These pictures date from 1957 to 1968, taken mainly on my
Ilford
Sportsman 35mm camera. My father snapped the two young spotters at
Hatton Cross (self and kid brother) watching a Slick Airways DC-4
approaching runway 28 Left (as was) in 1957. The Alitalia Convair 440
was photographed from the same spot at the same time.
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Some
of the pictures were taken on the North Side. The boundary fence would
eventually be replaced by a more robust structure. Although the Central
Area was brought into operation in 1955 for European flights, the North
Side terminal and apron remained in use, mainly for long haul flights,
until the Oceanic Terminal was opened in the Central Area in 1961.
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These
pictures were taken from the Spectators' Gallery in the Central Area in
August 1962.
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The
British Eagle maintenance area was situated alongside runway 23 Left on
the eastern side.
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R23L
was brought into use when strong southwesterly winds were blowing. This
group of aircraft were landing on this runway on a windy summer's day
in 1968.
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At
the end of 1968 Eagle ceased operations. Here is the grounded fleet.
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The
BOAC maintenance area was located at Hatton Cross. This picture of BOAC
and Qantas B707s was taken in 1962 from the top of a blast fence. Sadly
'FE came to grief four years later, disintegrating after encountering
severe turbulence near Mount Fuji, Japan, with the loss of all on
board. The Comet 4 was photographed on the same day.
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Two
more photos taken at Hatton Cross in 1962. The two Cunard Eagle B707-400s were eventually subsumed into the BOAC fleet.
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On
the evening of 6 November 1963 Trans Canada Airlines DC-8 CF-TJM was
scheduled to operate LHR to Montreal (YUL/CYUL). The weather was poor,
with fog banks swirling round the airport, resulting in varying runway
visual range (RVR).
Following
a failed attempt to takeoff from runway 28L, the captain decided to
taxi to 28R because the runway visual range (RVR) was reported as 500
yards, whereas the RVR at 28L was 150 yards. While speeding through 132
knots on the take-off run the captain moved the control column back,
but felt no response. Because the controls felt as though they were not
connected, he decided to abort the takeoff. The DC-8 overran the runway
at high speed and came to rest in a cabbage field, 800 yards past the
end of the runway. It was later determined that the captain was
mistaken in his belief that the elevator control system was defective.
It is possible that crew fatigue was a contributory factor, resulting
from the prolonged mental concentration required for extensive taxiing
around the airport in very poor visibility.
The
damaged DC-8 was guarded by a solitary police officer and the day after
the incident it was possible for members of the public (and plane
spotters) to wander round and take photos. The aircraft was repaired
and returned to service but was subsequently (1967) destroyed in a
training accident with the loss of the three flight deck crew.
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