I might be able to get up to Central London on Tuesday. Not seen a flypast there before but, looking at the line of the route, I thought the South Bank, with a view across the Thames towards Somerset House, seemed a possible viewing point. I’m less concerned about photography but it’s just about the width of the river from the line of flight and one would not be looking into the sun.

Thoughts? Comments? Past experience? Anyone?

And these were the times they were expected to arrive on 29 October 1946:

29 October 1946 may have seen an extreme example of delays in passenger handling at La Guardia but it is likely to have been the sort of thing to which the Pan Am official was referring in Post # 380.

The above report says the two aircraft arrived in ‘driving rain‘ and that the passengers got through customs and immigration (and the inevitable press on the ‘opening’ day) and into Central London “within an hour and forty-five minutes“. This was contrasted with the “four to five hours consumed in getting to London from Hurn“.

Despite the “inferior physical facilities” (described elsewhere in the article as “exotic-looking” and “crude“), the processing of passengers (described by one Pan Am official as “expeditious“) was contrasted with New York where “interminable delays (were) met by passengers“. Whether this was a one-off for the opening services or the continuing experience of passengers isn’t clear.

To support something mentioned earlier (by longshot, I think), Sir Henry Self (Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Civil Aviation) congratulated the American airlines for pushing for the move from Hurn on the promised date “despite the efforts of minor officials in his Ministry to delay the event until buildings could be constructed for the reception of passengers“. Whether you think that “minor” civil servants were the only stumbling block, I leave to you.

Associated Press report on Miss Lettice Curtis at the Lympne Air Race 1948:

This is a bit closer again, with some red markings.

What’s left of the old Heathrow Road (coming from Cain’s Lane) is in the bottom left-hand corner. The road marked “A” is, I assume, Sipson Road. At its junction with Bath Road, I have put a red question mark – is that the Three Magpies pub?

Further east along Bath Road is another red question mark. I think this is the Bricklayers Arms (thanks for that information, longshot), later the Air Hostess pub. It appears to be opposite the entrance to the “new air terminal”, which would be about right.

I’ve surrounded what seems to be the “new air terminal” itself with a red line.

I think that the road off Bath Road marked ‘B‘ in the top right-hand corner must be New Road.

This an aerial view of North Side taken by the RAF on 7 June 1946, a week after its official opening. I’ll post an extract of this photo later.

Meantime, I have added a red line in the bottom right-hand corner, which is Cain’s Lane coming up from the Great South West Road.

Cain’s Lane then ends at the junction with Heathrow Road, which is shown by the red dashes coming up from the bottom of the photograph.

From the junction of the two roads onwards, it was called Heathrow Road up to the Bath Road, which crosses the photo from left to right. It almost ‘disappears’ where the north runway and the taxi-track were built but can still be made out.