BEA Comet 4B

Post by **Garry Russell** » 10 Mar 2007, 22:55

Just wondered

Have you got all these routes?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meg/220100 ... 244322102/

Garry

Post by **DaveB** » 11 Mar 2007, 00:45

That's a bloody odd site Garry :shock: How the hell did you find yourself there?? :think:

Some look familiar but I couldn't say they all do

ATB

DaveB :tab:

Post by **Garry Russell** » 11 Mar 2007, 01:23

Hi Dave

I just searched for "BEA adverts"

There is someone selling the Red Square Corgi Viscount on EBay....that was a rare one at one time.

Just something else that came up........as it does.

But I couldn't resist an excuse to put that old advert here

Those were the days that there was a sort of pride in the airline not the modern advert where they pretend they are giving you a bargain out of the goodness of their heart.

Garry

Post by **Garry Russell** » 11 Mar 2007, 01:26

BTW

I don't even know where Doha is or is that

?

So I'm pretty sure you haven't got that one

But what the heck it's a RS Comet in just the way we remember them....black and white :dance:

Garry

cstorey · Post by **cstorey** » 11 Mar 2007, 08:35

Doha is in the Emirates . I did not realise it was anything other than sand in 1961! I was surprised to see it as a BEA destination, along with Kuwait and Bahrein, which I would have thought were served by BOAC at that stage

Post by **Garry Russell** » 11 Mar 2007, 12:25

They were served by BOAC as well.

Most of the BOAC routes that direction and into Africa previous went through Rome up until about then, another destinations served by BEA.

Perhaps the BOAC version was more luxurious or maybe BEA was just a fill in when the BOAC service may have been at best daily BEA may have offered a few extra flights. Also because the BOAC were en route stops they may have been passing through in the middle of the night. BEA were actual destinations so timing could be made to suit.

Also BOAC may only have carried to odd passenger ans in the days of less than 100 and most of them were going right through.

I wonder if BOAC only sold spare seats nearer the flight date as there would be no point in turning away pax wanting to go the say Singapore because all the seat were sold on a short sector of that route.

A lot of those seem to be to the edge of BEA map so we using the 4B to it's best advantage.

This is all guess work but I would think BOAC was more of a back up to BEA.

Garry

Post by **RAF_Quantum** » 11 Mar 2007, 13:40

Hi

My guess is that BEA were advertising flights to those Middle East destinations as their own but may have been the Cyprus Airways routes, an 'associated company'.

Rgds

John

Post by **Garry Russell** » 11 Mar 2007, 14:04

Hi John

If the routes were direct I would think it was BEA in their own right

With the associates like Cyprus BEA flew so far and the associate took over flew the rest and returned to the handover point and handed back

BOAC did a similar thing with for example Comet 1 with South African Airways.

BEA Malta used Comet 4B but whether or not they retained a particular aircraft with modified livery like the Trident and Viscount is unknown to me

The main associate with 4B operations was Olympic with frequent fleet swapping.

I would have thought if that advert was with an associate it would say so :think:

Garry

DispatchDragon · Post by **DispatchDragon** » 12 Mar 2007, 04:26

The thing I find funny in the Ad - is the little "book them on the four engine jetliner" bit at the bottom - which if you think about it is a dig at the frogs - as the only two engined jet operating then (Beside the Tu104) would have been the Caravelle - Mon deux le Rosbifs have beaten us AGAIN.......BTW Doha would have certainly been operated by BEA - funnily enough in the early 60s my father flew to Cairo to take part in the excavation of a Roman fort in the Nile Delta - we all trooped down to Heathrow from Harrow to see him off (Amazing how back then it was a BIG thing) His flight on BEA was to Cairo and when they announced it - it was with through service to Doha (I asked the question then - the answer I got from my next older brother was it was taking Oil working types to Shellmex-BP in the gulf) Hope that cleared up the mystery slightly

Leif

Post by **Garry Russell** » 12 Mar 2007, 11:19

Cheers for that Leif

Below the title it also refers to the big jet in Europe which I had taken also as a dig at the opposition at the time.

As you say then it was an event then......people used to dress up as if they were going somewhere posh.

The Big, Jet and the Four Engine comments are almost in the vein of the way ocean liners were promoted on size and number of funnels.

These old ads .......even this which to some are not 'that' long ago do contain the language of a different time with a little 'nose in the air' snobbery where as now they are almost 'A bloke down the pub' bargain

Garry