November 26, 2010, 10:11:00 GMT
permalink Post: 6085415
EXWOK
arghhhhhh.. age is catching up me ME
You are quite correct, Alpha Gulf accrued 2000 less airframe hours than Alpha Fox, mainly due to her protracted 'holiday' between 1982 and 1985.
Totally agree with you about not letting the scarebus b****s buther OAF. OAA became a truly pitiful sight when they chopped the wings off for transportation. (You can still see the massive 'cut lines' on the wings, the effect of this effectively in my view 'killing' the aeroplane).
It's all a little personal for me too; I did my very first LHR-JFK in OAF in September 1982, returning the following day in OAA . (Hutch, Chris Norris and Chopper Bill were the operating crew..... This old fart can still remember something I guess).
Regards
Dude
Has AF really accrued fewer hours than AG, with her time out of service?
You are quite correct, Alpha Gulf accrued 2000 less airframe hours than Alpha Fox, mainly due to her protracted 'holiday' between 1982 and 1985.
Totally agree with you about not letting the scarebus b****s buther OAF. OAA became a truly pitiful sight when they chopped the wings off for transportation. (You can still see the massive 'cut lines' on the wings, the effect of this effectively in my view 'killing' the aeroplane).
It's all a little personal for me too; I did my very first LHR-JFK in OAF in September 1982, returning the following day in OAA . (Hutch, Chris Norris and Chopper Bill were the operating crew..... This old fart can still remember something I guess).
Regards
Dude
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April 10, 2015, 22:54:00 GMT
permalink Post: 8939600
@Bellerophon:
Interesting info - cheers!
As a sort-of tangent, as an aviation-mad nipper I watched and recorded the 1988 BBC Concorde Special, and pretty much wore the VHS tape out. The skipper on that flight was Hutch (who also just-so-happened to be a BBC aviation correspondent on the side). The reason I bring it up was that the FO was Chris Norris, who mentioned that he was just about to be made Captain - and regretfully that meant he'd be leaving the Concorde flight deck, most likely for a subsonic short-haul type (he reckoned it'd be the B757).
As I recall, I think I remember reading that Capt. Norris did end up returning to Concorde as a captain before the type was retired - so I'm guessing that previous experience as FO did count when making the bid. Was that the case?
Interesting info - cheers!
As a sort-of tangent, as an aviation-mad nipper I watched and recorded the 1988 BBC Concorde Special, and pretty much wore the VHS tape out. The skipper on that flight was Hutch (who also just-so-happened to be a BBC aviation correspondent on the side). The reason I bring it up was that the FO was Chris Norris, who mentioned that he was just about to be made Captain - and regretfully that meant he'd be leaving the Concorde flight deck, most likely for a subsonic short-haul type (he reckoned it'd be the B757).
As I recall, I think I remember reading that Capt. Norris did end up returning to Concorde as a captain before the type was retired - so I'm guessing that previous experience as FO did count when making the bid. Was that the case?
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April 11, 2015, 11:22:00 GMT
permalink Post: 8940037
DozyWannabe
Chris Norris did indeed return to the Concorde fleet as a Captain, later becoming the last Training Captain to be appointed on the fleet.
He was one of the most able and respected Captains on the fleet, as well as an excellent instructor, and his signature appears in my licence when he was the instructor on my last Concorde simulator check in June 2003.
Once back on Concorde as a Captain, his previous record and experience as a Concorde F/O would undoubtedly have weighed heavily in his favour on selection for the Training Captain appointment (which was a merit-based selection) however it would have had no bearing on his being offered a return to Concorde as a Captain, which, as described above, was a seniority-based selection.
The annual postings and promotions process in BA, whilst sometimes lengthy and tortuous, had the virtue of being highly transparent. Every application, from every pilot, was listed, along with the results and reasons for the results, and this document was available to any pilot who wished to check!
Chris Norris did indeed return to the Concorde fleet as a Captain, later becoming the last Training Captain to be appointed on the fleet.
He was one of the most able and respected Captains on the fleet, as well as an excellent instructor, and his signature appears in my licence when he was the instructor on my last Concorde simulator check in June 2003.
Once back on Concorde as a Captain, his previous record and experience as a Concorde F/O would undoubtedly have weighed heavily in his favour on selection for the Training Captain appointment (which was a merit-based selection) however it would have had no bearing on his being offered a return to Concorde as a Captain, which, as described above, was a seniority-based selection.
The annual postings and promotions process in BA, whilst sometimes lengthy and tortuous, had the virtue of being highly transparent. Every application, from every pilot, was listed, along with the results and reasons for the results, and this document was available to any pilot who wished to check!
Last edited by Bellerophon; 11th April 2015 at 11:23 . Reason: grammar
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