Santa Cruz de la Palma

Yes, my local airport. No more technical stops over here….ohhhh. Well La Palma airport. A bit conflictive with many operation restrictions, one being wind all the time.

BY 732 often required tech stop at Santiago on ABZ TFS flights in the 80’s

I am honoured to have been posting alongside an ex-Orion flightdeck member.
They were a lovely airline and I flew with them many times, usually from EMA but also from BHX and MAN.

We always took Horizon/Wings holidays which were Orions tour operating arm and they offered quality package holidays. I flew on Orion 732s mainly but also on the 7373s and on occasion an A300. The in-flight service was a joy, and the nice touches such as the boiled sweets very much remembered.

The cabin crew were very friendly as were the flight deck crew. Orion always allowed flight deck visits when appropriate and as a young lad these were very much appreciated.

A lovely company and those stewardesses kinky boots were fab!

My mam used to eye the hosties boots and once asked “where can I get myself a pair of those super boots” but was told they were specially designed for the airline!

Also I remember the Orion cabin crew unifroms and in winter the stewardess wore knee length brown leather boots with a big heel, very nice!!

At last, we agree on something!

I flew them many, mant times in the 80s. All I ever wanted to do then was fly on a new 762 of BY or an AE757 but all I ever got was Orion, BY, AirEurope and DanAir 732s, now looking back they were great!

I have never operated one. However, I made many journeys to the canaries and even Paphos in Cyrpus on 732s and never once had to stop en-route, plus before the runway extension at Funchal I got in there on a 732 of Air Atlantis something the new generation 737s wouldnt be able to have done!

Also I remember the Orion cabin crew unifroms and in winter the stewardess wore knee length brown leather boots with a big heel, very nice!!

Wrong! The 737-200 advanced could make the canaries with a full load even when operating from the most notherly UK airports, as BY and AE frequently did!

Read the post retroboy – frequently yes, but not consistently. With all your great authority on civil aviation, may I just ask when was the last time you actually operated a 732?

Wrong! The 737-200 advanced could make the canaries with a full load even when operating from the most notherly UK airports, as BY and AE frequently did!

Yes nostalgia is a wonderful thing until we stop to assess the progress we’ve made and what we now take for granted.

Might I ask who’s 732’s you flew in those days Moondance ?

The 737-200 which was the staple type of the charter carriers in the 80s was ideal fro this type of destination. It had the range to reach the canaries with full payload and was excellant at short fields. It could get in and out of the smallest holiday airports and because of its integral airstairs it was self-sufficient on the ground.

Hmm…a bit more rose tinted nostalgia from retroboy. I don’t think you will find many pilots missing the ‘range’ capability of the B732 (or ‘Scud’ as it is universally referred to – lots of noise, no range!).
The 732 was a very capable short hauler for the ITs, but a more problematic medium hauler. A trip to/from the Canaries/Eastern Med without a tech stop for fuel could never be guaranteed…..especially from the northern UK airports….NCL crews would joke that all Turkish holidays were twin centred with Ostend, due to the frequency of tech stops!
What tended to knacker take off performance at places like CFU was the 732’s poor obstacle clearance capabilities in the event of an engine failure (which has to be accounted for on every take off). I can recall sitting at CFU one hot day, struggling to come up with a regulated take off weight (using 17 with a tailwind,full power, packs off etc.) that would allow us a fighting chance of getting back to southern England without a tech stop, and watching an Air Two Bob 757 getting airborne off 35 (the most obstacle limited runway at CFU), with a full load, going direct to GLA – a certain message seemed obvious!
The airstairs and APU did make the 732 very self reliant, but its time had clearly passed as an IT aircraft about 15 years ago (and the avionics seemed to have more in common with the B17 than the B757, but that’s another story!)

If you do a search you should be able to find some cockpit photos I posted of an approach into La Palma in a 757 about a year ago. Pretty little place.

GB Airways (BA Franchise partner) goes there twice a week in the Airbus.

Apparantly La Palma can take anything up to a 767-300.
Air Plus Comet have operated A310, Condor 767-300 and A320’s regular.
Surely all of those could reach UK even with restrictions for a shorter runway.

The 737-200 which was the staple type of the charter carriers in the 80s was ideal fro this type of destination. It had the range to reach the canaries with full payload and was excellant at short fields. It could get in and out of the smallest holiday airports and because of its integral airstairs it was self-sufficient on the ground. Invaluable at remote airports with limited handling equipment.

The A320 and 737-8 are with over 180 seats now the smallest charter types and arent exactly as suited as the old 732 for destinations such as La Palma.

It certainly used to be popular with the Germans – LTU and Condor operated there in years gone by, don’t know if they still do. Would be interesting to see what types operate.