HEATHROW - A LONG WALK

[keefyboy]

Well I don't know about you guys but I've only flown out of LHR from T3 and T5 in recent years.  I've never used the new fangled T2.  Well this poor american guy landed at the new T2 and I couldn't believe how far he had to walk to get to the Elizabeth Line.  Anyhow, it's a very long video and I gave up at the 35 minute point - however, it does give you a feel for the miles of what's very cleverly hidden underground at LHR.

[dave]

hi,
after all that my first 2-3 days would be resting... 1.25hrs... by 7.15 he had noticed how far it was, and he got his bags at 15.30mins.
i don't travel that much, but that walking looked excesssive?

regards,
dave...

[chrisj]

Like others 'Of a certain age' I remember the long cool walk through the tunnel from north side to Central , something not possible now . Also some while back , I was viewing from the carpark at terminal three when police escorted a convoy of cement lorries into the central area . It seems that whilst tunnelling the ground had weakened and buildings were starting to move ! I think this was for the underground tunnels and station . It seems that the experts did not know that Heathrow is built on the original bed of the Thames and is shingle so not stable ! One used to be able to walk overland from the bus station to the terminals but now it is all underground . Chrisj

[dave]

hi,
i remember walking the tunnel, and also coming out of the u/g station then over the foot bridge to T1? then along to the door to the stairs for the viewing terrace, and also coming down from the roof gardens across a couple of roads past the control tower then up onto the car park roof near T3, then back thru the old bus stands for the u/g station...
regards,
dave...

[keefyboy]

Ah the good old days - I always used to cycle through the tunnel (from 68 to about 74 - I must have done that 12 mile journey from Battersea to LHR 100+ times but that was back in the day when there was a dedicated cycle path along either side of the A4). We used to tie our cycles to the railings in the (I think) dedicated spot for cycles under the steps that led up to the entrance for T1/Queens Building - never had a problem leaving my bike there.

I also remember that a group of us used to meet at Clapham Junction on many weekends and cycle the 50+ miles to Gatwick and back - that was a seriously tough journey as we had to get over the north downs which was hard work even as a teenager. Again, most of the A23 had dedicated cycle paths for both north and south journeys and in those days it was all pretty safe. I'm no longer an advocate of cycling (except canal paths/disused rail etc) as they've become a pest for us motorists. Dedicated cycle lanes are great except in central London where they cause nothing but aggro with cyclists being a law unto themselves - times have changed!!

I certainly get the impression that the vast majority of Gatwicks connectivity is above ground unlike LHR.
Cheers
Keith

[billsamuels]

Memory suitably jogged… I didn’t cycle all the time but from Fulham to LAP was a trek and used to take me a good hour… Never took the bike through the tunnel (walked it a few times) as I always preferred to sit on the border fence above the tunnel. I had a sharrock VHS radio nicked from the roof of the QB so I was always weary about leaving things…

My favoured method was the 91 bus from North End Road which used to go to London Airport Central. Sometimes it would only go as far as Hounslow West where I would change onto the 81B (from memory) which went into the central area…

Mum always gave me a packed lunch which normally consisted of liver-sausage sandwiches (which I’ve not had since) and some money for a J.Lyon’s donut and a bottle of coke… Dear old mum, bless her….

How times have changed…

Bill

[graham]

A trip to LHR was so exciting half a century or more ago, taking the double decker bus from Reading, this made so many stops en route, Twyford, Maidenhead, Slough, Colnbrook, etc plus you endured the dozen or so linked traffic lights in what I recall was called " Slough Safety Town", hit the first set on green and stick to 30mph, then in theory you sailed all the way through but of course, the bus stopped frequently to set down/pick up. Excitement started to rise once clear of Slough and it wasn't too long before we alighted on the A4 to face that long walk through the tunnel on the raised walkway. Maybe when we were three quarters of the way through you got your first whiff of aviation fuel so you knew you were almost there. Up the steps to the viewing areas atop the QB, make base camp, sort out the notebook and pen, bins and, if funds had stretched to affording a film, the cheap Kodak Instamatic camera. Those were the days, great memories, and of course, due to the world going crazy and Heathrow's expansion, memories that will never be repeated.

Bill mentions his packed lunch, I usually took Marmite sandwiches, a glass bottle of pop ( no plastic bottles then), a KitKat and a bag of crisps. The sandwich was usually "well ironed" having sat in my duffel bag under the bins and notebooks. I didn't acquire my first proper airband radio until after the family moved from Reading to the wilds of Wiltshire in 1969 ( although I did have a five quid airband converter that you strapped to your regular radio, found a spare channel, and tuned in, although it was mostly static). I saved up £30 and bought a new Waltham 1049 which I recall had every channel known to mankind on it and a retractable aerial that was about four feet long. It weighed a tonne but was my pride and joy. I can't for the life of me remember where I bought it although I think it was an enthusiasts shop somewhere close to LAP as it was back then. Whatever happened to it I can't recall.

I suppose the only other memorable aspect is that back then, my parents had no qualms about letting their 11 or 12 year old son loose on public transport to spend a day thirty odd miles from home. Like all of you guys, I knew my way around to the extent that in 1968 aged 12, I went to visit my great aunt and uncle who lived in Leeds, travelled from Reading to Paddington, across town on the tube to Kings Cross and then to Leeds. Keithh will remember the train spotting trips we used to make on a Saturday from Reading, catch an earlyish train to Paddington, buy what was then a 7/6d Red Rover ticket which we used to get to all the London terminii before returning to Paddington at maybe 7pm, shattered but always safe.

You really can't imagine responsible parents allowing their kids to do that these days and the world is a poorer place for it....

[Jeff]

Look like I missed out ! Living a stone's throw from Hatton Cross I never bothered with going to the central area that much as it was a mere 8 min cycle ride from home to the Hunting hangar behind the Pan Am hangar locally known as the "light park" I believe. There were always spotters here to ask about movement and all biz were easily read off. I think the area which was slightly off an inside the perimeter road was an old MT area, it had a concrete drive through shelter and a tap. Summer holidays were spent here playing football or cricket while keeping an eye out for anything different. The police would occasionally drive through and stop for a friendly chat but that all changed once the IRA launched mortars from near Caine's lane onto T4.....after that we were always quickly ushered away if we stayed too long.

[keefyboy]

Great stories guys - would be good to hear from others whilst we're wallowing in nostalgia.

I do recall a couple of other ways we used to get to LHR - my least favoured was to walk through Battersea park and over to Sloane Square for the underground to Hounslow West - I can't remember which bus we caught from there. The other was to jump on the 285 at Clapham Common - this was a torturous journey that went all round the houses through the likes of Kingston and Feltham. It was a good route though as it cut through the BEA and BOAC hangers where the old Argonaut (ALHJ?) used to be parked. I can well remember BOACs first 2/3 747's parked up on the pan just after delivery.

My first CAM was 1967 and back in the day when Emirates and the like were unheard of - spotting was manageable and filling the gaps was great fun. These days because of the ridiculous number of massive aircraft orders, my interest in spotting has waned - I might as well be collecting car numbers! I still collect if a plane passes overhead but I no longer go out of my way to see something. Airshows remain a favourite though after getting the worst soaking of my life at this years Friday RIAT - I almost lost the meaning of life!!
Cheers
keith

[graham]

I believe 67 was my first CAM too Keith, I have every one up to 2016 which is when I moved my logging across to PlaneBase. But there was always the excitement of the latest issue, my first job was always to see how far the British register was up to, I remember seeing the first G-B***s in whichever issue that was and also when out of sequence registrations were first allowed.

I've had to dig them out, they're in a large box in the spare room. Here are a few that I guess most of us oldies will remember


1963 - BOAC VC10 on cover, British register ended on G-ASDP, a V843 Viscount, price 2/6d
1964 - BEA Trident on cover, British register ended on G-ASMP, an EON 460 whatever that was, price 3/-
1965 - BUA 1-11 on cover, British register ended on G-ASYH, a Cessna 150E, price 3/-
1966 - BN Islander on cover, British register ended on G-ATKS, an Auster D5, price 3/-
1967 - Short Skyvan on cover, Bristish register ended on G-AVCE, an F172H, price 3/-
1968 - HP Jetstream on cover, British register ended on G-AVYZ, a BAC 1-11 of Laker, price 3/6d
1969 - Storey TSR3 on cover, British register ended on G-AWVC, a Beagle Pup, price 3/6d
1970 - BEA Vanguard on cover, British register ended on G-AXPT, a Hughes 269, price 5/- with 25p in brackets
1971 - Alitalia B747 on cover, British register ended on G-AYMA, a Stolp Starduster, price 25p

1973 issue - first to feature G-B****
1974 issue - first to feature an out of sequence registration, this being HS125 G-BJCB when the standard registrations ended with G-BBZB

[dave]

hi,
for me it was train to euston, the u/g to Hounslow west, then the bus, i remember once there was road works and the bus went onto the airport, then to the bus stands. but Graham back in those days we were street wise, knew your way around, today's children are chauffeured everywhere...but it is more dangerous now i admit.
regards,
dave...

[keefyboy]

Here's a few more memories from the good old days.

I'm pretty sure the aviation shop at LHR was called VHS Supplies - it was on the north side of LHR on the A4? I seem to recall it was like a converted house but it was a real Alladins cave for us aviation buffs. I well remember popping in there monthly to pick up the movements list - I think I still have them somewhere up in the loft. I think the shop moved to bigger premises on the A4 closer to Hounslow in the early 70's.

My first airband I think was called a Flight 4 - a massive piece of kit that wasn't very portable. It came in handy living under the flight path for both 28 left and right in Battersea - some 10 miles out from the outermarker. I still have shedloads (probably several thousands) of flight numbers that I could never connect to registrations. One of these days I will find the old log books in the loft and check them on this site www.lhr-lgw.co.uk/

I didn't do too much spotting in the 80's - it was a case of married, divorced, married again. During all this time, I managed to keep my hobby a secret from the girlies for fear of being classed as an anorack!! They knew I liked planes and I often dragged them to airshows but I never elaborated on all the LAAS and BARG magazines that I used to receive monthly.

There used to be a whole gang of us that would hang out at LHR most weekends. In bad weather we would sit down in what I believe was a disused restaurant in the QB. I think Billy Fury did part of a movie there though I think the outside shots were of LGW. Anyhow my lasting memory of that restaurant was probably sometime in 1968 looking over to the NE corner where the entire British Eagle fleet were parked after they had gone bust.

If I can find it, I'll start another thread of where I went from starting my hobby in 67 through to about 74 - Southend was always very popular because I liked Carvairs!
Cheers
Keith

[dave]

hi,
my trusted camera back in those days was the Brownie 127 good and forgiving rough handling, it came with a little brown canvas type bag(very trendy),had it first for train spotting, then the aviation bug bit, but it was saving for the film 8 exposures, you might get 9/10 depending how much you wound on the spool. Because of the cost of developing it had to be a very rare/special plane, but they were postcard size. Then i found i think it was kodak who did a offer in special envelopes plus a free film(?).
That's got the old gray matter active...
regards,
dave...

[chrisj]

We seem to have got the Old Grey Cells working overtime ! Yes , keefyboy , the shop was VHF Supplies run by Nigel Tomkins ( not 100% on his last name) . When the A4 was developed he moved down to what I think was Nobel Corner and later moved across to use room in a pub where I think the concertation was on airline models . I was fortunate in living in a part of Northolt near to Hayes although that was about three miles from Hayes town and further from Northolt village ! I could just about see Northolt arrivals in the distance and Heathrow arrivals easy when the cross runway ( over Southall) was used . 140 bus right into the centre and not many pence I recall . Over time a regular bike ride was Elstree - Radlett - Hatfield and rest at Panshangar ! I was about eleven or so and I definitely would not let my kids out on a trip like that when they were that age ( a while back) . How things have changed ! No cycle tracks , you just prayed those HGVs did not pass too close ! I agree with the 'mental' effects of spotting the vast numbers now days , it is a never catch up task . Now days I mostly spot from home due in part by now living some distance away from any airport , the greatly increased cost is a big factor as well as convenience . pre Covid I could catch a National Express from a ten minuet walk from home at just after five am . Arrive LHR just after ten and depart for home at seven thirty pm . Usually the driver (s) would stop outside the house to drop me off just after midnight . A long day but usually around thirty pounds . Now with changed times I have to stay overnight near LHR which brings the overall cost up to around one fifty to two hundred pounds ! That's progress . Oh well , we have the memories if nothing else and can hope we always will .... Seasons Best wishes to One and All . Chrisj

[graham]

Thanks to Keith and Chris for the VHS Supplies memory for that was indeed where I bought the Waltham Airband radio from. Having previously had a five quid band converter strapped to my dad's radio, the clarity on the Waltham was amazing. It had about eight wavebands that I rcall, the regular LW, MW and SW, FM, marine band, airband, public service band and a couple of others. It was bulky and heavy so I never took it on my travels but used it at home as like now, we lived beneath LHR trans-Atlantic inbounds. I remember still having it in the late 70s because the aerial broke and I sent away for a new one which a mate put in for me and soldered it up. I got wed for the first time in 1979, moved to Cornwall and never saw it again. It would no doubt have been left at my parents' home and I know they would never have chucked it out.

So, from late 79 until 2013, a rather huge third of a century, spotting on a daily basis was put firmly on hold. I did still go to airshows whenever I could and attended dozens of them, both home and abroad. Rather like Keith, I had a wife who didn't understand the hobby but she was good enough to let me go on these jaunts which included several US and Continental trips.

It was all rather coincidental how I started again full time in 2013; I'd just bought my first proper DSLR camera and would take it with me everywhere, including when I took the pooches for walks. I only had a 300mm lens back then but would take shots of low level GA and mil out of the local GA fields, Middle Wallop and the like. That got me wondering about all the OTT commercial stuff which was, and still is very plentiful over Devizes in all directions so I bought a decent pair of bins but of course that didn't allow me to ID any of it.

With interest rekindled, I joined the old FAB Group where Jeff was a member. He ran a VR in his shed which he shared via one of the online sharing apps with about a dozen others. I'd never heard of "VRs" so accepted his offer for a "place at his table" and of course realised that I could now ID everything going OTT. This was around April 2013 and I can't believe that ten years have now passed.

The other "eureka" moment was back in 2015 I think when I went to see my dear old Mum who lived in Calne, she said, " I have something of yours", disappeared in to her spare bedroom and re-emerged with a box of my old logs from the 70s. They'd lain undisturbed in a Brown & Polson Cornflour box for decades in the bottom of a wardrobe covered by some surplus blankets. Having thanked her profusely, I took them home and it was akin to opening Pandora's box, all my neatly written out logs from more than thirty years ago which I had assumed were lost forever.

Back then of course, all we had was the CAM, I don't think the MAM was around back then. So, everything else that wasn't on the UK register went into a series of A5 sized hardback notebooks - foreign GA, non CAM listed foreigh airliners, UK military, foreign military and so on. All were in pristine condition and completely legible. Only thing missing were dates which for whatever reason, I never used. So, when I started using a digital logging system about six years ago, I did have to estimate/invent dates in order to make the entries.

Thanks to the massive combined knowledge available on this group, I've been able to fill in gaps and question marks in those old logs, examples being the Jet Provosts and Sabres that would have been on the heap at Staravia in 1970 ( which for some reason I never wrote down whilst visiting) and many other similar requests.

Needless to say, missus number two doesn't understand the hobby although I'm slowly winning her over. In fact, whilst in Crete back in September, she would look up at the sound of jet engines and say, "oohh, here comes another Lufthansa" or similar so there's hope for her yet.

EDIT - another rekindled memory. Does anyone remember from the early/mid 70s a chap who used to hang out at LAP a great deal and occasionally at GAP? I'm sure his name was Arthur Wigman, he lived in Woking and went everywhere on a Honda 90 moped. Despite me only being in my early teens, I always got the impression that young lads were his preferred diet so always gave him a wide berth. I remember well that a mate of mine told me that this Arthur had spent an hour or so chatting to him at GAP one day and then asked my mate if he'd "like a ride on his moped" which he quickly declined.

[chrisj]

Thanks again to All and Graham for his latest . Where to start ( continue ?)? . Not sure of the exact date , but early seventies We spent quite a while in the jam to get into Yeovilton show . Having parked the car and found a comfortable spot near to the FAAM we set down and opened the flask and food we had brought with us . I have never been keen on show food since a burger rebounded once ! . Having had a bite and drink I thought we could 'do' the static and take in the flying . Not so Mrs J ! She thought that we had done justice to the event and should now depart ! We did manage the static with a few grumbles but departed soon after . That was the year the German F104 crashed I think . I do not let her near to shows now although she has been to a couple of RIATs ( IAT then) where with a friend the various none aviation stalls can be visited . However she does take a look at whatever comes our way on Chivenor fly byes . As for Arthur . I think this is the same person who used to cycle to places in the early sixties . A group of about four of us accompanied him from Heathrow to Biggin and Redhill with the intention of visiting Gatwick as well . A bit ambiguous for a day cycle ride . He was the one with the route knowledge but insisted on a long stop over between Biggin and Redhill which cost us time so no Gatwick visit that day . He also wanted us to overnight at a YMCA on route !! We parted and made our own way back to Heathrow . Yes there were rumours but that was all . Like Graham , I did not keep proper logs in my early days so I have many early aircraft without details such as location , date and operator and this is a pity but with the good old net some things have been sorted . oh well , She Who Must be Obeyed is calling .... Take care All . Chrisj

[graham]

Thanks Chris, a grand tale for sure. Thinking about "Arthur", he would have been well into his late 30s/early 40s I reckon when he used to pop up at LAP and GAP so about 25-30 years older than I was. Given I'm now 67, I would imagine that he's no longer about. I have since recalled that he actually lived at Maybury which I assume is an area of Woking? I know because he wrote his address down all those years ago and said to pop in if I were passing. Needless to say, I never did......How peculiar, I've never thought of it from that day till this.

[howardlgw]

I am enjoying all the memories of early trips to Heathrow, it must be winter when all the tales come out. With regard "Arthur" I seem to remember a gentleman at Heathrow during the seventies who always seemed to have a following of young lads who looked a bit like Frank Sinatra. My route to Heathrow was the 285 bus from Kingston, during the late seventies I would have to get off at Hatton Cross and walk past the old BEA hangars and parking areas, because there always seemed to be a few biz parked up, good times.

[graham]

You've got him Howard, he did look like that, seems a few of you lads knew of him by the sounds of it.

[dave]

hi,
with coming from the sticks, i used the train (they used to run often then), then the u/g, if the weather was good you could see arrs/deps from about Acton town ish, still do that now. After walking the rail on the queens gardens, settled in the area near the shop, cause you were higher then using the rail to steady my spottingscope, also keeping a eye to the right of the shop for Northolt traffic, if i remember right my only "whoo moment "was a RDAF C.47 in day-glow arriving.,
So there i was from 1000 till 1700 when the 2-3 Japanese landed, then that smoke filled room opened which provided cover from the elements, but steamed up windows when wet/cold. If anything good was seen on approach a scramble out onto the roof... there was a little fella there i think named dave or heathrow dave, he seemed clued up on anything good coming in...
One thing i've wondered over the years could you get a list of arrivals from the info counter in the airport and picking up on the chatter if you asked at the airline desk they could give you the reg's?
Also do you remember that high terrace at the T1 end, where there was someone giving a commentary, on the comings and goings...that felt abit rickety then it was closed.
well thats it, till another post jogs a memory...
regards.
dave...

[chrisj]

Not sure about obtaining a list of what was due but as you say , there was always someone who know what was coming . I never did it but I know some went to the airline desks to obtain details of aircraft that had overflown . The very top perch of the Roof Gardens was often too crowded so personally I preferred lower down , near to the shop . Arrivals from over Slough were not easy as they often stopped short and turned off . There was a small booth where usually a man would give out news of pending arrivals but there were times when there was no one there . From the southern end you could watch Gatwick traffic if the conditions were right . It is a pity that when the revamp of the Central area was planned (?) , that there was no provision for viewing . I shudder to think what the entry cost would be now days ! These memories come out during these dark cloudy wintery days annually and it serves to remind us how lucky we were then even if we did not have the advantages of the digital age . No VR , no firm advance notice very few groups ..... How did we survive ? chris

[davebasing]

My first spotting trip to Heathrow (or LAP as we called it then) was on 26 June 1960, although my late parents told me that I was taken there sometimes as a small child to the playground sand pits, separated from the aviation action by a single rope (why didn’t they take any photos?). Plus I’d flown to and from there on BEA DC3s in 1956 (G-ALTT & G-AGIP) & 1958 (G-AHCV & G-AMNW) to the Channel Islands with my grandparents. Back then there were no cabin announcements, and the flight crew hand wrote a “Flight Bulletin” that had to be handed around from passenger to passenger. As a youngster I was somehow allowed to end up with these and, as they showed the aircraft names, I was able years later to tie up what I’d actually flown in (still have them - including one which gave the cricket score!). Little did I know then that my flights from Heathrow would eventually run into several hundred.

Living in 1960 in Chiswick it was a 91 Bus ride to LAP. If you sat on the top deck you would always see the Hounslow Air Training Corps Tiger Moth on the left side behind a wall. This was 6940M alias EM967. This is now the identity adopted in 1985 by G-AHOO but, as the Hounslow aircraft was eventually broken up and burnt in the late 60s, it is at least doubtful whether the two are really connected beyond perhaps a cockpit plate (Many CAA Tiger Moth registration records are at best dubious, a number coming from the various bits then in the Rollason store at Croydon). My original full log from that 1960 visit has long ago been lost but the numbers were fortunately entered in the CAM of that year. I did keep a main log (still going all these years later), but then with just a summary of what I thought were the more interesting things on that 1960 day. That first day in 1960 produced my first military aircraft, US Navy C118 128425 which I last saw many years later when it had been retired to MASDC.

On offer for a modest fee in those days were coach trips from the ground floor of the Queens Building which went airside with a stop beside the threshold of the runway in use and taking in the hangar areas. A small booth on the Queens Building roof housed a commentator who would call details of the flights taking place to what were then often seen by me as exotic places and which runway they would be using, with runway numbered 1,2, 3 etc rather than 28L, 28R, 05R, 23L etc. In between movements they would play records, often Glen Miller classics. Whenever I hear these tracks now I am immediately taken back to those balmy days of long ago. Stan Little and Flo (Kingdon?) were the commentators then. Stan (sadly no longer with us) was a keen spotter and often got on our bus at Hounslow on his way to work (the Roof Gardens used to open at 10.00) and we had many a good chat together on the journey. The day would be spent on the roof gardens of the Queens Building, which was then one of the most visited attractions in London and which provided the impetus for many (including myself) to go on to long careers in aviation. An impetus now lost. Not unique to Heathrow of course. Exeter used to have a café with a balcony where those meeting or seeing off passengers could watch and wave to granny. As the airport expanded it became airside and taking the little ones to greet or see off, all they could see was a row of shops with no views outside. No wonder it became a chore rather than what was once a pleasant outing. Another lost connection with the locals. If the airport doesn’t want them then the locals don’t want the airport. In my closing days with the CAA a colleague asked me where she could take her small grandson to watch aircraft as he had expressed an interest to do so. With the viewing areas at Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Stansted by then all gone I was stuck for an answer.

[dave]

Nov 27, 2023 13:01:59 GMT chrisj said:

Not sure about obtaining a list of what was due but as you say , there was always someone who know what was coming . I never did it but I know some went to the airline desks to obtain details of aircraft that had overflown . The very top perch of the Roof Gardens was often too crowded so personally I preferred lower down , near to the shop . Arrivals from over Slough were not easy as they often stopped short and turned off . There was a small booth where usually a man would give out news of pending arrivals but there were times when there was no one there . From the southern end you could watch Gatwick traffic if the conditions were right . It is a pity that when the revamp of the Central area was planned (?) , that there was no provision for viewing . I shudder to think what the entry cost would be now days ! These memories come out during these dark cloudy wintery days annually and it serves to remind us how lucky we were then even if we did not have the advantages of the digital age . No VR , no firm advance notice very few groups ..... How did we survive ? chris

  as i've said before Forrest Gumps mum said it all "it's like a box of chocolate, you don't know what you'll get"...
that was Gatwick for me thou, Heathrows Trident hour was a killer, but oh for seeing one on approach now al that exhaust.

regards,
               dave...

[dave]

hi,
my first visit non spotting was 1957 to meet relatives in from the states we waited in a wooden quonset hut, with grass outside a single rope fence and there it was a PAA Stratocruiser a full 10yds away...and they let Bill Haley and the comets off first... my first spotting trip was 5/9/64.

regards,
dave...

[keefyboy]

OMG to both Daves. I may have mentioned this on a previous thread but I can well remember sitting in my push chair in Battersea and looking up every time a noisy jet came over. I must have seen shed loads of Constellations,DC3's etc and 377s coming over in the meantime!! They were very happy days! About 5 years later I knew from the sound of the jets - I could tell Tridents, VC10's Boeings etc - I would end up at LHR.

[rugbyref]

My parents never had a car, so I was a Red Rover child. Having moved on from buses and trains to planes, it was a case of how often I could get to Heathrow. Given the option, Fridays were best for the weekly Aeroflot TU104 fromLeningrad. I remember sitting for ages on the 140 from Harrow on the Hill, but I can’t recall which routes I took to reach Harrow.
Much later, and with a few more bob in my pocket, the spectator areas at Gatwick called, and I remember the pleasant surprises, like the green B707 of Braniff that just appeared.

Back to Heathrow, and before the extension of the Piccadilly Line, queuing at Hounslow West for the A1 shuttle bus to the central area, then hoping for something special, like the Nepalese Army Skyvan, RA-N14!

[billsamuels]

Nov 26, 2023 19:16:32 GMT graham said:

Thanks Chris, a grand tale for sure. Thinking about "Arthur", he would have been well into his late 30s/early 40s I reckon when he used to pop up at LAP and GAP so about 25-30 years older than I was. Given I'm now 67, I would imagine that he's no longer about. I have since recalled that he actually lived at Maybury which I assume is an area of Woking? I know because he wrote his address down all those years ago and said to pop in if I were passing. Needless to say, I never did......How peculiar, I've never thought of it from that day till this.

Graham, your new avatar, was that taken the moment you remembered the character from Maybury?

😂😂

Bill

[billsamuels]

Evening everyone,

Whilst we’re on the nostalgia trip, I thought I’d register some of my sightings…

All LAP.

03/11/1968 HB-VAS Lear Jet
16/11/1968 F-BOJY Paris
30/11/1968 N214GL G2, D-IMRQ Queen Air, N439DP Aero Commander, LN-FOR C-47, SE-FLK Aztec, G-ATAH Cessna 337
03/01/1969 PH-MAG DC-3 Martinair
04/01/1969 G-AWMS HS125
11/01/1969 HB-GCV King Air, D-CASU Hansa Jet
18/01/1969 HB-VBL Mystere 20, G-AVVB HS125, PH-TRF Boeing 707 Transavia
29/01/1969 N8633 DC-8-63 Seaboard World (only pot of the day)
02/02/1969 N8038A DC-8 Delta, HB-VBM Mystere 20, 167 Mystere 20 French AF
08/02/1969 N540G Jetstar, N228W Turbo Commander, G-ASSB Twin Comanche, N8166A DC-8 Delta, SX-CBC/SX-CBD Boeing 727 Olympic Airways (think these two stayed a couple of weeks before finally getting delivered), G-ASMD Cessna 310, SE-DBF DC-8 SAS.
14/02/1969 N461F Lear Jet, N6816Y Aztec, YV-C-VIA DC-8-63 Viasa
15/02/1969 7601 Caravelle Yugoslav AF

Interspersed were loads of other, more regular visitors. TWA/Pan Am/South African Airways/Kuwait Airways B707’s, Lufthansa B737’s, SAS/Alitalia/Swissair/KLM DC-9’s, Air Canada DC-8’s and of course BOAC VC-10’s (standard and super) and occasional BEA Trident’s and newly delivered BAC 1-11’s….

All still very memorable… Despite the many passing decades.

Bill

[graham]

Great logs there Bill, I didn't see the Seaboard DC-8 until mid 1972 and apparently, she was w/o in Sri Lanka in 1978.

With regard to the avatar, yes, I've changed it in case the oddball from 50 years ago has a sneaky look in here and recognises me.....;0)

[graham]

Indeed Bill, the two lines of BEA Tridents all lined up and then as you walked further around the viewing area, you'd see the stands where the continental stuff would park, Iberia, Air France, SAS, Lufthansa, KLM, TAP, Swissair, etc. Occasionally there might have been a Malev, CSA or LOT gracing the stands. I always remember from those early years that at least one of the cross runways were still in use, if I recall it was the SE/NW western runway although its parallel runway might also have been in use too. This would have been around 1968, I'm sure our historians will correct me if I'm hallucinating.

I seem to remember that the Seaboard DC-8s usually arrived mid afternoon amid a flurry of excitement atop the QB. I don't know how many DC-8s they had but I seem to recall that many of them were leased from the likes of Trans-International, Saturn, Capitol and Overseas National. I believe that most that rolled into LAP were in the N8**SW sequence.