It's happened to you...
- Thread starter Ralf Roggeveen
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Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
LEMD - LFMN
The lovely Sade is winner of this week's Charlene Award for complete geographical b*llox in a pop song: in All Around the World she informs us that she's Searched from coast to coast (and can't find [her] baby). In fact she's Searched from L.A. to Chicago...
Well, at least she reached the coast of Lake Michigan, even if still 700 miles short of the Atlantic seaboard. Thanks to Mike Cheque, our man 'on the rocks' for entering this latest prize-winner. Sade: if you read this and you would like to collect it in person, I'll be happy to meet you for lunch one afternoon at the Ivy, just send a PM, OK?
Time to get those Carters from Barajas to Nice, Cote d'Azur:
We will cross a rather featureless part of Spain until we hit the Mediterranean near Salou on the Costa Dorada. We'll then fly northeasterly over Barcelona and along the Costa Brava before striking across the Golfe du Lion till we hit the French coast close to Marseille, cross the Var region of France, back to the sea at the Cote d'Azur, past Antibes and land at Nice Airport which is just to the west of the town of Nice.
Another job for our CV-340, Vincent.
Our slot was around 07.00, so day was just breaking.
Before we leave, let's not forget the
Spanish flag. One other Dutchman at Barajas at that time in the morning:
Another of those Lockheed Electras. But there were some exotic South Americans around too:
This Columbian Superconnie was passing on its way from LPAZ Santa Maria, Portugal - TJSJ Luis Munoz Marin Intl, Puerto Rico. And, easily star of the show...
...an Aerolineas Argentinias Comet. No prizes for guessing which First Lady of Argentina that aircraft was named after. It was a bit dark for looking properly at this Spanish Heron:
Evita moves off...
...heading for Paris, Orly. She's just behind us:
A conversation between Vincent Van Gough and Evita Peron* (English is the only language they have in common):
Evita: "Hey, Gringo, I like-a your painteengs. You are Numero Uno Artisto now, Baby, worth muchos muchos dollars."
Vincent: "I am not a child, Madame. I believe you are a Roman Catholic? I am not impressed by your faith or your morals, Madam. You must renounce the Whore of Babylon, you know."
Evita: "Bah, phooey. You give me a painteeng, Evita give you a good time, Dutch boy. Do you know how to tango?"
[* In Heaven or Hell, take your pick.]
The lovely Sade is winner of this week's Charlene Award for complete geographical b*llox in a pop song: in All Around the World she informs us that she's Searched from coast to coast (and can't find [her] baby). In fact she's Searched from L.A. to Chicago...
Well, at least she reached the coast of Lake Michigan, even if still 700 miles short of the Atlantic seaboard. Thanks to Mike Cheque, our man 'on the rocks' for entering this latest prize-winner. Sade: if you read this and you would like to collect it in person, I'll be happy to meet you for lunch one afternoon at the Ivy, just send a PM, OK?
Time to get those Carters from Barajas to Nice, Cote d'Azur:
We will cross a rather featureless part of Spain until we hit the Mediterranean near Salou on the Costa Dorada. We'll then fly northeasterly over Barcelona and along the Costa Brava before striking across the Golfe du Lion till we hit the French coast close to Marseille, cross the Var region of France, back to the sea at the Cote d'Azur, past Antibes and land at Nice Airport which is just to the west of the town of Nice.
Another job for our CV-340, Vincent.
Our slot was around 07.00, so day was just breaking.
Before we leave, let's not forget the
Spanish flag. One other Dutchman at Barajas at that time in the morning:
Another of those Lockheed Electras. But there were some exotic South Americans around too:
This Columbian Superconnie was passing on its way from LPAZ Santa Maria, Portugal - TJSJ Luis Munoz Marin Intl, Puerto Rico. And, easily star of the show...
...an Aerolineas Argentinias Comet. No prizes for guessing which First Lady of Argentina that aircraft was named after. It was a bit dark for looking properly at this Spanish Heron:
Evita moves off...
...heading for Paris, Orly. She's just behind us:
A conversation between Vincent Van Gough and Evita Peron* (English is the only language they have in common):
Evita: "Hey, Gringo, I like-a your painteengs. You are Numero Uno Artisto now, Baby, worth muchos muchos dollars."
Vincent: "I am not a child, Madame. I believe you are a Roman Catholic? I am not impressed by your faith or your morals, Madam. You must renounce the Whore of Babylon, you know."
Evita: "Bah, phooey. You give me a painteeng, Evita give you a good time, Dutch boy. Do you know how to tango?"
[* In Heaven or Hell, take your pick.]
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
It's funny who gets to have public transport called after them. Here in Nottingham the trams (or streetcars) are named after famous people from the area, so you get to see Lord Byron (libertine poet) passing Brian Clough (libertine football manager). I think there's also a D.H. Lawrence, but no Robin Hood or Sir Guy of Gisbourne (yet). By the way, did manage to find out that Stephen Borough, comemorated on that BEA Pionair (or was it a Viscount?) was an Elizabethan explorer who went for the Northeast Passage around Russia. Those who sailed westwards are more famous for some reason.
We exit Barajas:
A perfect climb up to 15000:
The aircraft in the background here (below) is going from Rivesaltes, France to Madrid Cuatro Vientos:
The Argentine beauty was close behind:
Both of us were asked by ATC if we could see one another; I was slightly unnerved by her proximity.
Took a closer look with TT Explorer when it was safe to do so.
Obviously we were flying towards the rising sun:
The traditional exit map, checked once we'd reached our cruise altitude:
In cruise the Convair reaches around 200 kias, having climbed at half that speed (the Comet is somewhat faster). Quite soon the Med appeared before us...
...and there was a slight heading change to fly parallel to the coast:
So we effectively entered Spain by going in around the Atlantic side of the Pyrennes, and are exiting by travelling round the Mediterranean end. They aren't very high mountains, but the people who planned the airlanes seem to have avoided overflying them.
We exit Barajas:
A perfect climb up to 15000:
The aircraft in the background here (below) is going from Rivesaltes, France to Madrid Cuatro Vientos:
The Argentine beauty was close behind:
Both of us were asked by ATC if we could see one another; I was slightly unnerved by her proximity.
Took a closer look with TT Explorer when it was safe to do so.
Obviously we were flying towards the rising sun:
The traditional exit map, checked once we'd reached our cruise altitude:
In cruise the Convair reaches around 200 kias, having climbed at half that speed (the Comet is somewhat faster). Quite soon the Med appeared before us...
...and there was a slight heading change to fly parallel to the coast:
So we effectively entered Spain by going in around the Atlantic side of the Pyrennes, and are exiting by travelling round the Mediterranean end. They aren't very high mountains, but the people who planned the airlanes seem to have avoided overflying them.
A
adhockey
Guest
I recall All Around The World was a Lisa Stansfield song from some years back (a rather enjoyable tune at that). Did Sade remake it recently?
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
Hmm, good point. This may be Mike's mistake; you're right, it WAS Lisa Stansfield - whatever happened to her? Anyway, she's won a Charlene.
Explorer detects one of those Irish Viscounts below:
And a Swissair DC-6:
This is Barcelona, capital of Catalonia:
The Airport is LEIG, Igualada:
According to the map it's in or near a place which rejoices in the name of El Prat de Llobregat (which must have caused joy to generations of British holidaymakers).
Around this time, late '50s/early '60s, those holidaymakers were starting to arrive in Spain on very cheap package deals where you got everything: the flight, hotel and meals all bought in advance from a Travel Agent. Most people who went there seem to have simply ignored Franco's unpleasant regime, though there was a bit of a fuss when the song Y Viva Espana became popular in Britain in the early '70s and it was pointed out that Spain wasn't a very nice place, being full of paramilitary police rather than flamenco dancers. Luckily Franco arranged for the good King Juan Carlos to take over when he (finally) died; the King wisely restored democracy and Spain is now a successful member of the European Union.
One of those Trek aircraft (you may remember from the Comet flight down to South Africa), heading for their base in Luxembourg:
(LEPA is Son San Juan, Spain). We head straight across the Golfe de Lion towards Marseille:
Algerian Connie spotted on his way from Orly to Algiers:
We see France up ahead:
This is where the great River Rhone comes out in a huge marshy estuary called the Camargue. It's famous for wild horses and they have French cowboys there, riding about, rounding 'em up.
Explorer detects one of those Irish Viscounts below:
And a Swissair DC-6:
This is Barcelona, capital of Catalonia:
The Airport is LEIG, Igualada:
According to the map it's in or near a place which rejoices in the name of El Prat de Llobregat (which must have caused joy to generations of British holidaymakers).
Around this time, late '50s/early '60s, those holidaymakers were starting to arrive in Spain on very cheap package deals where you got everything: the flight, hotel and meals all bought in advance from a Travel Agent. Most people who went there seem to have simply ignored Franco's unpleasant regime, though there was a bit of a fuss when the song Y Viva Espana became popular in Britain in the early '70s and it was pointed out that Spain wasn't a very nice place, being full of paramilitary police rather than flamenco dancers. Luckily Franco arranged for the good King Juan Carlos to take over when he (finally) died; the King wisely restored democracy and Spain is now a successful member of the European Union.
One of those Trek aircraft (you may remember from the Comet flight down to South Africa), heading for their base in Luxembourg:
(LEPA is Son San Juan, Spain). We head straight across the Golfe de Lion towards Marseille:
Algerian Connie spotted on his way from Orly to Algiers:
We see France up ahead:
This is where the great River Rhone comes out in a huge marshy estuary called the Camargue. It's famous for wild horses and they have French cowboys there, riding about, rounding 'em up.
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
Crossing of the Gulf of Lions:
The Marseille airport, LFML:
It's labelled Provence in the atlas and there's a smaller one further inland, so the one by the lake may be the regional airport, though neither is very near the town. Anybody expert in French airports?
In reality I've landed at Avignon to the north and Nice (where we're going now) to the east, but never been to Marseille.
I've been to Paradise, but I've never been to that big smelly French port on the Mediterranean - as Charlene herself might put it.
I arrived here in August 1973 in an Air France 727-200, staying with a French family who ran a small market garden.
We ate evening meals out on the veranda (on one of those hillsides above the town) and you could clearly see the aircraft coming in at this airport, LFMN, Nice Cote d'Azur below.
The old grandmother (who must have been born in the 19th Century and spoke something different from French) used to play at guiding the planes in, waving and mumbling to them in the language of Joan of Arc!
We find our space:
Aloof from the propliners, a nice Caravelle there (lucky Ralf, having once made a gluey mess of the Airfix model, went home on a real one in '73):
And a Belgian visitor next to one of those small British operators:
Remember noticing, when I left from this airport, that there was no Gate 13 - it just went 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15... Thought at the time that if you were superstitious and went from Gate 14, it would still be the Thirteenth one, wouldn't it? (On the other hand, it may have saved them getting stupid complaints and people refusing to fly when the Gate number was announced).
The Marseille airport, LFML:
It's labelled Provence in the atlas and there's a smaller one further inland, so the one by the lake may be the regional airport, though neither is very near the town. Anybody expert in French airports?
In reality I've landed at Avignon to the north and Nice (where we're going now) to the east, but never been to Marseille.
I've been to Paradise, but I've never been to that big smelly French port on the Mediterranean - as Charlene herself might put it.
I arrived here in August 1973 in an Air France 727-200, staying with a French family who ran a small market garden.
We ate evening meals out on the veranda (on one of those hillsides above the town) and you could clearly see the aircraft coming in at this airport, LFMN, Nice Cote d'Azur below.
The old grandmother (who must have been born in the 19th Century and spoke something different from French) used to play at guiding the planes in, waving and mumbling to them in the language of Joan of Arc!
We find our space:
Aloof from the propliners, a nice Caravelle there (lucky Ralf, having once made a gluey mess of the Airfix model, went home on a real one in '73):
And a Belgian visitor next to one of those small British operators:
Remember noticing, when I left from this airport, that there was no Gate 13 - it just went 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15... Thought at the time that if you were superstitious and went from Gate 14, it would still be the Thirteenth one, wouldn't it? (On the other hand, it may have saved them getting stupid complaints and people refusing to fly when the Gate number was announced).
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
Charlene Awards - Breaking News: adhockey, Sade and Lisa Stansfield take note. Mike says "You've got it all wrong, Ralf." The Sade song which fails to reach the Atlantic is, of course, Smooth Operator. Sade retains her Charlene (and that dinner at the Ivy, just send a PM). Lisa S did indeed sing All Around the World, but, despite its bold title, this song contains no attempts at geographical references.
Mike has also suggested Vanessa Williams' Save the Best Till Last, citing the line "Sometimes the Sun goes round the Moon", a geography howler 'on a cosmic scale', as he points out in the official nomination. The Charlene Panel have, however, disallowed Ms Williams' entry on the grounds that Vanessa is describing the weird 'unnatural' phenomena encountered when she's giddy with love for her unnamed boyfriend; another example being the previous line: "Sometimes the snow comes down in June".
Decided to follow this shabby UAT Aeromaritime from FCBB Maya Maya, Congo in on its approach and landing:
Scenery is slightly enhanced beyond default. They get their gear down:
Looks like a small private airstrip for the millionaires there. Those marinas below are a nice scenery enhancement:
Thought the coloured rectangles might be towels left by Germans to reserve their places by the sea...
...in fact it's a rather abstract carpark. Really good carparks are starting to appear in fs9, even some Cal Classic ones with classic cars, like down in South Africa when the Comet 1 went there last year.
This scenery is 21st Century, so you do get those enormous ugly hotels which weren't yet there in '73, let alone in 1959.
And the shabby DC-6 lands safely:
She taxies to her space (another female-voiced pilot):
Doesn't park very well. Maybe it's because I'm watching? It's always easier to park a car without passengers in it, isn't it?
Anyway, they're well out of the Congo. Some very, very bad things were just about to happen there in the early '60s...
Mike has also suggested Vanessa Williams' Save the Best Till Last, citing the line "Sometimes the Sun goes round the Moon", a geography howler 'on a cosmic scale', as he points out in the official nomination. The Charlene Panel have, however, disallowed Ms Williams' entry on the grounds that Vanessa is describing the weird 'unnatural' phenomena encountered when she's giddy with love for her unnamed boyfriend; another example being the previous line: "Sometimes the snow comes down in June".
Decided to follow this shabby UAT Aeromaritime from FCBB Maya Maya, Congo in on its approach and landing:
Scenery is slightly enhanced beyond default. They get their gear down:
Looks like a small private airstrip for the millionaires there. Those marinas below are a nice scenery enhancement:
Thought the coloured rectangles might be towels left by Germans to reserve their places by the sea...
...in fact it's a rather abstract carpark. Really good carparks are starting to appear in fs9, even some Cal Classic ones with classic cars, like down in South Africa when the Comet 1 went there last year.
This scenery is 21st Century, so you do get those enormous ugly hotels which weren't yet there in '73, let alone in 1959.
And the shabby DC-6 lands safely:
She taxies to her space (another female-voiced pilot):
Doesn't park very well. Maybe it's because I'm watching? It's always easier to park a car without passengers in it, isn't it?
Anyway, they're well out of the Congo. Some very, very bad things were just about to happen there in the early '60s...
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
The one piece of GA you may have noticed sitting down at the end there:
So Vincent has safely delivered the Carters to the Cote d'Azur. Might as well have a
French flag now...
...In 1959 their journey became a bit complicated at this point. They somehow went to
Monaco (probably by bus, the book doesn't say) and NEARLY met Princess Grace, who had been informed of the prize-winning, cheese-loving, Texan Seventh Day Adventists by KLM. They did get into the Palace, but Her Serene Highness had a diplomatic cold, so they never actually met the beautiful lady. (The famous Casino wasn't on their itinerary, as you may have guessed).
(In 1973 little Ralf was only allowed to see the outside of that Casino and didn't try to pester Princess Grace at all). Anyway, the Carters took a train to Milan and then on into Switzerland where they stayed briefly at another spa (remember the one in Sweden?) in a place called Gland (a slightly unfortunate name in English if you've got a juvenile sense of humour). Then they went to Geneva and flew back to Schiphol from there.
I decided to cut out all the train stuff and just fly straight from Nice to Geneva (Cointrin LSGG), finding this rather neat Swissair Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer for the purpose:
Of course it's the old Mike Stone one, as painted by Jean-Jacques Parel. One of those mysterious MercAir DC-3s left, going back to Son San Juan, Spain just before us:
Also spotted our now familiar 'friend' Phillippe Petain there...
...and a non-Collabo Caravelle called Alsace:
So Vincent has safely delivered the Carters to the Cote d'Azur. Might as well have a
French flag now...
...In 1959 their journey became a bit complicated at this point. They somehow went to
Monaco (probably by bus, the book doesn't say) and NEARLY met Princess Grace, who had been informed of the prize-winning, cheese-loving, Texan Seventh Day Adventists by KLM. They did get into the Palace, but Her Serene Highness had a diplomatic cold, so they never actually met the beautiful lady. (The famous Casino wasn't on their itinerary, as you may have guessed).
(In 1973 little Ralf was only allowed to see the outside of that Casino and didn't try to pester Princess Grace at all). Anyway, the Carters took a train to Milan and then on into Switzerland where they stayed briefly at another spa (remember the one in Sweden?) in a place called Gland (a slightly unfortunate name in English if you've got a juvenile sense of humour). Then they went to Geneva and flew back to Schiphol from there.
I decided to cut out all the train stuff and just fly straight from Nice to Geneva (Cointrin LSGG), finding this rather neat Swissair Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer for the purpose:
Of course it's the old Mike Stone one, as painted by Jean-Jacques Parel. One of those mysterious MercAir DC-3s left, going back to Son San Juan, Spain just before us:
Also spotted our now familiar 'friend' Phillippe Petain there...
...and a non-Collabo Caravelle called Alsace:
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
A quick check of the other AIs that were on the ground there: the Belgian Convair...
...Falcon DC-6 from England...
...(sinking a bit in the hot tarmac there), and Airnautic Stratoliner:
Then we were on our way:
A slightly wobbly takeoff, but it went up & climbed OK (which is what you need when something like the Alps are between you & your destination):
View of the old harbour of Nice with some, er, nice ships as we turn inland:
And the Cote d'Azur stretching away behind us. This coast has remained quite upmarket and expensive, perhaps because, unlike the Spanish Costas, it doesn't have long, sandy beaches. Places like Cannes, St Tropez, Antibes, Cagnes-Sur-Mer and Monte-Carlo simply don't cater for the average tourist. I was lucky to go there and stay with working people on what was really a very small family farm above the snooty town. Sometimes big trucks would arrive and load up with fresh vegetables & flowers to drive through the night and sell in Paris next morning.
Here's the old panel on the Twinpin; brings back memories of the early days of fs9!
Note mountains looming up ahead. They look worse (i.e. closer) on those 2-D panels than they actually were, but I was entirely relying on ATC not to direct me into any of them.
Don't know why its got a G (Great Britain) registration - should be H (Helvetia), but I did manage to give it the correct ATC callsign. Low Altitude Airways suggested 18000 ft. The route takes us into Italy, then back, roughly along the border between Provence and Piedmont, over to France again before approaching Geneva from the western end of its lake (Lake Geneva in English, Lac Leman in French):
...Falcon DC-6 from England...
...(sinking a bit in the hot tarmac there), and Airnautic Stratoliner:
Then we were on our way:
A slightly wobbly takeoff, but it went up & climbed OK (which is what you need when something like the Alps are between you & your destination):
View of the old harbour of Nice with some, er, nice ships as we turn inland:
And the Cote d'Azur stretching away behind us. This coast has remained quite upmarket and expensive, perhaps because, unlike the Spanish Costas, it doesn't have long, sandy beaches. Places like Cannes, St Tropez, Antibes, Cagnes-Sur-Mer and Monte-Carlo simply don't cater for the average tourist. I was lucky to go there and stay with working people on what was really a very small family farm above the snooty town. Sometimes big trucks would arrive and load up with fresh vegetables & flowers to drive through the night and sell in Paris next morning.
Here's the old panel on the Twinpin; brings back memories of the early days of fs9!
Note mountains looming up ahead. They look worse (i.e. closer) on those 2-D panels than they actually were, but I was entirely relying on ATC not to direct me into any of them.
Don't know why its got a G (Great Britain) registration - should be H (Helvetia), but I did manage to give it the correct ATC callsign. Low Altitude Airways suggested 18000 ft. The route takes us into Italy, then back, roughly along the border between Provence and Piedmont, over to France again before approaching Geneva from the western end of its lake (Lake Geneva in English, Lac Leman in French):
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
Stately British Britannia flying nearby:
In our own case the Scots are keeping the Swiss airborne:
Mountains do seem horribly close... It's when there's ground directly in front of you, as well as below, that flying gets most scary:
Main change of heading over Italy:
A very snowy bit of the Alps. I'm always thinking of improving all the scenery round here, but s'pose the default is OK (usually pretty high above it):
ATC begin to bring us down (a bit fast here, though I did also use the flaps):
One of our little aeroplane's big sisters, a CV-440, down on the ground:
And there's Petain's friend Laval:
And the Royal Air Maroc DC-6:
Spotted this lake peeping between the mountains and thought it must be our target...
In our own case the Scots are keeping the Swiss airborne:
Mountains do seem horribly close... It's when there's ground directly in front of you, as well as below, that flying gets most scary:
Main change of heading over Italy:
A very snowy bit of the Alps. I'm always thinking of improving all the scenery round here, but s'pose the default is OK (usually pretty high above it):
ATC begin to bring us down (a bit fast here, though I did also use the flaps):
One of our little aeroplane's big sisters, a CV-440, down on the ground:
And there's Petain's friend Laval:
And the Royal Air Maroc DC-6:
Spotted this lake peeping between the mountains and thought it must be our target...
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
But I was wrong, it was only Lake Annency in the Savoy region of France:
That smaller lake to the left on the map:
This is Lake Geneva seen from its western end where the city lies:
First sight of the airport, Cointrin:
We get clearance:
Close...
...very near...
...and we're down, a straightforward visual landing. It's 1400ft above sea level. The Tower shot gave these big churches or even a cathedral or two:
It's the birthplace of Protestantism, so was probably as much a part of the Carter Pilgrimage as Jerusalem had been.
Quick look round LSGG:
Grumman Goose might be fun on the lake!
That smaller lake to the left on the map:
This is Lake Geneva seen from its western end where the city lies:
First sight of the airport, Cointrin:
We get clearance:
Close...
...very near...
...and we're down, a straightforward visual landing. It's 1400ft above sea level. The Tower shot gave these big churches or even a cathedral or two:
It's the birthplace of Protestantism, so was probably as much a part of the Carter Pilgrimage as Jerusalem had been.
Quick look round LSGG:
Grumman Goose might be fun on the lake!
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
LSGG - EHAM
In the 1950s people who didn't eat meat and went to health spas were known as "cranks"; so in some ways Seventh Day Adventists like the Carters were ahead of their time. Doing something different for the sake of your religion, especially something to do with how you eat or how you dress, will always inspire a glow of righteous piety. Anyway, the 7DA spas seem a nice aspect of their faith and, refreshed by their visit to the one at Gland, it was time to take the Carters back to Schiphol for almost the last time.
I thought about leaving this out and flying them direct to Paris, but having got this far we might as well round things off properly. Of course we already went this way when they flew over Geneva between Rome and Amsterdam, but I'm glad it was done again, especially as we'll now get a proper look at Brussels where there was something exciting in 1959!
Vincent van Gough again. Toyed with the idea of going by night, but settled for an early morning 06.30 - 08.05 flight.
It was fairly quiet at Cointrin at that time. One of the MercAir DC-3s was off to DAOV (Ghriss, Algeria), obviously exchanging guns for hashish with the Algerian rebels fighting the French. Or, if you prefer, delivering technological aid in exchange for medical supplies to the brave freedom-fighters resisting Gallic imperialism, etc.
I did remember to put the lights on before takeoff.
Once you get to this side of the Alps only 12000ft altitude is needed.
It's farewell to the mountains.
Mrs Carter never made any comparisons between Swiss and Dutch cheeses (which would have been fascinating, wouldn't it?). To the Carters, and most people in those days, food was just fuel. Very few were concerned about whether it was good for you or not and how exactly it had been prepared. Also, you could only eat things in season; not like today when you can have kumquats at Christmas or hot cross buns on Midsummer's Day, if that's what you want.
I have a feeling that efficient, low-cost air travel may have something to do with fresh fruit & vegetables being available everywhere all year round...
Some good views of Lake Geneva/Leman as we climb away.
Lake Geneva seems quite big for Europe, but found out the other day that Lake Victoria (which we saw last year from the BOAC Comet) is the size of Ireland, so I guess these things are relative from continent to continent.
In the 1950s people who didn't eat meat and went to health spas were known as "cranks"; so in some ways Seventh Day Adventists like the Carters were ahead of their time. Doing something different for the sake of your religion, especially something to do with how you eat or how you dress, will always inspire a glow of righteous piety. Anyway, the 7DA spas seem a nice aspect of their faith and, refreshed by their visit to the one at Gland, it was time to take the Carters back to Schiphol for almost the last time.
I thought about leaving this out and flying them direct to Paris, but having got this far we might as well round things off properly. Of course we already went this way when they flew over Geneva between Rome and Amsterdam, but I'm glad it was done again, especially as we'll now get a proper look at Brussels where there was something exciting in 1959!
Vincent van Gough again. Toyed with the idea of going by night, but settled for an early morning 06.30 - 08.05 flight.
It was fairly quiet at Cointrin at that time. One of the MercAir DC-3s was off to DAOV (Ghriss, Algeria), obviously exchanging guns for hashish with the Algerian rebels fighting the French. Or, if you prefer, delivering technological aid in exchange for medical supplies to the brave freedom-fighters resisting Gallic imperialism, etc.
I did remember to put the lights on before takeoff.
Once you get to this side of the Alps only 12000ft altitude is needed.
It's farewell to the mountains.
Mrs Carter never made any comparisons between Swiss and Dutch cheeses (which would have been fascinating, wouldn't it?). To the Carters, and most people in those days, food was just fuel. Very few were concerned about whether it was good for you or not and how exactly it had been prepared. Also, you could only eat things in season; not like today when you can have kumquats at Christmas or hot cross buns on Midsummer's Day, if that's what you want.
I have a feeling that efficient, low-cost air travel may have something to do with fresh fruit & vegetables being available everywhere all year round...
Some good views of Lake Geneva/Leman as we climb away.
Lake Geneva seems quite big for Europe, but found out the other day that Lake Victoria (which we saw last year from the BOAC Comet) is the size of Ireland, so I guess these things are relative from continent to continent.
Hi Ralf,
Nice job.
BTW, while you did remember to turn on your lights, you didn't extend your landing lights (and thus they are shining straight down on the runway making those two little spots). Either throw the Landing Light Retract switch to EXTEND, or you can press Shift W in spot view and watch the light splashes rotate to in front of your plane - great fun. The light on the nose gear is a taxi light and can be turned off at the runway, if desired.
The RAM "DC-6" is actually a DC-4 (note the round windows). And I'm sure that several European members might take notice of the Falcon aircraft - it's a Hermes, not a DC-6.
And note that UAT (the DC-6B you followed for a while) merged with TAI in 1963 to form UTA, which was very popular for flying tourists to Tahiti for a while. They eventually merged with Air France, of course.
Hope this helps,
Nice job.
BTW, while you did remember to turn on your lights, you didn't extend your landing lights (and thus they are shining straight down on the runway making those two little spots). Either throw the Landing Light Retract switch to EXTEND, or you can press Shift W in spot view and watch the light splashes rotate to in front of your plane - great fun. The light on the nose gear is a taxi light and can be turned off at the runway, if desired.
The RAM "DC-6" is actually a DC-4 (note the round windows). And I'm sure that several European members might take notice of the Falcon aircraft - it's a Hermes, not a DC-6.
And note that UAT (the DC-6B you followed for a while) merged with TAI in 1963 to form UTA, which was very popular for flying tourists to Tahiti for a while. They eventually merged with Air France, of course.
Hope this helps,
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
Useful info, thanks Tom. I only pressed keyboard L for lights; should use the good Panel or VC of course. Hope I'm going to get some 4 letter codes right now, thanks to the Seldec book...
Traffic Tools Explorer spots this BEAliner Viscount:
That's LIMC Malpensa, Italy - EGLL Heathrow, of course. You can also see LFQM - ESSA which is La Veze, France to Arlanda, Sweden. We overfly the dull French town of Besancon:
Someone was having fun flying about below in his Piper Cub early that morning:
Not much interesting airliner traffic about, so I took a few shots of Vincent who was busy performing a nice, boring textbook flight:
This map shows us reaching the tiny Principality of Luxembourg:
And there you can see the airport below us:
With a pretty Sabena DC-3 down there:
Brussels ahead:
As well as being the capital of Belgium, this is the headquarters both of the European Union and NATO. In 1959 the EU was in its infancy, it started as a 'Coal & Steel Federation', mainly of France and Germany with the Benelux countries. (This is preferable to France & Germany having wars over the Benelux countries which they had been doing for the previous five centuries or so.) Unfortunately, right now in 2010, the host country has a serious political split between French-speaking Walloons and Flemish/Dutch-speaking Flemings who cannot agree on anything.
Very good beer & chocolate, but if only they had concentrated on cheese production, then none of these political problems would have arisen! The airport, which we'll go down with TT and take a look round:
Traffic Tools Explorer spots this BEAliner Viscount:
That's LIMC Malpensa, Italy - EGLL Heathrow, of course. You can also see LFQM - ESSA which is La Veze, France to Arlanda, Sweden. We overfly the dull French town of Besancon:
Someone was having fun flying about below in his Piper Cub early that morning:
Not much interesting airliner traffic about, so I took a few shots of Vincent who was busy performing a nice, boring textbook flight:
This map shows us reaching the tiny Principality of Luxembourg:
And there you can see the airport below us:
With a pretty Sabena DC-3 down there:
Brussels ahead:
As well as being the capital of Belgium, this is the headquarters both of the European Union and NATO. In 1959 the EU was in its infancy, it started as a 'Coal & Steel Federation', mainly of France and Germany with the Benelux countries. (This is preferable to France & Germany having wars over the Benelux countries which they had been doing for the previous five centuries or so.) Unfortunately, right now in 2010, the host country has a serious political split between French-speaking Walloons and Flemish/Dutch-speaking Flemings who cannot agree on anything.
Very good beer & chocolate, but if only they had concentrated on cheese production, then none of these political problems would have arisen! The airport, which we'll go down with TT and take a look round:
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
What do we find around EBBR? Sabena DC-7 coming in from JFK - who's he? In 1959 I mean Idelewild:
Fellow KLM CV-340 Jan van Scorel (not a Dutch Nazi collaborator, but yet another of our great artists I'm glad to say):
Old friend, DC-6 (square windows!) from the Lebanon:
Lufthansa Convair behind - is it a 240? The orange Seaboard & Western Connie:
And, for you chopper fans, these exciting Sikorsky S-55s which Sabena used to bring passengers from city centre to airport:
Thanks to Mr Gibson, you can install helicopters in your '50s New York as well.
I'd love it if someone could skin up the BEA version of these...
None of the Sabena ones were moving just at that moment, but at least we spotted them this time. We begin our familiar descent towards the coast:
There's the sea ahead:
They're sending us round this way for our approach to RW Two Two:
Fellow KLM CV-340 Jan van Scorel (not a Dutch Nazi collaborator, but yet another of our great artists I'm glad to say):
Old friend, DC-6 (square windows!) from the Lebanon:
Lufthansa Convair behind - is it a 240? The orange Seaboard & Western Connie:
And, for you chopper fans, these exciting Sikorsky S-55s which Sabena used to bring passengers from city centre to airport:
Thanks to Mr Gibson, you can install helicopters in your '50s New York as well.
I'd love it if someone could skin up the BEA version of these...
None of the Sabena ones were moving just at that moment, but at least we spotted them this time. We begin our familiar descent towards the coast:
There's the sea ahead:
They're sending us round this way for our approach to RW Two Two:
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
There's our target, just about to begin final run-in at that point...
...and we're down:
We were very slightly late for our ETA of 08.04.
This place should all be pretty familiar now if you've read this far. One more major European airport to go before we take the Carters home to Texas.
It was mostly the KLM fleet there at that time.
The older, smaller ones are usually on this side:
Our parking was easy enough as there wasn't much down at that end:
The Tupolev with its restored undercarriage in front of us:
Might as well take a proper look at it now:
This was described at the time as a bomber with the bombs taken out and replaced with a Victorian drawing-room!
As we know, later in the day it will bestir itself and hop over to Heathrow. They're probably fixing the samovar right now.
...and we're down:
We were very slightly late for our ETA of 08.04.
This place should all be pretty familiar now if you've read this far. One more major European airport to go before we take the Carters home to Texas.
It was mostly the KLM fleet there at that time.
The older, smaller ones are usually on this side:
Our parking was easy enough as there wasn't much down at that end:
The Tupolev with its restored undercarriage in front of us:
Might as well take a proper look at it now:
This was described at the time as a bomber with the bombs taken out and replaced with a Victorian drawing-room!
As we know, later in the day it will bestir itself and hop over to Heathrow. They're probably fixing the samovar right now.
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
It's a long way west for this Czech Il-14, careful to stay in the shadow of its big Russian 'friend':
Found the Luftwaffe Starfighter doing a circuit and decided to follow him:
Nice clean Dutch countryside below...
Undercarriage down:
As far as those aircraft passing by in the background are concerned, it's LFBI Biard, France - EKHG Herning, Norway and EKRN Bornholm, Ronne (also Norway) - EGJJ, Jersey, Channel Islands. You can make your own stories up about those interesting flights.
Martinair DC-3 waiting patiently before his flight to Eelde, up in Groningen (EHGG) there.
And the F-104 is down. Incidentally, they were also built under licence in Belgium and Japan. Amusingly, some of the German companies involved in European production were Focke-Wulf, Heinkel, Messerschmitt and Siebel (did you know even that they were all still going in 1960?). He deploys his airbrakes:
A quick glance at the lovely Valkenburg Neptunes:
An overview of (part of) Schiphol:
And a map of the leg we've just completed, Alps to the North Sea:
Found the Luftwaffe Starfighter doing a circuit and decided to follow him:
Nice clean Dutch countryside below...
Undercarriage down:
As far as those aircraft passing by in the background are concerned, it's LFBI Biard, France - EKHG Herning, Norway and EKRN Bornholm, Ronne (also Norway) - EGJJ, Jersey, Channel Islands. You can make your own stories up about those interesting flights.
Martinair DC-3 waiting patiently before his flight to Eelde, up in Groningen (EHGG) there.
And the F-104 is down. Incidentally, they were also built under licence in Belgium and Japan. Amusingly, some of the German companies involved in European production were Focke-Wulf, Heinkel, Messerschmitt and Siebel (did you know even that they were all still going in 1960?). He deploys his airbrakes:
A quick glance at the lovely Valkenburg Neptunes:
An overview of (part of) Schiphol:
And a map of the leg we've just completed, Alps to the North Sea:
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
Having just completed that flight the untiring Carters spent the night at the airport hotel and were off to Paris the following morning! It would be interesting to get into the KLM archives and see what sort of correspondence was going on in the company about their prizewinners. They certainly took FULL advantage of what they'd won, making such a whistle-stop tour of almost every European capital. KLM may have imagined that the competition winners would fly to one or two places and stay a few days in each - the Carters more-or-less 'stayed' on Dutch aircraft for a month or two. This is the next bit:
It's simply back across Belgium and Picardy, NE France, where the Western Front was in WW1. Rather a good EHAM Tower shot with some interesting planes around the place:
We started from next to that Tupolev:
Here's a picture taken from underneath it:
This DC-3 (a military transport?) is off to EHTW Twente in the east of Holland near the German border:
2-D screen from the end of the runway, all revved up and about to release the brakes:
And from takeoff point, just about to pull back on the yoke having reached 120 kias:
A view of Schiphol behind us as we climb and turn away (the Superconnie coming in must be KLM 608):
It was about 09.20 in the morning and the flight only takes an hour.
And we're soon at our cruising altitude of 12000 ft over Rotterdam and the mouth of the Rhine:
It's simply back across Belgium and Picardy, NE France, where the Western Front was in WW1. Rather a good EHAM Tower shot with some interesting planes around the place:
We started from next to that Tupolev:
Here's a picture taken from underneath it:
This DC-3 (a military transport?) is off to EHTW Twente in the east of Holland near the German border:
2-D screen from the end of the runway, all revved up and about to release the brakes:
And from takeoff point, just about to pull back on the yoke having reached 120 kias:
A view of Schiphol behind us as we climb and turn away (the Superconnie coming in must be KLM 608):
It was about 09.20 in the morning and the flight only takes an hour.
And we're soon at our cruising altitude of 12000 ft over Rotterdam and the mouth of the Rhine:
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
Some shots of the harbour facilities:
Someone flying in from Shannon, Ireland there.
You can clearly see the barges, ships, cranes and oil refineries.
Stately Dutch Viscount on his descent, arriving from Heathrow:
TT also picked up this de Havilland Beaver which was on a flight from Sumburgh in the Shetland Isles of Scotland to Liege, Belgium:
Down on the ground there, a Sobelair DC-4:
They were a charter subsidiary of Sabena of course (try saying that after a few drinks). Beautiful Springbok DC-7, no doubt up from Johannesburg or Cape Town and on its final leg between Zurich and London:
And an old Lebanese York heading to London from Mulhouse in Alsace:
I thought this place might be Beauvais, a name which strikes terror into the hearts of airship commanders...
...although the R101 didn't crash at the actual airport. (That airplane, LFPB - EBBR, is doing Le Bourget to Brussels). First sight of the City of Light:
Or, as you will soon see, perhaps now the Place of Ugly Towers? None of those would have been there in 1959 when the elegant Eiffel Tower of 1889 was still the only piece of architectural engineering to be seen soaring above the cityscape skyline.
Someone flying in from Shannon, Ireland there.
You can clearly see the barges, ships, cranes and oil refineries.
Stately Dutch Viscount on his descent, arriving from Heathrow:
TT also picked up this de Havilland Beaver which was on a flight from Sumburgh in the Shetland Isles of Scotland to Liege, Belgium:
Down on the ground there, a Sobelair DC-4:
They were a charter subsidiary of Sabena of course (try saying that after a few drinks). Beautiful Springbok DC-7, no doubt up from Johannesburg or Cape Town and on its final leg between Zurich and London:
And an old Lebanese York heading to London from Mulhouse in Alsace:
I thought this place might be Beauvais, a name which strikes terror into the hearts of airship commanders...
...although the R101 didn't crash at the actual airport. (That airplane, LFPB - EBBR, is doing Le Bourget to Brussels). First sight of the City of Light:
Or, as you will soon see, perhaps now the Place of Ugly Towers? None of those would have been there in 1959 when the elegant Eiffel Tower of 1889 was still the only piece of architectural engineering to be seen soaring above the cityscape skyline.
Ralf Roggeveen
Charter Member
Another airport near Paris. The three big ones now are Le Bourget, Orly and Charles de Gaulle, though the latter didn't open till 1974:
There's the Eiffel Tower (it's just over 1000ft high, so we're not going to hit it):
You see what I mean about the hideous 20th Century buildings? There is an enormous eyesore called La Defense which I remember French friends proudly pointing out to the teenage Ralf when it was all going up in the '70s.
(They seem to have got that monolith the monkeys had in 2001 A Space Odyssey). The flight so far:
So busy gazing at all the landmarks that I missed the most important one, my destination airport. Here we are over it when it's obviously too late to get down without a go-around:
They took me back up another thousand feet and I managed to land properly this time round:
Nice Tower shot with a power station in it, no doubt a well-known landmark to pilots who come here regularly:
Very nearly there...
...and Yay! We were late, but only by about half an hour (not an hour & a half as the clock above implies).
I'm sure that German soldier's wife friend of Bockholt's got something nice from here.
There's the Eiffel Tower (it's just over 1000ft high, so we're not going to hit it):
You see what I mean about the hideous 20th Century buildings? There is an enormous eyesore called La Defense which I remember French friends proudly pointing out to the teenage Ralf when it was all going up in the '70s.
(They seem to have got that monolith the monkeys had in 2001 A Space Odyssey). The flight so far:
So busy gazing at all the landmarks that I missed the most important one, my destination airport. Here we are over it when it's obviously too late to get down without a go-around:
They took me back up another thousand feet and I managed to land properly this time round:
Nice Tower shot with a power station in it, no doubt a well-known landmark to pilots who come here regularly:
Very nearly there...
...and Yay! We were late, but only by about half an hour (not an hour & a half as the clock above implies).
I'm sure that German soldier's wife friend of Bockholt's got something nice from here.