You always remember the first time.
(No, no need to flag the photo!)
It had become something of a quest to get at least a record shot of this British Airways B747 G-BYGC. It is one of several aircraft painted with retro schemes to celebrate the carrier's centenary.
The weather was foul. It was like trying to photograph something through a waterfall. So the shot above has been titivated to within an inch of its life to become as presentable as possible. The aircraft was on short finals to 09L at London Heathrow, arriving from San Francisco.
So why the quest? It all goes back well over 40 years. A transatlantic return provided a succession of snafus and cock-ups, all of which turned out brilliantly. To begin with I had my first but by no means my last in-flight "emergency". The adventure had only just begun when we went around the Isle of Wight three times dumping fuel and it was announced the nose wheel was stuck in the down position and we would be returning to base.
Following this, second and third snafus provided my first and only flights on both the legendary DC-3 and VC-10. Fantastic! The domino effect of things going awry then topped things out nicely with my first and again unexpected flight on a Jumbo. THAT is why I was so keen to see the aircraft featured in the photo. That first 747 was indeed a BOAC flight from JFK back to Heathrow. I even remember what was playing on the sound system as we were about to leave the stand.....Junior Walker "Walk In The Night"
I was hooked on the Jumbo from that moment and it has been my favourite aircraft to fly in for more decades than I care to remember.
You always remember the first time.
(No, no need to flag the photo!)
It had become something of a quest to get at least a record shot of this British Airways B747 G-BYGC. It is one of several aircraft painted with retro schemes to celebrate the carrier's centenary.
The weather was foul. It was like trying to photograph something through a waterfall. So the shot above has been titivated to within an inch of its life to become as presentable as possible. The aircraft was on short finals to 09L at London Heathrow, arriving from San Francisco.
So why the quest? It all goes back well over 40 years. A transatlantic return provided a succession of snafus and cock-ups, all of which turned out brilliantly. To begin with I had my first but by no means my last in-flight "emergency". The adventure had only just begun when we went around the Isle of Wight three times dumping fuel and it was announced the nose wheel was stuck in the down position and we would be returning to base.
Following this, second and third snafus provided my first and only flights on both the legendary DC-3 and VC-10. Fantastic! The domino effect of things going awry then topped things out nicely with my first and again unexpected flight on a Jumbo. THAT is why I was so keen to see the aircraft featured in the photo. That first 747 was indeed a BOAC flight from JFK back to Heathrow. I even remember what was playing on the sound system as we were about to leave the stand.....Junior Walker "Walk In The Night"
I was hooked on the Jumbo from that moment and it has been my favourite aircraft to fly in for more decades than I care to remember.