Well, it is the second time I’ve put it up on the Forum within the last month or so . . .

Missed that… meanwhile, here’s another well-known picture featuring TWA Connies:

Apparently that record cover is available as a big size poster. Must get it…

Here’s a site about the first manufactured Boeing 707 flight simulator with lots of interesting 707 trivia and stories:

http://www.707sim.com/index.html

Ah yes, the Caravelle was much loved by Swedes, as she was able to take you all away to sunnier climes (and cheaper booze!)
Skol och glad sommar, Sonnenflieger!

Indeed she was. The Caravelle was a familiar sight up here, originally operated by SAS and Finnair but also by Sterling, and in the 80s, Transwede. Sterling operated a total of over 30 Caravelle IV, 10B and Super 12 and didn’t stop until 1993. SAS only had Caravelle I/III’s (1959-1974), whereas Finnair started with Caravelle I/III and went on to Caravelle 10B, which they had until 1983. Transwede, the Swedish charter airline, began operations in 1985 with a 10B and kept operating several of them until 1991 or so.

Since then, Scandinavia is littered with Caravelles. Only here at Stockholm-Arlanda there are four of them – two ex-SAS, one ex-Air Force and one ex-Transwede. In Malmö, there is one ex-SAS, in Denmark there are several – one ex-SAS in a museum in Elsinore and several ex-Sterling in the dump at Copenhagen. Norway has the first Caravelle ever flown in passenger service, LN-KLH, at the Technical Museum in Oslo. There is also a former Swedish Air Force III (ex-SAS) at Linköping, belonging to the Swedish Air Force Museum.

Here are some links to La Belle Caravelle:

http://members.aol.com/fressech/plane/

http://www.applicsoft.net/se210/

http://www.airlinepostcard.com/caravelle.html

Enjoy! Now, I’ll get back to the world of 707s… and skål to you too, Papa Lima!

Well, as many have said it is not built to be beautiful, but in my opinion it has its own type of beauty. The beauty is in the engineering, design, and hard work that went into it.

The thing that impresses me with this whale, and indeed with most other modern Airbuses, is the technology on the inside. Did you know that whenever an Airbus lands, its toilets flush automatically to even out the pressure in the lavatory system? 😀

I don’t see it as unfortunate that airlines are in business to make money – how would new aircraft be developed and built if we all travelled free? Not to mention all the other expenses incurred by the commercial aviation infrastructure.
The thing that worries me is if the bean counters compromise safety for profit.

Pardon me for being a tiny bit unclear! That was the point I was trying to make – it is unfortunate that they only think about profits rather than safety.

If the unthinkable happens and an A380 has an accident, I don’t believe for a second that the aircraft can be evacuated within 90 seconds even though trials with trained professionals prove that it can be done. This applies to all larger aircraft types, not only the A380. To cram 405 people in an A330 may be profitable and legal according to certification, but it is plain stupidity as well considering the 405-seat A330 operators are charter airlines whose passengers might not travel as often as business travellers and thus aren’t as used to aircraft procedures and safety procedures. And they may be under the influence of alcohol as well, considering they’re on holiday…

Good to find another plane nut that’s as into 1:400 models as I am. That 707… ooh give us a clue… ? Is it from a famous aviation themed series of movies ? (lol)

I know exactly what it’s based on, let’s see who else can guess? A330 Crazy you’re not allowed because you know as well I suspect ? 😀

The 707 is from the best aviation film ever made – AIRPORT from 1970! With Dean Martin as a Captain, George Kennedy as Patroni and lots of other superstars of that era. The atmos and style of the film is wonderful, I watch it quite often since it’s been out on DVD for a few years.

If you click on the link above, you’ll come to a great page about this film. If you click here you’ll hear a quote from the movie about the 707!

The aircraft itself was a N324F, a 707-349C originally delivered to Flying Tigers. The tail logo shown in the film leads one to believe this is an ex-Lufthansa aircraft, but that is false. After passing through numerous operators, the aircraft crashed in Brazil in 1989.

Great model btw, I might get one myself!

Latest acquisitions… all from Herpa; their new gorgeous all-metal 727-100 in 1/200th scale and a couple of rare 707s in 1/500 I’ve been searching for, as well as a TWA Constellation.

Aaah…. how beautiful! Finally an excuse to post some rare photos of this well-shaped lady has come up! Let’s travel back in time to the tunes of Isn’t she lovely by Stevie Wonder (a song written about the 707 😉 )…

Let’s start with the early ones… an American Airlines 707-123B
taking off somewhere, with a National 727 behind. Bob Polaneczy photo.

Does anyone remember the movie Skyjacked with Charlton Heston
as the captain of a hijacked 707? A World Airways 707-320C was used for
the movie and the in-flight photo is very impressive!

Across the pond, BOAC was an early customer and took great pride in
operating the “Rolls Royce 707” powered by Conway turbojets…

A few years later, BOAC had become British Airways and the -336 series
of 707s was also operated. Here seen at Heathrow’s terminal 3 with a
colleague from Kuwait Airways in the foreground!

Another 707 operator was British Eagle, whose livery was gorgeous in my opinion…

For many years, Olympic Airways of Greece was a 707 airline with beautifully painted aircraft.

It became popular with airlines in the Middle East – almost all national carriers operated 707s at one time. Iraqi Airways flew 707s until 1991 when their fleet was grounded. To this day, the aircraft are still stored in Amman, Jordan…

Up north again – Lufthansa operated 707s from 1960 till 1984. For a shorter while, the smaller brother 720 was part of Lufthansa’s fleet. Seen here is a 720-030B at Hamburg in the very early 60’s.

How can you not love the 707 when there are photos like these? A publicity photo showing a 707-330B during boarding at Hamburg, sometime in the mid-60’s. Photo from Lufthansa’s historical photo gallery.

Take-off from Frankfurt in 1982, maybe to Africa or America. The 707 was a real workhorse for Lufthansa, with the last examples going to Condor in 1984 and being finally retired in 1985…

…but behind the scenes, the 707 is still in Lufthansa’s fleet! Or at least in simulator form. This 1969 full flight simulator is still in service at Lufthansa Flight Training in Frankfurt!

How’s this for a Flight Engineer’s Station? This is what real cockpits look like!

35 years old and still doing very well…

…and this is your First Officer, Sonnenflieger, on a ride of his lifetime. The 707 is wonderful to fly, really wonderful…

Hope you enjoyed the ride as well! All photos were found on my hard disk and have been collected over the years from forgotten sources.

Four engines make more noise –

Your Sonnenflieger