 2005. Meanwhile, our Viscount has landed at Lagos, Nigeria, bringing an end to this leg. The next one will see our journey take a... slight detour...
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Post by okami on Jun 16, 2010 5:51:21 GMT -5
The next leg in our journey is a bit shorter, for two good reasons: a) the flight only lasted two hours, and b) it's a night-flight, so not many good screenshots came out of it. Anyway, our journey starts at Lagos airport, and brings us to Kano, both in Nigeria. Airline: BOAC - British Overseas Airways Corporation Schedule: April 1960 Flight: Speedbird 256 Equipment: Bristol Britannia 312 Frequency: Fridays only Departs: Lagos Intl. (DNMM - Nigeria) Departure: 1900 local time (1800 UTC) Arrives: London/Heathrow (EGLL - UK) Arrival: 0900 local time (0800 UTC) Stops: 2 stops: - Kano Intl. (DNKN -Nigeria) arrives 2105 local, departs 2150 local - Rome/Ciampino (LIRA - Italy) arrives Saturday 0455 local, departs 0540 local Formerly the West Africa service, at the beginning of the 1960s BOAC operated its services into Nigeria and Ghana in pool with Ghana Airways and Nigeria Airways. For this purpose, both companies leased Bristol Britannias. Like with Ghana Airways, this deal didn't last very long, though: Nigeria broke up the partnership when they bought out BOAC for their part of the shares of Nigerian Airways in March 1961. BOAC went on to replace the Britannia on the Nigeria-London service with the 707 and the VC-10, while Nigeria Airways replaced theirs with Comet 4s, then VC-10s. Not that "our" Britannia is affected by any of that, of course. After a short 2-hour stint, it happily lands at Kano Airport, where the ground crew will prepare it for its next leg into Rome. For us, though, it's the sign to get off: while the flight will head North, we will head South... Next leg: Southbound with a Seven Seas...
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Post by okami on Jun 18, 2010 8:01:31 GMT -5
After the previous short detour to the North, we're back on track to the South in this installment. Airline: KLM Schedule: April 1957 Flight: KLM 593 Equipment: Douglas DC-7C Seven Seas Frequency: Sundays only Departs: Amsterdam/Schiphol (EHAM - the Netherlands) Departure: 1430 local time (1330 UTC) Arrives: Johannesburg/Jan Smuts Intl. (FAJS - South Africa) Arrival: Monday 1650 local time (1450 UTC) Stops: 4 stops: - Zürich/Kloten (LSZH - Switzerland) arrives 1620 local, departs 1715 local - Rome/Ciampino (LIRA - Italy) arrives 1910 local, departs 2015 local - Kano Intl. (DNKN - Nigeria) arrives Monday 0335 local, departs 0420 local - Brazzaville/Maya Maya (FCBB - Republic of Congo) arrives 0850 local, departs 0935 local Back in 1957, the Seven Seas were new on this route: in fact, the KLM timetable for April 1957 lists two alternative versions for the flight: KL591 was flown by Super Constellations up to and including the flight of June 27th, and by Seven Seas from July 3rd; while flight KL593 was flown by Super Constellation up to and including the flight of July 1st, and by Seven Seas from July 7th onwards, meaning the last Super Constellation from Johannesburg would arrive at Schiphol just an hour and forty minutes before the first Seven Seas service would depart for there on July 3rd, 1957. Just as a matter of interest: both flights departed at the same times in Schiphol and Johannesburg, and followed exactly the same route. The overal difference was minimal: the Seven Seas would arrive 55 minutes earlier than the Super Constellation on the Schiphol-Johannesburg leg, and 45 minutes earlier on the return leg. Of course, the main selling point of the DC-7C was its passenger comfort, as advertised in the 1957 timetable itself: www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/complete/kl57/kl57-02.jpg In a Seven Seas, you wouldn't necessarily arrive earlier at your destination, but you would most definitely arrive in more comfort. (... imagine a Ryanair service to South Africa - sorry, to somewhere near South Africa... XD)The Seven Seas' spell on the South African route wasn't very long, though. Oddly, it was not replaced by a DC-8, but by a Lockheed Electra II: the timetables for October 1962 state it followed exactly the same route as its propliner predecessors, but arrived some considerably earlier on both legs than the Seven Seas (something over 5 hours on both legs). However, most of this time can be attributed to shorter stopovers rather than actual aircraft speed (the 4 stopovers were shortened from 45 - 60 minutes to 30 - 40 minutes...) Some four hours into the flight, ATC begins to direct us into Brazzaville, our Seven Seas' penultimate stop on its way to Johannesburg. However, we have one more stop to go before arriving there... Next leg: a double one: Jo'burg via Livingstone...
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Post by okami on Jun 19, 2010 18:10:18 GMT -5
After a short rest at Brazzaville, our journey continues. Unlike the previous legs, the next two legs will be flown by the same carrier, namely Union Aéromaritime de Transport. Airline: UAT - Union Aéromaritime de Transport Schedule: January 1958 Flight: Aéromar 739 Equipment: Douglas DC-6B Super Cloudmaster Frequency: Wednesdays only Departs: Paris/Le Bourget (LFPB - France) Departure: 1500 local time (1400 UTC) Arrives: Johannesburg/Jan Smuts Intl. (FAJS - South Africa) Arrival: Monday 1745 local time (1545 UTC) Stops: 4 stops: - Nice/Côte d'Azur (LFMN - France) arrives 1710 local, departs 1810 local - Tripoli/Idris (HLLT - Libya) arrives 2230 local, departs 2315 local - Brazzaville/Maya Maya (FCBB - Republic of Congo) arrives Thursday 0755 local, departs 0855 local - Livingstone/Maramba (FLLI - Northern Rhodesia*) arrives 1430 local, departs 1515 local * Nowadays ZambiaUAT, also known as Aéromaritime, was founded in 1949 as one of several airlines which flew in conjunction with Air France. It was specialised in long-distance and local African flights, covering parts of French Africa which weren't served by Air France. Other such carriers included Aigle Azur, SAGETA and Transports Aeriens Internationaux. Aigle Azur and TAI mainly flew into Madagascar and French Indochina, while SAGETA and UAT served French West Africa. They were also known for sometimes using rather unusual types, such as Aigle Azur's Boeing Stratoliners, and TAI's and SAGETA's SNCASE Armagnacs. UAT was no exception to this: while it used long-distance types such as the DC-4, DC-6B and in later years DC-8 (not to mention a very short spell on the Comet 1), it also used such types as the Heron and Noratlas for its local African services. The latter type - comparable with the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar - was especially adapted for its task of operating out of short and unprepared dirtstrips: for extra performance on its take-off it had two Turbomeca Marbore turbojets mounted on its wingtips: www.modellversium.de/galerie/18-flugzeuge-zivil/2989-nord-2502-noratlas-heller.html(At this point I can't help but ask: since a model for the Noratlas with Turbomeca jets exists for FS9, perhaps somebody could paint up some UAT textures for it? )As our Cloudmaster approaches Livingstone, the first part of our flight nears its end. Next time, Aéromar 739 flies into Johannesburg...
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Post by okami on Jun 20, 2010 13:50:59 GMT -5
Now, after a short stop-over of three quarters of an hour at Livingstone, during which our Super Cloudmaster is refuelled for its last leg, we head out for Johannesburg. This leg is quite a bit shorter than the previous one: while Brazzaville - Livingstone was a good 4 1/2 hours flight, Livingstone - Johannesburg is just 2 1/2 hours. Back at the end of the 1950s, events in Africa were catching up both with Air France and Aéromaritime. With all of the French colonies declaring independence, both companies saw whole swathes of their network "disappear", being handed over to other companies. Like BOAC did with Ghana and Nigerian Airways, Air France and UAT helped the new independent states found their own airline, Air Afrique. This assistance came mainly in the form of maintenance and equipment, with both Air France and UAT leasing aircraft - Starliners, 707s and DC-8s - to the airline. Additionally, Air France handed over their remaining DC-4s to the new airline. All of this still left Aéromaritime with a bit of a problem: they had just lost most of their regional flights. However, France's other main private carrier had had similar problems: with the independence of Madagascar, and the events in Indochina a couple of years before, TAI too had lost swathes of their network. Now, the story is slightly more complicated than I'm explaining it here, but UAT and TAI had started talks over this many years before. In each case, in 1961 they agreed over a merger, which came into effect in 1963: instead of two small airlines, each serving their sectors: UAT and TAI became one large airline, namely UAT - Union des Transports Aerienne, serving all five continents, but specialising on their long-haul African routes. Thus, Aéromar 739's voyage concludes in Johannesburg. After this leg, our journey heads Northwards again, towards Europe. However, there are a couple of surprises still in store...
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Post by Tom/CalClassic on Jun 20, 2010 19:00:16 GMT -5
And UAT and TAI became UTA, which eventually was folded into Air France.
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Post by okami on Jun 21, 2010 3:09:52 GMT -5
... I actually forgot to mention its new name? What was I thinking? >.< Anyway, the next leg brings us from Johannesburg to... Lourenço Marquez. Airline: South African Airways Schedule: March 1958 Flight: Springbok 253 Equipment: Douglas DC-3 Dakota Frequency: Mondays and Fridays only Departs: Johannesburg/Jan Smuts Intl. (FAJS - South Africa) Departure: 0815 local time (0615 UTC) Arrives: Lourenço Marquez (FQMA - Moçambique) Arrival: 1000 local time (0800 UTC) Stops: non-stop Nowadays, Lourenço Marquez is know as Maputo, but back then, it was the capital of the Portuguese colony of Moçambique. Unlike many other African colonies, Mozambique (as it's known today) was still quite a while away from its independence. This wouldn't come until 1975, in fact, and was quite a messy affair at that as well. Anyway, to get back to our flight, South African was only one of four regular carriers to fly into Portuguese Mozambique, the others being the colony's airline itself, DETA; TAP, the Portuguese national airline; and Central African Airways, based in neighbouring Rhodesia. Back in 1959, the aerial connections into Mozambique were few and far between: between all four carriers, there were just 9 international flights weekly into Lourenço Marquez, and 4 ones weekly into Beira. However, that's not taking into account charter flights: by the early 1960s, Lourenço Marquez became one of the stops for low-fare airlines into Southern Africa, such as Balair and Caledonian. However, I do imagine this popularity as a stop-over was rather short-lived, as a war of independence broke out in 1964... Meanwhile, our Dakota has reached its destination. The next flight will be the last double leg flight in the journey, though the choice of equipment might rather surprise you...
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Post by thumper on Jun 21, 2010 17:36:35 GMT -5
What beautiful snaps. But I must admit being tortured about not yet being able to fly those WIP African retro airports. Do we have an ETA yet on availability? I hate to be pushy, but the exotic airport eye candy is almost too much to bear.
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Post by okami on Jun 21, 2010 19:03:51 GMT -5
Well, the list of sceneries still to be done is still three or four times as long as those that have already been done, so... still quite a while to go. Juba will have goats, though. ;D Anyway, the next leg is, well... retro. But accurate. Airline: DETA – Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique Schedule: July 1955 Flight: DETA 018 Equipment: Junkers Ju-52/3m Frequency:Saturdays only Departs: Lourenço Marquez* (FQMA - Moçambique) Departure: 0600 local time (0400 UTC) Arrives: Quelimane (FQQL - Moçambique) Arrival: 1115 local time (0915 UTC) Stops: 2 stops - Inhambane (FQIN - Moçambique) arrives 0725 local, departs 0750 local - Beira (FQBR - Moçambique) arrives 0935 local, departs 1005 local First of all, I have to admit a mistake: out of a choice of DETA's three Iron Annies, I managed to take the only one destroyed in a crash. CR-AAJ was damaged beyond repair in 1950. Anyway, back in the mid-1950s, DETA was a relatively small colonial carrier, using mostly outdated aircraft. Its fleet counted one De Havilland Dragonfly; six De Havilland Dragon Rapides; two Junkers 52s; a Lodestar and three Dakotas. Of course, one has to keep in mind it served only a small network as well: about under a dozen of domestic, and three international destinations. That said, by the mid-1950s, Deta was beginning to "modernize". More about that in a later post, though - our Iron Annie is making a stop-over at Inhambane...
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Post by okami on Jun 25, 2010 14:30:09 GMT -5
After our stop-over at Inhambane, DETA 018 departs for its next stop at Beira. In 1955, DETA's two surviving Junkers Ju-52s were still soldiering on, nearly 20 years after they had been purchased. They were just a fragment of the airline's antiquated fleet; however, the next ten years saw some intensive modernisation. The Junkers', lacking in spares and completely worn out, were the first to leave in 1957, as DETA managed to purchase a fourth DC-3. After a fifth and sixth were purchased in '58, the airline also retired its only Lockheed Lodestar. The arrival of a seventh Dakota in 1960 allowed DETA to retire its fleet of De Havilland biplanes (6 Rapides and a Dragonfly). However, one year later the airline did one better, as they managed to purchase three Fokker Friendships. During the course of the 1960s a fourth Friendship entered DETA's fleet, while the Dakota's were gradually retired. At the end of the 1960s, DETA purchased a number of 737-200s, and in the mid-70s, they leased a number of 707s. After Mozambique gained its independence, DETA was rebaptised as LAM - Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique, under which brand the airline currently still flies (present-day fleet: 3 Boeing 737-200s and 2 Embraer 190s) Meanwhile, our Iron Annie lands at Beira, its last stop-over before flying to Quelimane. However, at Beira we'll take our next flight to neighbouring Southern Rhodesia...
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Post by okami on Jun 29, 2010 15:20:18 GMT -5
Now, day 65 of the virtual journey (that includes the days in which no flights take place) sees us fly from Beira, Mozambique, to Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia (present-day Harare, Zimbabwe). Airline: DETA – Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique Schedule: July 1955 Flight: DETA 025 Equipment: Douglas DC-3 Dakota Frequency:Mondays only Departs: Beira (FQBR - Moçambique) Departure: 0915 local time (0715 UTC) Arrives: Salisbury* (FVHA - Southern Rhodesia) Arrival: 1110 local time (0910 UTC) Stops: non-stop Please take no note of the livery, it is my very first try but as it is based on a pre-existing one (and hideously inaccurate, ànd made in MS Paint) I will not be uploading it anywhere. The weather wasn't very good on the way from Beira to Salisbury, with only marginal ground visibility on take-off, and possibly even worse on arrival. Inbetween, though, there was a break in the weather just around the border of Mozambique and South Rhodesia, just as our flight was passing Lake Chicamba. But, as I already mentioned, after that it only deteriorated. At first it wasn't much of a problem. But around Salisbury the visibility was so bad, I had trouble locating the airport - made even worse by a faulty DF. The DF's signal put me about half a mile left of the actual approach (probably faulty settings caused by the faulty cog sitting behind the wheel), but luckily the glare of the VASI allowed me to locate the runway and enabled a safe landing. Next flight: long haul with a Springbok.
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Post by okami on Jun 30, 2010 5:00:46 GMT -5
Now, for our next flight on day 66, we're taking Springbok flight 214 from Salisbury to Nairobi. Airline: South African Airways Schedule: February 1958 Flight: Springbok 214 Equipment: Douglas DC-7B Frequency:Tuesdays only Departs: Johannesburg/Jan Smuts Intl. (FAJS - South Africa Departure: 1130 local time (0930 UTC) Arrives: London/Heathrow (EGLL - UK) Arrival: Wednesday 1030 local time (1030 UTC) Stops: 4 stops: - Salisbury (FVHA - South Rhodesia) arrives 1345 local, departs 1430 local - Nairobi/Jomo Kenyatta (HKJK - Kenya) arrives 1940 local, departs 2025 local - Khartoum Intl. (HSSS - Sudan) arrives 2335 local, departs Wednesday 0020 local - Rome/Ciampino (LIRA - Italy) arrives 0705 local, departs 0750 local Flight 218 was one of the many intercontinental ones flown by South African Airways' DC-7B fleet - oddly enough, while the DC-7C knew plenty of international success, South African was the only true "foreign" first-time purchaser of the DC-7B variant (not including second-hand users, that is) Here we have flight 214 crossing the Zambezi river, by the way. Anyway, the early DC-7 variants appear to have been unattractive to European buyers, who deemed that its improvements over the DC-6B didn't warrant the costs: so while some US airlines purchased the new DC-7 and DC-7B, their European counterparts instead continued to buy DC-6Bs and Super Constellations. The leg from Salisbury to Nairobi takes us from Southern Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwi), via Mozambique, Northern Rhodesia (present-day Zambia), Nyasaland (present-day Malawi) and Tanganyika (present-day Tanzania) to Kenya. It's a long journey over a beautiful part of the world, giving us plenty to look at. As the sun sets, we cross Tarangire National Park, but an even greater sight meets us as we start to descend into Nairobi, namely Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain of the continent of Africa. Unfortunately our journey for the day ends here; we will have to wait a day at Nairobi before we get to take our next flight.
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Post by Tom/CalClassic on Jun 30, 2010 9:47:40 GMT -5
Yes, the DC-7 was designed instead to get across the USA in about 8 hours (so airlines could use only one crew), and did not have much extra range over the DC-6B. The DC-7B couldn't fly as far as the L-1049G, so the latter was the favorite. Not until the DC-7C did Douglas have a true intercontinental aircraft, which was then embraced by most Western European international airlines.
Thanks,
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