End of the road for the 747.

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Oh ! Those starfighters, I remember them well. My mother’s house in Mossblown was in the flight path, she actually got double glazing fitted FOC as the house was “ in the zone”

One day a Starfighter broke the sound barrier I take it when coming into land. It scared the hell out me. At one of the air shows me and my brother got too close to one and was “requested “ to move back.
Do you remember Concorde being stranded on the main runway overnight. It damaged the front landing gear and had to be supported until engineers came up from a London.
Prestwick Airport has only been closed twice to my knowledge, the Concorde incident with the second being a Ryanair 737 which overshot the runway while taxiing. It almost made it out onto the main road out of Prestwick.
Could never understand why it wasn’t developed more as unlike Glasgow and Edinburgh it has a direct rail link to the terminal. Prestwick is also fog free and has been used for several emergencies.

I remember once when most of the European airports were fog bound and all the Jumbos were put down at Prestwick awaiting new slots to their destination.
 
Prestwick Airport has only been closed twice to my knowledge, the Concorde incident with the second being a Ryanair 737 which overshot the runway while taxiing. It almost made it out onto the main road out of Prestwick.


Not for the JetStream crash ?




I can well imagine not for the KLM Connie which crashed on approach in low cloud


.


There’s a memorial to that one at the side of the field where she came down .

The Breitling Constellation which does the rounds is a lovely thing to see , especially at night when you can see the flames ...

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I was an Apprentice with Scottish Aviation Ltd (SAL) in the 70's, one of my regular Jobs, in a 3 Man Team, was to Deploy the Starfighters (F104) Arrestor Hook Cable on the Runway when Airtests were being carried out!

View attachment 100223

The Job entailed basically Towing the Cable across the Active Runway, placing Rubber Blocks underneath and Tightening the Cable using Large Ratchets!

All Controlled by Radio from the Tower. I think it was 1973 ish the Cable is halfway across the Runway, up comes a Crackled Message on the Crap Radio "Large Aircraft on Approach, Clear the Runway "EXPEDITE, EXPEDITE, EXPEDITE" :eek:

We looked around and Fast Approaching at ZERO FEET from the West (Seaward and NOT Normally Used) was the BIGGEST MONSTER that we had EVER SEEN!:rolleyes: As far as I am aware it was the First Emergency Landing of a 747 at Prestwick, how it missed the Roof of the SWB Landrover I will never know, but the Noise (WITH Ear-defenders On) was horrendous, the worst part though was the Ensuing Blast from the 4 Engines, two of us were Knocked Over! OK Panic Over we were Alive!

Then came the Wake Turbulence, and it happened all over again! :rolleyes:o_O
Have a look on YouTube at the dickheads standing behind planes revving their engines for takeoff in Skiathos.
 
Well if the price gets low enough I fancy buying one,I am sure I could fly it I have seen all the how to videos,how hard can it be.
 
Many years ago I had a two hour slot in a British Airways 747 simulator at Heathrow - great fun.
 
Many years ago I had a two hour slot in a British Airways 747 simulator at Heathrow - great fun.

Well you can be my co pilot,but I get to push all the buttons first,I also get first pick of the trolly dollies ,we will get some of those thrown in the final price won't we :banana:
 
Not for the JetStream crash ?




I can well imagine not for the KLM Connie which crashed on approach in low cloud


.


There’s a memorial to that one at the side of the field where she came down .

The Breitling Constellation which does the rounds is a lovely thing to see , especially at night when you can see the flames ...

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Somehow I don’t remember the Jetstream crash even though I passed the factory that built them regularly.
I do remember a larger aircraft being broken up on site at the end of the runway after it crashed, that would have been back in the 80’s I think.
The Constellation crash happened near to where I live, in fact it just missed the church steeple in the village as it passed over crashing at nearby Auchenweet farm. That was before my time though but there were lots of stories going around about “ certain items” being stolen from the stricken craft by locals.

I remember seeing a private jet taking off when I worked right next to the airport and thought that’s the way to travel. Later that day after picking up some ViPs it crashed at its final destination, I think at Nice Airport. The pilot was killed but the F1 ViP and his then girlfriend survived. Lucky for DC.
 
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Somehow I don’t remember the Jetstream crash even though I passed the factory that built them regularly.
I do remember a larger aircraft being broken up on site at the end of the runway after it crashed, that would have been back in the 80’s I think.
The Constellation crash happened near to where I live, in fact it just missed the church steeple in the village as it passed over crashing at nearby Auchenweet farm. That was before my time though but there were lots of stories going around about “ certain items” being stolen from the stricken craft by locals.

I remember seeing a private jet taking off when I worked right next to the airport and thought that’s the way to travel. Later that day after picking up some ViPs it crashed at its final destination, I think at Nice Airport. The pilot was killed but the F1 ViP and his then girlfriend survived. Lucky for DC.
Hi , yes I’ve read a bit about the Constellation crash , and that even now some people still go sifting through the soil in that field .

My second on call job with the fire brigade was to a fatality in a farmhouse just outside Tarbolton , which I guess must be pretty close to you .

More recently I was there with a pal and we ‘rescued’ a 190E from a barn very close to there ; said farmer also has a W126 300SE , which he was unwilling to part with at that time .

I have no personal knowledge of the JetStream crash , but some of my fire brigade colleagues attended it and I have seen the photos ( not for public release ) some of which are quite graphic .
 
The Breitling Constellation which does the rounds is a lovely thing to see , especially at night when you can see the flames ...

Always loved the Constellation - a beautiful aircraft. This 21' r/c model (Super Constellation) is quite impressive:

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Could never understand why it wasn’t developed more as unlike Glasgow and Edinburgh it has a direct rail link to the terminal. Prestwick is also fog free and has been used for several emergencies.

Rail links aren't quite as important to non-London airports as the advocates for rail inks to airports would have us think.

Glasgow Airport Rail Link was cancelled. Reality was the airport didn't want to pay for it and only a small % of passengers would have found it practical.

As for Prestwick - until 1990 it had a monopoly on transatlantic flights out of Central Scotland. Then that was stopped and there was a surge in direct flights from Glasgow. North West, Air Canada, BA and then UA and AA all started running flights in th 90s.

And Fog isn't so much of a problem in modern times with many aircraft equipped to land in low visibility conditions.
 
Somehow I don’t remember the Jetstream crash even though I passed the factory that built them regularly.

EDIT.

Ignore previous post.
Got confused with the Gulfstream :)

(I passed by their factory in Savannah Georgia last year)
 
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Rail links aren't quite as important to non-London airports as the advocates for rail inks to airports would have us think.

Glasgow Airport Rail Link was cancelled. Reality was the airport didn't want to pay for it and only a small % of passengers would have found it practical.

As for Prestwick - until 1990 it had a monopoly on transatlantic flights out of Central Scotland. Then that was stopped and there was a surge in direct flights from Glasgow. North West, Air Canada, BA and then UA and AA all started running flights in th 90s.

And Fog isn't so much of a problem in modern times with many aircraft equipped to land in low visibility conditions.
I think with the cost and inconvenience of airport parking these days it is becoming more relevant again .

Ive used the Prestwick link a few times , but then I lived close to a station further up that same line .

The Edinburgh tram link has proved popular for business people coming up for meetings and going into the city ; I have also found it great for seeing people off/picking up as it is cheaper to park at The Gyle ( for free ) and jump on the tram .

The Glasgow link has been rebooted and should be happening soon : in truth it only needed to link to the underground in Govan , which then would have given drop off points all over the city for business travelers. Even being able to bring an underground train out to the airport from the service depot in Govan ( which is on the surface ) would have been relatively easy .
 
I think with the cost and inconvenience of airport parking these days it is becoming more relevant again .

I don't think any body is bothered at the moment.

The realilty is theat even without Covid in the equation the numbers don't add up sufficiently. If you are an outbound commuter going for a 0700 flight you likely can't get a local train to connect to the rail link service taht early - so that means taxi or private car part of the way (so why not all the way?). And if you are an outbound family with luggage then a people carrier taxi all the way is likely more convenient and possbly not any more expensive - compared with hauling luggage on and off public transport and paying premium airport fares. (Inbound traffic would be proportionately more likely to use a rail link.)
 
Just Googled, Prestwick Airport crashes and there’s been a few over the years.
Some make “interesting” reading albeit sad that lives were lost.
 
Flown on the VC-10 from Sydney to the UK..... What a punishment that was. I could NOT get my 'undercarriage to retract :). Allegedly my legs were too long to fit into the minuscule gap :( Strangely enough these legs of mine are just like those of everyone else. They only go as far as the floor.

Comfort of the 747
I have flown across Australia in a Citation, what a cramped aircraft. The sole pilot was the 'air hostess' giving out coffee and sandwiches, BUTT..... if you wanted to go to the toilet.... Then you had a huge problem and would have to wait for the aircraft to land and refuel. Yup, the 747 might be tired, but it has creature comforts that the rich that own their private jet will never have unless they own a conerted airliner :).

Only perk of flying in a private, small jet that I can think of is the drive to the plane, disembark and drive home.

The 747 is\was a truly iconic aircraft. Shame about the A380, perhaps it was that one step too far
 
Flown on the VC-10 from Sydney to the UK..... What a punishment that was. I

Comfort of the 747

Passengers often confuse the idea that a particular type of airliner is comfortable compared with another type.

It's about the airline and their decisions and choices as to the interior fit.
 

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