Aerial photo of London Airport 1965

A very nice image. I’m so glad that as a young enthusiast, I was around to see these lovely machines. Happy Days indeed!:)

Not great quality but here is another from the 60’s

Yes I suggested this particular DC-7CF as I think it was the only SAS 7 still in service and if I am correct their only freighter DC-7

Well the SAS DC7C was my first guess, but I wasn’t sure when SAS phased them out. Weren’t the Icelandair 727-100s combi versions?

Could I suggest SE-CCI Dc-7CF of SAS still in service in 1965.

The pic in the thumbnail shot is an Icelandair pax door DC-6B , the aircraft in VeeOne’s original picture looks to have a DC-7C taller fin, band lower on the fin than Icelandair’s and a rear cargo door.

looks to me like a DC6, 3 bladed props, the DC7 has 4 bladed ones

Hate to be the ‘Doubting Thomas’ but I think the band on the fin is too low for Icelandic, the proportion of the fin is more DC-7C and it appears to have a cargo door.

I was brought 6 miles from Heathrow. Would catch the 237 bus and change at Feltham for the 285 to the centre. Could watch the planes from the waiting lounge at Terminal 1 all day if you wanted. Queens building had a chap who would give a commentary and tell you where the planes were going to in the summer. Dad used to drive me to Car Park 2 after tea for some spotting. What great aircraft they were. IL-62, Caravelles, CV-880 (Swissair)that made more smoke than everything else, etc.
When I lived at Sunbury we used to play football and cricket at the local rec. We were not old enough to have a watch in the early days, so when we needed the time in the summer, if the BOAC VC-10 went over us it was 6.30pm and the South African AW 707/747 meant we had to pedal home for tea at 7.00pm, they were that regular in those days. When we were older and allowed to stay out untill 8.00pm ! the Quantas 707/747 would go over at 7.55. A mad dash home was then made. If late we would say ‘not our fault Mum’ the plane was late ! Great days, and yes, that wooded fence was all there was between you and the planes, but I had no camera then, only bins.

What lovely memories! Thanks for sharing. 🙂

Sarah

Sorry for the late response, but I have only just seen this thread.
I have this photo – actually it’s a postcard that frequestly comes up on E. Bay. I think you’ll find the aircraft in question is an Icelandair DC-6B, as these were still being operated into Heathrow until the late ’60s. SAS DC-6s were out of service by then. This shot was taken in October 1966.

That sure looks like it is the same aeroplane. I think the Iceair DC6 was replaced by 727 in the early 1970s. Thanks.

Adrian, I think you’ve cracked it with that Icelandair DC6. I did think that it might be a little late for the SAS DC6/7Cs. I’m glad that I was around to see the Heathrow that wasn’t swamped by ‘twin podded, winged blandness’, and to think that I used to moan after the sixth consecutive Trident;)

Yesterday, whilst having breakfast in the Thistle Hotel at Heathrow, I looked out over thirty five BA aircraft, mostly 747’s and 777’s at their various Terminal 5 stands. This everyday common scene made me think back to that rather special day in 1969 when I and many others waited in anticipation for the very first 747, a Pan Am demonstration flight, to land at the airport.

At that time we were used to the sight of a constant flow of 707’s, 727’s, VC 10’s and Tridents etc. Our first glimpse of this huge new beast approaching with so many dangling legs was a totally different experience. The subsequent landing was also an unforgettable moment as no-one had ever seen anything like it before. As the aircraft taxied around, hundreds of airport workers appeared from all over the place to take a look at the incredible sight. Disappointingly, I think I’m right in saying that a planned afternoon demonstration flight for journalists had to be cancelled because the aircraft went u/s on the ground.

My overriding memory of the day is the sheer bulk of this great blue and white giant standing head and shoulders above everything else in the vicinity. Heathrow would never be the same again!

It is amazing that over forty years later the type still roam the territory.

Breakfast was pretty good too!

Regards …..Paul

Living near Heathrow

I was brought 6 miles from Heathrow. Would catch the 237 bus and change at Feltham for the 285 to the centre. Could watch the planes from the waiting lounge at Terminal 1 all day if you wanted. Queens building had a chap who would give a commentary and tell you where the planes were going to in the summer. Dad used to drive me to Car Park 2 after tea for some spotting. What great aircraft they were. IL-62, Caravelles, CV-880 (Swissair)that made more smoke than everything else, etc.
When I lived at Sunbury we used to play football and cricket at the local rec. We were not old enough to have a watch in the early days, so when we needed the time in the summer, if the BOAC VC-10 went over us it was 6.30pm and the South African AW 707/747 meant we had to pedal home for tea at 7.00pm, they were that regular in those days. When we were older and allowed to stay out untill 8.00pm ! the Quantas 707/747 would go over at 7.55. A mad dash home was then made. If late we would say ‘not our fault Mum’ the plane was late ! Great days, and yes, that wooded fence was all there was between you and the planes, but I had no camera then, only bins.

The best I can get…

At this res it looks like Aer Lingus 1960 livery, so Viscount/carvair? Or maybe PanAm DC6??

Sorry for the late response, but I have only just seen this thread.
I have this photo – actually it’s a postcard that frequestly comes up on E. Bay. I think you’ll find the aircraft in question is an Icelandair DC-6B, as these were still being operated into Heathrow until the late ’60s. SAS DC-6s were out of service by then. This shot was taken in October 1966.

IL62M… I believe Stansted was used for instrument procedural training back then. It was the last uk airport to have a fan marker locator as part of the non-precision approach system on 23. (These were obsolescent with the new TDMEs.) I believe Heathrow only got rid of it’s Locator Outer Markers (LOMs) in the 1990s. I had an old approach plate for STN-23 that I was going to show but I cannot find it. If you saw Vanguards at different heights they were probably practicing visual approaches (i.e. type training) rather than instrument approaches.

LONGSHOT… only slightly ironic maybe! Things have changed a quite a lot since 1960s for female aircrew. There was amused prejudice when I started flying aeroplanes in the mid 1970s. Even by the mid 1990s I believe female airline aircrews were sometimes treated disrespectively in the UK (hounded out of the job even). I would like to think we have moved on since then.

In 1970 a top female commercial pilot with much more experience than her male counterparts for the job tried to get a job flying with BEA. She was refused on the basis that the passengers would not accept women in the cockpit. As bigotted as this sounds I suspect it was not untrue of the 1960s passenger. The TV comedians of the time often made jokes about women drivers and the horror of a woman flying a jet airliner at ‘that’ time of the month. In 2011 this seems a strange attitude similar to the one people once had about negros being less human than whites. I guess we cannot take it out of context of the times they were back then. What is nice about nostaglia (like threads like this one) is that we mainly only recall the good feelings and times. 🙂

Fascinating pics! I really used to like those BEA Vanguards, in fact any of BEA’s types looked good in that ‘red square’ livery. The BEA Vanguards used to do their ‘circuit training’ at STN, which used to bring them directly over our house, at about two thousand feet, sometimes it appeared to be lower! Other ‘trainers’ we used to see were BOAC VC10s, 707s, BEA Argosys, but not that frequently, and the Trident. We also used to see the Ghana Airways VC10 quite often, and even the occasional Qantas 707. Reference any 707s that used to pass over our house, it appeared that this used to be the point at which the u/c would be lowered, and I can remember how fascinating it used to be seeing the doors opening and closing during the process as it thundered overhead. I often used to wonder wether the Ghana flights were BOAC training the Ghana Airways crews, maybe the same for the Qantas visits?

……’from a fashion point of view notice that no females are wearing trousers – all in dresses and skirts! This photo tells us more about those times than just the aeroplanes in use. I guess this gives insight into why BEA publically refused to hire women as pilots! We have come so far since then’……

I think I detect irony there, Veeone…what percentage of airline pilots are women ,now?
Re the balconies on the QB one of them collapsed under the weight of Beatle fans when they were being seen off to the USA in 1964ish…they were flown on a Pan Am 707

Here are a few more postcard images from yesterday’s Heathrow.

The Queen’s Building viewing area . I think probably circa 1962-63 as there are many Vanguards but no Tridents. The Vanguard has the ‘later’ large BEA square on the fin.

Also from a fashion point of view notice that no females are wearing trousers – all in dresses and skirts! This photo tells us more about those times than just the aeroplanes in use. I guess this gives insight into why BEA publically refused to hire women as pilots! We have come so far since then.

The north tunnel entrance, I suspect probably circa 1962-63 because of the Vanguard again, which I believe was originally introduced with small BEA square livery but this one has the larger Comet 4B tail scheme.

The airport overview. I suspect probably circa 1972 or 73 because although there is a Biman 707 in the (as it was back then) Hotel stands, there appears to be a BOAC 707 and a BEA Trident in the background. But if the Trident is actually BA with basic BEA livery then I would say 1974.

And my date assessments probably put me out of my depth again. 😉

TRIDENT MAN… your T1 photo is interesting – from circa 1976-78?

LONGSHOT… I just love the background of the landing 747 with all those WW2 curvy-roofed huts. I recall them being like that on my first ever visit to LAP but I think they must have been cleared away from 1971. I find it interesting to see the history of airfields/airports. I rather dislike these new (and horribly similar) airports and their ‘andric’ terminals we use these days. But when an airport has some of the old buildings and infrastructure remaining it is really rather atmospheric and interesting.

Hurn was one of those old-worldie airports until recently. If you went around the back of hurn into the large industrial area and the old BAC hangers (now EAL where they strip down 737-200s and A300s for parts resale) there were these curvy-roofed buildings (still are) and old stuff amongst the new industrial buildings. I saw an old (dumped) PanAm cargo-hold container there five years ago, the ‘PanAm’ logo still looking fresh.

Great thread and some cracking images…found this in my collection,aerial view of Terminal one with at least 18 Trident’s…:D