Gatwick. Saturday 12th January 1974

[paulmartin]

This would have been my first ever trip to Gatwick I’d just turned 16 and my parents let me venture out accompanied by my brother who was almost 18. We had no family cars so it was on the green line bus from Kingston-Upon-Thames, seem to recall it was an old single deck ‘RF’ type which took a fair old time to get there, and went round the houses – no M25 back then !


In those days the viewing ‘deck’ was on top of the old south pier, penned in with wire fencing with a little cafe at the terminal end of the pier.


This is what was in my note book. I only had a very basic pair of binoculars (my Granddad’s old WW1 set), no camera and no radio so I undoubtedly missed a few things I guess.


D-IGLS Cessna 340

G-AMSV Douglas DC-3 Intra Airways

G-AMYJ Douglas DC-3 Intra Airways

G-APBD Apache

G-APFG Boeing 707 British Airtours

G-APFL Boeing 707 British Airtours.

G-APHJ HP Herald British Island

G-APYC Comet 4 Dan Air

G-APZM Comet 4 Dan Air

G-ARTA VC-10 British Caledonian

G-ARWB Boeing 707 British Airtours

G-ASJE BAC 1-11 British Caledonian

G-ASJF BAC 1-11 British Caledonian

G-ASJG BAC 1-11 British Caledonian

G-ASJH BAC 1-11 British Caledonian

G-ASJI BAC 1-11 British Caledonian

G-ASTJ BAC 1-11 British Caledonian

G-ATPJ BAC 1-11 Dan Air

G-ATPK BAC 1-11 Laker

G-AVBX BAC 1-11 Laker

G-AVYZ BAC 1-11 Laker

G-AWOJ Cessna 172

G-AWTK Boeing 707 British Caledonian

G-AWWX BAC 1-11 British Caledonian

G-AWYV BAC 1-11 British Caledonian

G-AXJL BAC 1-11 British Caledonian

G-AXNC Boeing 737 Britannia

G-AXYD BAC 1-11 British Caledonian

G-AYOP BAC 1-11 British Caledonian

G-AYVS Comet 4 Dan Air

G-AYXR Boeing 707 Donaldson

G-AZAF HS 125

G-AZJM Boeing 707 British Caledonian

G-AZMF BAC 1-11 British Caledonian

G-AZSZ Aztec

G-AZWB Cherokee

G-AZZD Douglas DC-10 Laker

G-BAEL Boeing 707 Donaldson

G-BAFU Cherokee

G-BAFZ Boeing 727 Dan Air

G-BBHG Cessna 310

HB-LCE Cessna 310

I-DABL Caravelle SAM

SE-ECG Apache


Not a great deal to set the pulse racing but back then in the winter things were very quite I guess.


I can remember very little about this visit (well it was 48 years ago!) but suspect we were not there for very long due to the buses being pretty infrequent to get home again. I actually started spotting in the spring of 1973 but was not allowed to venture any further than Heathrow until this trip.



Still a bit of nostalgia to get the year going, my notebooks also reveal several visits to Gatwick in the Summer of 1974, but you’ll have to wait for those !


Thanks for looking,

Paul.

[rh226]

Hi Paul

As you say, a rather uninspiring selection of visitors.

Think that must have been the relatively newly introduced Green Line route 727 (Crawley - Gatwick - Heathrow - Luton), which was "RFW" operated (I think).

I used to live in Ashford in the '60s and used to get the 216 to Kingston ("RF" operated) and then pile onto the London Country 408 ("RT" operated). Used to get the "Express" (same route but limited stop) version of this route down to Redhill and then get another bus (again an "RT") down to Gatwick. Can't remember the route number of that one, though. Then I started cycling when I was about 16 (best time = 1hr50min).

Bob

[graham]

Thanks for the log Paul. Gatwick always used to be a pig of a place to reach back in those far off days. I grew up in Reading from where there was a direct train service, if you can call a trip that took well over two and a half hours and stopped at every station en route "direct". We'd spend more time getting there and getting back home then we'd spend spotting. But of course Gatwick was a very different kettle of fish 50 years ago, all fairly predictable stuff, the highlights of which for me would be the DC-8s of the likes of Overseas National and the occasional B727 of Trans International.

[howardlgw]

Paul , thanks for the Gatwick nostalgia. I think it is good to see a list of mainly G- reg as it gives a good feel of what was on show at LGW. You did pick a bad day to go, checking an old LAAS mag nothing mentioned of interest for Gatwick on that day. With regard to the Greenline coach, at that time the RC or RP class would have been used on the 727 route. I look forward to further old lists from the Summer of 74.

Regards Howard