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.

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.

the G-APF fleet were the original order, they were fitted with Rolls Royce engines and the sub fin

these were times when you couldn’t just order from the US, the government insisted on UK involvement hence the RR engines

he was from a strip cartoon in the Eagle comic 🙂

It wouldn’t surprise me if Iranair are still using their aging 747-SP jets.

Saudi and Syria are still using them, the Saudi ones come into Heathrow quite regularly

For example Concorde 002 (our first prototype) was originally registered as G-AXDN and flew at Farnborough with that serial. Shortly afterward it was re-registered G-BSST .

they were 2 different aircraft, BSST was 002 XDN was 003 or 004

correction, XDN was c/n 101 and was a pre production aircraft

sorry bit of a dull day,

Saudi MD11 on approach to Heathrow

A320-214

yep that’s the guy,

another claim to fame was playing Animal in the Muppet show 🙂