[QUOTE=Interflug62MQUOTE]
Well, I have discovered I am out of my depth against some of you very knowledgable guys. I am probably wrong about the first BOAC Boeings being second hand. I know the airline had a large fleet registered G-APF? and these seem to have had the old engines that I thought were Pratt & Whitney because of the odd jet outflow pipe shape. The later jets G-AX?? had what I thought WERE the rolls-Royce engines.
Here are the two different engine types.
I just thought I’d read in a history of BOAC that they’d acquired a few used 707 jets in the early 1960s. But the G-APF? fleet are clearly pre-registered as though they were being built for the airline. I know the two state carriers held with this practice of pre-registering new fleets of airliners since the early post-war days.
Here is a photo I like (origin unclear) showing part of the viewing area and the airport in 1970. It really brings out the interesting nature of the older airliners and the openness of the airport in back then. They seem to be building the BEA Tristar hanger and the BOAC car park. Some of the old British Eagle hangers are still present.
A lovey photo by Bill Sheridan that I really think brings out the easy going visual nature of the airport in the 1960s is his photo of a TWA 707 departing 28L. Taken from the far end of the runway it shows the lovely little two-bar wooden fence that surrounded the airport back then. Sweet! You can almost see the flock of sheep eating grass. 😉
Here is photo I just scanned. It was taken in 1971. It shows a BOAC Boeing 707 crossing from airside into the BOAC Maintenance base. BEA maintenance hangers are in the background. I took this while being driven to the airport. We stopped and I got out and took the photo. I say it was 1971 but it might actually have been 1970 as there are no BOAC jumbos around or we would have probably photographed those too, as they were so new and amazing to see.
What is amazing is the zero level of security at London Airport at that time. Anyone could have turned east and driven airside onto 28 right (and I believe someone did exactly that – rumour had it that an old age driver did it at night after getting confused at the crossing point of the perimeter road and the aircraft crossing!!)
I took this photo of the Queen’s Building viewing area in about 1989.
The area shown was not accessable from the bridge postion the pic was taken. I was not on the bridge itself as access was blocked. I think there is a lack of aeroplanes in the photo because of the passenger terminal extension out from T1. At that time I found you could still have full range of the viewing area south of the ‘bridge’ between the QB Admin and the T2 buildings. Wish I’d taken a picture that way too but it was only luck my mom had a small camera with her to take this pic.
Farnboroghrob… I believe the entrance way you can see in the lower area went into the cafe area you recall. It had windows all around onto the apron.
I have just noticed there isn’t a staircase up to the uppermost viewing gallery. I guess they took it away at some stage in the 1980s.
It is a shame that, with all the photographs that must have been taken of the aeroplanes at London Airport there seem almost no photos of this classic viewing area at all. But film was so expensive to use back then and I guess the jets were what people came to see. Hope this pic brings back memories.
The best I can get…
At this res it looks like Aer Lingus 1960 livery, so Viscount/carvair? Or maybe PanAm DC6??
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