Oh happy days.

VEGAS · Post by **VEGAS** » 18 Jan 2007, 17:50

Just seen this on Airliners. Brought a smile to my face.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0924731/M/

Chris Trott · Post by **Chris Trott** » 18 Jan 2007, 22:01

"Look, it's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!"

That's a great picture.

PhilipsCDRW · Post by **PhilipsCDRW** » 19 Jan 2007, 12:00

Aren't all those airlines defunct (or swallowed)? Except for Cathay Pacific.

And all the aircraft listed - no longer in airline service, except the 747-200 which is no longer in front-line airline service...

I was born in 1986. To me, this scene is classic British commercial aviation!

Post by **Garry Russell** » 19 Jan 2007, 12:13

Yup

Everything there gone in one form or another..Cathay is surviving but with a different image, fleet and nationality being HK based, which was British then.

Even the views.......but strange one's perception of classic depending on birth date.

To me this is sort of modern-ish.

I don't know how many folks here have a "year", where everything seemed to come together and life was either before that or after that.

My "year" was 1968 and I was ten/eleven :think:

Garry

VEGAS · Post by **VEGAS** » 19 Jan 2007, 13:00

My year was 1984. There was just so much for me to see at Ringway or Manchester as it now is.

Garry, I don't ever recall seeing Comets in airline service, out of interest what year did they retire? (I assume it was Dan Air that was the last UK operator) :think:

Post by **Garry Russell** » 19 Jan 2007, 13:04

Hi Eddie

Thinking off hand for the Comet 1981 sticks in my mind.

Come to think of it .could be 1980.I'll look it up

Garry

VEGAS · Post by **VEGAS** » 19 Jan 2007, 13:16

Hi Garry,

cheers for that. Found an intereseting article about them here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Comet

Seems the last passenger flight was 1980 but possibly a ferry flight to be broken up was after that so you are probably right.

Post by **Garry Russell** » 19 Jan 2007, 13:23

Got it Eddie

9th November 1980 with an enthusiasts flight by G-BDIW was the last "revenue" flight by a Comet.........Gatwick-Gatwick enthusiasts charter "DA8874"

This aircraft flew to Dusseldorf in February 1981 where it was preserved by Air Classik.

Although many airports had seen the last of them well before this date.

G-BDIT flew Lasham-Blackbushe

June 1981

Garry

VEGAS · Post by **VEGAS** » 19 Jan 2007, 13:29

Just been reading about Canopus and the aim to get her airworthy again by 2008! I really hope so but so often with these projects they seem to run out of cash. :sad:

Post by **Garry Russell** » 19 Jan 2007, 13:34

One problem with Canopus apart from the lack of engineering support and shortage of finance...........is she was never certified.

All her life was as a test machine in military marks...she was never an airliner.

I don't know how much difference this would make if she was to fly under restricted "test" conditions but she must surely rank as a new type effectively :think:

Garry