I’m glad my memory hasn’t totally disappeared! On Sat mornings 0600-1400, there was usually only one of us traffic officers on at a time, the late guy would start at 1400. The first job for the early guy would be to make the tea, and then see off an Air UK SD360 to AMS at 0730, which would return at about 1100. Believe it or not, back in those days, after the Balkan and the two Aviogenex flights had departed, there would be nothing else until a Spantax Coronado AGP-STN-AGP at around 1300. I think that the Viscount was operating the weekly JER-STN-JER service on behalf of BAF. There was then another long gap until an Aviaco DC8-63 came thru at around 1830. This was a flight that we shared with EDI, it would run PMI-STN-EDI-STN-PMI. There used to be a late night Sat dep to BFS with newspapers operated with a Merchantman by Air Bridge Carriers. If you were the Sat late guy, you would usually stay until the Merchantman had departed, unless the Duty Officer was in a good mood and finished the flight for you! Would I want to do all that again?……..you bet!

Sarah, and any other members who may be interested, here are some of my models, just follow the links. Apologies to mods if this is too far off topic, I’m sure you’ll remove if so.

http://www.diecastaircraftforum.com/other-scales-antique-models/94529-some-my-models-1-a.html

http://www.diecastaircraftforum.com/other-scales-antique-models/94530-some-my-models-2-a.html

http://www.diecastaircraftforum.com/other-scales-antique-models/94508-some-my-airbuses.html

That pic of Gatwick brings back memories of coach trip’s , getting there at daft o’clock and sitting in the cafe waiting for the terraces to open.
Mind you they used to do a very good full breakfast.

As did the one on the Queens Terminal roof at LHR. I used to go from Cambridge to Heathrow on my Yamaha FS1E, and later my RD250, and that was before the M25 was around! I would not dare do that trip on a motorcycle today! Worth it though, for a day on that terrace.

That Arik has to be one of the classiest liveries around.

Yes Sarah, there is indeed a version for the Vanguard, and I’ve actually held one, but it was very, very expensive!. I have genuine BEA ‘travel agent’ type display models from the 60s, namely a 1/72 Trident 1, a 1/72 Vanguard, a 1/50 Comet 4B and a 1/50 Argosy. I would very much like a Vanguard poster to complete the set. I doubt that one was ever done for the Argosy, being purely cargo with BEA.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder…but the Trident was far more technically advanced safer and faster..:D

Indeed it is, and I’m not even going to get into numbers:D

Sarah, having had an afternoon turn out in my ‘den’ I’ve actually got that Trident poster, as well as a similar one for a BEA Comet 4B. I hadn’t looked at them for ages. They are definitely products of their time.

Hi Sarah, what can I say, an absolutely priceless collection! The pic of the Tu154 at STN would possibly have been taken by you on a Saturday morning. The guy in the foreground walking away from you, was a chap named Archie Tucker, who was our Ramp Supervisor in those days at Servisair. He was a very hard but fair man, but God help you if you crossed him! It looks as though he is about to go over to the aircraft to pounce on the poor Traffic Officer ramping the Balkan, and it might very well have been yours truly, as none of the other T/Os liked doing the Soviet made stuff, for parking the ramp van where you see it in your pic, this was a classic Archie no no! The 727 tail in the background may well have been one of the Aviogenex -200s, which did a an SPU-STN-SPU trip on Sat mornings. Sometimes if the SPU flight was late, it would be on the ramp with another ‘Genex -200 going to Pula. I still have nightmares about Archie Tucker……happy days. Just look at that Interflug Tu134A, grey leaden skies and wet tarmac…pure cold war! Back in the 80s I was lucky enough to be sat in the nose of an Aeroflot 134A for a night time landing at LHR, when I hitched a lift on one that was positioning from ABZ to LHR, an experience I’ll never forget Thanks for posting those Sarah.