Post by finforfun on Jul 21, 2021 11:05:09 GMT -5
To thank all of you involved for these recent sceneries. The 1959, and Ken Lawson's 1953 bring memories flooding back. I have possibly not looked closely enough, but the iconic BOAC busses were really one and a half deckers, the Commer Commando. You would check in at BOAC's impressive Art Deco Victoria terminal, and these odd vehicles would take you to the airport. Even as late as 1978 this system of checking in continued, though the busses were newer models by then. Once checked in at Northside an airside Commando would take you the short distance across the apron to your plane. In my case usually a BOAC Argonaut, and occasionally a KLM Constellation. Scouring the marvellous "Complete Airlines Timetables" I am unable to identify either Argonaut or Constellation flights in the regular schedules that followed the route London, Rome, Beirut to Basra. My father worked for the Iraqi Petroleum Company, and the presumption is that these were company charters for employees going on, or returning from leave. I have memories of an Argonaut on the ramp at Klayaat airfield (North of Tripoli, Lebanon) prior to the 1954 opening of Beirut International. The fact that the KLM Connies flew direct to and from London reinforces that opinion, all KLM scheduled flights used Schiphol as their hub. I took a photo of a KLM Connie at Kirkuk airfield, and that was never on the timetable. So to Christen the new 1959 Heathrow I "Piloted" TWA flight 900 Jeststream Ambassador (L1649) from Idlewild (Dep 1800 local)to Heathrow, with good tailwinds arriving an hour early, and plenty of reserve fuel. The TWA Starliners continued international services into 1960/61 despite 707s/DC8s having been around for a couple of years. Also for 1649 fans look in "From the archives_ Bob Buck flies a Connie from LA to London _ Air Facts Journal_files", where Bob Buck, then TWA's senior pilot describes the first over the pole flight from LAX to LHR.
All the best
Fin Fraser
All the best
Fin Fraser
