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Re: An Old Favourite

Posted: 31 Aug 2012, 18:14
by Paul K
NigelC wrote:
Paul K wrote:I flew from Heathrow ( or was it Gatwick ? ) to Lagos, via Kano in 1976 with BCal, and I wonder now if it was a DC10 ? I have a feeling it was.
In '76 it was more likely to be VC10. :thumbsup:
How I wish, Nigel. I'd love to be able to say I'd flown in a VC-10, but it definitely wasn't one.
cstorey wrote:Paul : you are almost certainly correct that it was a DC10 as I think that all the VC10s had gone ( to Malawi, Oman etc) by late 1974, and BCal did not acquire its only 747 ( known as Hitler's Revenge for some obscure reason connected with its lack of reliability) until rather later
Yes, it definitely wasn't a 747 so you must be right, Chris. I've flown on a number of DC-10s, but had completely forgotten about that one until this thread came up. I believe its also the only time I ever flew with British Caledonian.

Re: An Old Favourite

Posted: 31 Aug 2012, 18:51
by Garry Russell
BCAL had two Boeing 747's that I can think of

G-BJXN, G-HUGE

Re: An Old Favourite

Posted: 31 Aug 2012, 20:15
by speedbird591
Garry Russell wrote:BCAL had two Boeing 747's that I can think of

G-BJXN, G-HUGE
BA inherited them and operated them on routes out of Gatwick. At least one of them was a combi and had freight on the main deck. We Heathrow crews were called to work them when they were short at LGW. It only carried a small number of economy passengers which meant that the senior crew took those positions in contrast to LHR aircraft which had hundreds :lol:

That picture of the Caledonian Tristar is very odd. It is dated 1998 but BA had got shot of Airtours/Caledonian by then so it can't be. But as Dave says, Utopia came in in 1997 so that could be right. I don't remember the BCAL Airbuses being in Caledonian colours either. I wish I hadn't found that photo now :doh:

Ian :)

Re: An Old Favourite

Posted: 31 Aug 2012, 20:18
by TSR2
I think one of the BCAl airbuses was painted in Caledonian, but I'm not sure when... I think it was just prior to the take over *-)

Re: An Old Favourite

Posted: 31 Aug 2012, 20:33
by TSR2
Here you go Ian... there was 2 I think, the one below and G-CVYE

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.s ... entry=true

Re: An Old Favourite

Posted: 31 Aug 2012, 20:38
by Paul K
G-HUGE...better its on a Jumbo than a Chipmunk. ;)

Re: An Old Favourite

Posted: 31 Aug 2012, 21:32
by NigelC
One for the road......

Image

Re: An Old Favourite

Posted: 31 Aug 2012, 21:36
by NigelC
Or a real classic...

Image

Re: An Old Favourite

Posted: 31 Aug 2012, 22:09
by DaveB
It is dated 1998
:doh: I hadn't noticed that!

I was going to add that G-HUGE was BA's toe-dip into big time freight. Thank goodness I checked.. that one was G-KILO :lol:

An interesting shot Ian that's giving us all plenty to wonder about :lol:
ATB
DaveB B)smk

Re: An Old Favourite

Posted: 31 Aug 2012, 23:19
by speedbird591
DaveB wrote:I was going to add that G-HUGE was BA's toe-dip into big time freight.
BA have had a few of their own freighters in the past. At the moment they wet lease three brand new 747-8F freighters in BA World Cargo livery as well as leasing others on an ad hoc basis.

I used to love working on the 707 freighters. I know I'm always going on about it - but a steward on a freighter? It was the best job in the world :lol:

Ian :)