When traveling by air was an event

DispatchDragon · Post by **DispatchDragon** » 12 Mar 2007, 17:37

Hello folks and world

This is a carry on from a thread that was in CBFSVA.

Anyone else have memories from when traveling by air was something for
which one got dressed up? and the whole family went to the airport to see you off?

Garrys comparing it to traveling by ocean liner was very accurate

Here are my memories - prehaps some others would like to share (especially so the young ones can understand it didnt use to be sweats and an Ipod.)

1953 - My father traveled from Heathrow to Montreal via Gander
on a BOAC Stratocruiser - "coach" - I was still a guest of Mum
min - but in retrospect we stil have memories of the trip - a
perspex and gold plate cigarette case with a gold foil Speedbird
in the bottom corner - my father used to tell tales of sitting in the
"bar" downstairs on that trip.

1960s - as we talked about in the other thread traveling from Heathrow
to Cairo on a BEA Comet - we again all trooped down to
LHR to watch him depart then went upstairs on the QB to watch
him takeoff - we even had to wear "sunday best" to go to the airport.

After 1963 Im afraid with my Father working for BAC and traveling frequently to Munich, Frankfurt, Bonn (BEA again usually by Trident - but I do rememebr going to "see him off" and he boarded a Red Square Viscount). And my mother working for Euravia and myself hanging
around the flying club at Luton the mystery wore off a little...I do remember during this period the bucket and spade brigade departing Luton still "dressed up" to fly.

1968 - And this speaks volumes of how the traveling public was changing
- The whole family (sans my oldest brother who was scaring RAF instructors at Syreston) flew TWA from LHR - JFK and then on to ATL.

The taxi driver who picked us up to take us to LHR early on that sunday morning asked where we were flying to - Answer "America" - Oh he says how long are you staying? answer "forever" -- he couldnt really get his head around that concept. On the TWA flight (which was comprised of mostly US service dependents returning home) we stood out because we were still wearing our Sunday best and the Americans were all very casual.

It seems funny because even almost four years later when I returned to the UK on my own (BOAC this time VC10 - ORD-YUL-LHR) I wore a sports jacket and tie. - and others were beging to be more casual.

Since then being in the industry I normally have to "dress up" when I travel on business - or jump seating I wear black pants and crew shirt (passengers get nervous seeing someone NOT in uniform on the flight deck.) however passengers have totally changed - sweats - shorts teeshirts are deriguer , comfort being all....and NO one goes to the airport to see people off anymore - If I dont drive to the airport and park in the company lot these days Stace drops me off in the "kiss and go" lane at the front of the terminal......amazing how things have changed isnt it

BTW Tag thinks it totally natural to just go to the airport and climb on an aircraft - in fact his first and second flights on an airliner were to LA and back from Vegas - on the return flight we taxied out at LAX with his lordship in his car seat attached to the window seat - he looked out and said look daddy aeroplanes (YES Virginia even though he is by birth American he uses correct grammar

) then as we took off - Look Daddy its the sea....then Look Daddy clouds (passing through a scattered deck at 8000 feet...) He then calmly turned pulled the window blind down and went to sleep....Oh well.....

LOL

Thanks for reading - anyone else have memories of when traveling by air was "special"

Leif

Post by **Garry Russell** » 12 Mar 2007, 18:28

At one time LHR had a waving base for friends/relatives.

Nowadays a lot of airports would rather they didn't go in the terminal.

If they do that can't see to wave them off if they wanted.

But yes..it's all matter of fact now, no outbound customs and no checking how much currency you are taking out.....a bit of a none event

Which is a shame as it's was so nice to have something special

Thanks for sharing the first hand memories Leif

Garry

DanKH · Post by **DanKH** » 12 Mar 2007, 18:42

I have some very fond memories of CPH form way back when....

At that time it was also possible for relatives to wave friends and family off, standing on top of one of the "fingers" as the piers are called here...

ex: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1160050/L/

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1166395/L/

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0102995/L/

And speaking of getting close to the real thing, here's a picture that I have nicked from a.net a loooong time ago and once had as my wallpaper. I think that it has really captured the essence of those days...

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0119641/L/

airboatr · Post by **airboatr** » 12 Mar 2007, 18:44

I remember when My Brother went to Vietnam I was maybe 7
the whole Fam went (except Dad he had to be at work)
and seeing the 747 ..... :shock:
I remember saying "It's bigger than the Airport Mommy"
< ok ok .....I meant the building I was standing in>

not the whole airport

DanKH · Post by **DanKH** » 12 Mar 2007, 18:45

Yeah right!

Post by **Garry Russell** » 12 Mar 2007, 18:57

You used to be able to go along the top of the Gatwick piers. :dance:

Lots of pics in nostalgia books and videos as well as A net showing great close up times like in those SAS shots.

Fences weren't needed as out of respect you stayed online and the atrocities feared now were not even thought of then. :huf:

Like that sign marking the territory.......you didn't even need to obey that as you never thought to cross it in the first place.

Garry

airboatr · Post by **airboatr** » 12 Mar 2007, 20:16

Good Pics Dan
My memeories when reflected upon seem to be just like that
............there Black and white or the colors are faded

:-({|=
guess that means my memeory is fading??

yo Garry
hows the Weather Mate
raining ?

right then

Bye

Post by **Garry Russell** » 12 Mar 2007, 20:19

Not today Joe

but cloudy

And some sunny days expected towards the end of the week

Garry

airboatr · Post by **airboatr** » 12 Mar 2007, 20:31

BTW
Ground Control to Makor Leif
got that mic fixed yet mate

rodata · Post by **rodata** » 12 Mar 2007, 22:26

Hello all,
My name is Nils Rosengaard (Denmark). I'm a brand new member to this group - even I'm not brand new myself

I got interested when I noticed that Dan had linked to some of my pictures on airliners.net (b/w CV440 and Caravelle).

My first trip in a passenger aircraft was in 1954. At that time my family and I lived in Jakobshavn (Illulisat), Greenland.
In the autumn we were going to Denmark for half a year. There were no scheduled flights from Greenland at that time, but SAS was doing some proving flights before starting the first Polar-route from CPH to LAX via SÃ¸ndre StrÃ¸mfjord and Winnipeg. We were booked on one of those proving flights!

But first we had to travel from Jakobshavn to BW8 (as Sondre Stromfjord was called). The only way to travel in Greenland in the begining of the fifties was by boat or - during the winter - by dog sledge.
Jakobshavn was located several hundred kilometres north of Blue West 8 or Sondre Stromfjord. The only way of travelling in Greenland at that time was by boat or dog-sledge, so we had to board a small boat and sail for three days and nights before we reached Blue West 8. A very dangerous trip because of the unpredictable autumn weather.
We arrived at Blue West 8 on October 23, 1954 (I was 12 year old at that time) in the morning. Blue West 8 was still a USAF base and the civil facilities was not ready yet. From our boat we were loaded into an old american landing craft (LCA), that sailed us to the shore where it ran up on the small sand beach and lowered its ramp. We walked from the beach to a waiting USAF bus, that brought us from "the harbour" to the airfield, where we got our first glimpse of OY-KMA "Torkil Viking" - a DC-6B - that had arrived the night before from Los Angeles.
We waited until noon before we could board that enormous aircraft! While we waited, we were introduced to a very peculiar soft drink called Coca-Cola!
After all 76 passengers were seated, OY-KMA started its engines with a lot of smoke and noise. I was seated at one of the big windows on the last row (main cabin) on starboard side. This was a very good seat, because the seat on my left side was reserved for the crew, when they needed a rest. Even at that time I was very interested in airliners, and I had brought with me my most treasured book about aeroplanes (I still have it). To me this was the closest I could be to heaven!
The departure was rather dramatic as the aircraft was very heavy loaded with passengers, freight and fuel. The pilots used the whole length of the runway and started a tight starboard turn as soon as the wheels were free of the tarmac, to avoid the mountain ahead of the runway.
When we flew into the night I greatly admired the fantastic view of the exhaust flames from the two engines on the starboard wing. It looked like the engines were on fire!
During the flight, that lasted for 10 hours and 46 min, I talked to all of the crew and was invited into the flight compartment, where I sat in the observers seat between the captain and the pilot. The captain was Ferdniand Buck. Together with captain Sven Gibson he was captain on DC-6B LN-LMP "Leif Viking", that inaugurated the first Los Angeles to Copenhagen service on November 15, 1954.
The crew wrote a greeting to me on the first page of my book. In translation it says: 'Greetings to Nils from the S.A.S. crew onboard TORKIL VIKING'.
Furthermore we were given a "Viking Certificate" that certified that we have crossed the North Atlantic.
We landed at Copenhagen Airport at Kastrup around midnight. Three weeks later the scheduled route was inaugurated.
Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from that flight, but some years later my father took a very good photograph on another trip from Sondre stromfjord to CPH - this time on a scheduled flight.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0097661/L/

BTW:We were all dressed in our best clothes

Kind regards
Nils