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Fantastic Trippe


MM

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Wonderful history lesson on the political and financial activities that were integral to the building of the transcontinental railroad.  I sometimes wonder how much things have really changed?

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RTW80 Leg 22. Omaha to Chicago. KOMA-KMDW.
2017-12-07

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After an abbreviated stay, we took off for Chicago.

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Snow-covered fields of central Iowa

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Crossing the Mississippi over the Quad Cities

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The Chicago Skyline frames our approach into Rwy 31C

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Over the fence of the urban airport

We landed at Chicago Midway Airport, named after the decisive 1942 carrier battle.  All through the 1950s, Midway topped New York's La Guardia Airport as the busiest airport in the United States.

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Chicago Midway in 1958

With the rise of jets and the opening of O'Hare in the 1960s, Midway fell on hard times. Then in the 1980s it was resuscitated and in the 1990s and 2000s it was redeveloped for dense jet traffic. Despite the fact that the airport is completely surrounded by urban structures and that the longest runway is only 6,500 feet, the airport's location near downtown has made it a success. While the main airline customers have changed over the years, it is now sustained as a major hub for Southwest Airlines. In 2016, Midway ranked as the 25th busiest airport in the U.S.

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Taxi to Gate

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Passengers deplaned

When Jules Verne had Fogg and his party pass through Chicago in 1872, they remarked on how the city was "already risen from its ruins and standing prouder than ever on the splendid banks of Lake Michigan." He referred to the Great Chicago Fire that occurred October 8-10, 1871. After a long hot and dry summer, a fire started that turned into a conflagration. The city structures, streets, and sidewalks were built of wood and the roofs were flammable asphalt. As the fire started a strong southwest wind fanned the flames and the fire jumped the river several times. Its blazing heat rose up into the dry air and created vortices which funneled in oxygen to create a firestorm. The hundreds of professional firemen were overwhelmed but continued to fight. Then the  flames leapt onto and incinerated the city waterworks, the water pressure vanished, and the city was defenseless. On the third day, the fire burned itself out but in the end it left four square miles of ruins – having destroyed the heart of the city.

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Chicago in flames by Currier and Ives (Harpers Weekly 1871). "The whole earth, or all we saw of it, was a lurid yellowish red," wrote one survivor. "Everywhere dust, smoke, flames, heat, thunder of falling walls, crackle of fire, hissing of water, panting of engines, shouts, braying of trumpets, roar of wind, confusion, and uproar."

(The cause remains unknown. The popular lore – that it was "Mrs. O'Leary's cow that kicked over a lantern" – had the advantage that it blamed the disaster on the Irish, the poor foreign immigrants of the day. As it happens, the young newspaperman who broke the story admitted twenty years later that he had invented the narrative as it would make for "colorful copy.")

Chicago did recover and began a period of dynamic growth. Part of the fire's legacy is Chicago's special role in architecture. As the city was built anew, it attracted young ambitious architects who focused on modern visions and techniques...fulfilled in the construction of high rising skyscrapers of twenty stories and more. The architects employed steel-frame construction and the use of large areas of plate glass. Perhaps the most innovative of the distinguished group, the legendary Louis Sullivan tossed aside historical precedent and designed buildings that emphasized their vertical nature. This philosophy was originally termed the "Commercial Style" but now is referred to as the "Chicago School."

Throughout the last 130 years, Chicago and New York have developed and practiced the art form of building up rather than building out. The two city centers were then, and are today, characteristically skyscrapers rising toward the heavens.

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The Chicago Skyline in 2017

Chicago is a big city, the third largest in the United States. (At mid-century, it was the second city.) The dynamic urban center  has plenty of fine dining and entertainment scattered through the Loop and the Near North Side as well as interesting local restaurants in neighborhoods such as Lincoln Park. But for those who prefer the finer things in life, you might enjoy the Art Institute of Chicago.

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Braniff will do our proper poster work. Since 1894, Edward Kemmeys' Lions have stood guard at the Art Institute and symbolized the museum to its thousands of visitors. One lion is on the prowl and the other stands in proud defiance.  Of course, a "Windy City" zephyr can alter expressions.

Begun in 1879, the Art Institute almost immediately became a world class museum. The main building stems from the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. And with the 21st century expansion of the "Modern Wing", the Art Institute is now the second-largest art museum in the U.S., after the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Over the years it has been a public favorite, with "consumer ratings" marking it as among the most popular art museums in the world.

Go to the Art Institute. Head over to Gallery 201, full of sensational Impressionists, and take in the achingly beautiful 1875 oil on canvas by Renoir, "Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise (The Rowers' Lunch)". It's as if you are there, part of that memorable meal along the Seine. ...

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Pierre Auguste Renoir Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise, 1875

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Edward Hopper's iconic Nighthawks, 1942, perhaps the most striking item in the collection.

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We shall stay at the historic Palmer House at State and Monroe – two blocks from the Institute of Art. This is The Loop (named after a loop in the elevated railway system) which marks the central business, government, and commercial district of the city.

Potter Palmer, a successful department store owner and real estate developer, opened the Palmer House in 1871 but only 13 days later it burned down in the Great Chicago Fire. Chicago architect John Mills Van Osdel saved his architectural plans by digging a hole in the basement of the Palmer House and burying his papers under sand and damp clay. Using those recovered plans, Palmer rebuilt the second version – a seven floor luxury hotel with lavish decorations and a barber shop tiled with silver dollars. Being constructed of iron and brick and clay tile, it was billed as "The World's Only Fire Proof Hotel."

It was not, however, size proof. In 1925 it was replaced by the third Palmer House which was much larger – encompassing 23 stories. The architects used a Classical Revival style with French Neoclassical influences. The Palmer House was bedecked with garnet-draped chandeliers, Louis Comfort Tiffany masterpieces, and a "breathtaking "ceiling fresco by French painter Louis Pierre Rigal. The fresco was described by columnist George Will as “a wonderful protest of romance against the everydayness of life.” Since 1945, the Palmer House has been a key part of the Hilton hotel chain. (For $170 million, it was completely renovated between 2007-2009. Your author has visited the hotel almost annually since the mid-1970s and much appreciates the renovations.)

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The lobby and its soaring ceiling fresco

In 1893 Bertha Palmer, Chicago socialite and spouse of Potter Palmer, asked a pastry chef to design a dessert suitable for ladies attending the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition. The result was the Palmer House Brownie. The dessert became popular and started appearing in national cookbooks after the turn of the century. Unlike other brownie recipes, which specified that butter and sugar be creamed before being combined with a small amount of melted chocolate, the Palmer House brownie is made with more than a pound of melted chocolate and a pound of melted butter. The finished brownie is then glazed with apricot jelly. 

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Bertha Palmer is also responsible for acquiring and donating much of the acclaimed Impressionist collection at the Art Institute of Chicago. Which legacy is more important?


Summary:
Date: 2017-12-07
Route: KOMA-KMDW
Aircraft: DC-6B [PMDG]
Leg Distance: 367nm
Flight Time: 1:39
Total Distance: 17,793nm
Total Flight Time: 77:42

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RTW80 Leg 23. Chicago to New York. KMDW-KLGA.
2017-12-10

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After a delightful visit, we took off for New York, America's archetypical city of the mid-twentieth century.

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Leaving Chicago behind

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Snowy Midwestern fields below

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A day in the clouds ... enjoying the strong tailwinds aloft

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Given the southwesterly winds, we were routed out over the Hudson Valley to approach Rwy 22 from the north.

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Ready to touch down on the extended runway

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Just about to flare

We landed at LaGuardia on Rwy 22 and taxied directly to our slot at the Marine Air Terminal.

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Welcome to New York City. The Big Apple! Taxiing to the Marine Air Terminal.

Fittingly, this location honors Pan American's role in transatlantic flight. The special seaplane terminal was an integral part of the original 1930s design of New York Municipal-LaGuardia Airport – seaplanes were the main carrier of long distance air travelers at the time. The first departure, on March 31, 1940,  was Pan American Airways' B-314 Yankee Clipper headed for Lisbon. By the end of the war, of course, seaplanes were no longer competitive with the faster long-ranged landplanes and the Marine Air Terminal was transferred to other purposes.

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A Pan American clipper ship at the Marine Air Terminal in 1941.

For several years, the terminal served non-scheduled airlines (such as our unscheduled flight from Chicago). The terminal was then revamped for corporate jets in the 1960s. Then it became a base for shuttle operations. The first user, in 1986, was Pan American's New York-Boston shuttle. In fact, the airline used the marine capabilities to run a water taxi from Wall Street to make the shuttle more competitive. After Pan American's demise, the shuttle system has been operated by Delta – notably the Delta shuttle to Chicago. (Just now, in late 2017, there has been some rearranging at LaGuardia with Delta moving its operations out of the Marine Air Terminal and JetBlue and Alaska moving in.)

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The exterior design make this building a gem

The Art Deco terminal building was originally adorned by "Flight," a large multi-panel mural by James Brooks – one of the leading painters of the New York school of Abstract Expressionism. It depicts the history of flight up until that moment in 1939.

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Among James Brooks' panels is this one depicting Pan American radio operators and navigators and a Boeing clipper ship.

In 1952 the mural was painted over because it was "deemed too socialist in the way it depicted strong and muscular workers." Fortunately, the art was sealed-over before being covered.  "Flight" was restored in 1980 and the mural and the entire terminal building were designated New York City Landmarks. Reviewers suggest that the restored Art Deco design makes the Marine Air Terminal worth a visit.

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Unloading at the Marine Air Terminal

We have a few days in New York. Perhaps the Pan American staff can arrange something special for our visit to the company's headquarters.

[Thanks to Drzewiecki Design for the (payware) New York Cityscape and LaGuardia.]


Summary:
Date: 2017-12-10
Route: KMDW-KLGA
Aircraft: DC-6B [PMDG]
Leg Distance: 652nm
Flight Time: 2:27
Total Distance: 18,445nm
Total Flight Time: 80:09
 

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RTW80 Leg 24. New York LaGuardia to New York Idlewild. KLGA-KJFK (KIDL).
2017-12-12

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This morning, a focused bit of sightseeing over New York. To mark Pan American Airways' early days, we flew in a Ford Trimotor.

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The Ford Trimotor ready for boarding at LaGuardia's historic Marine Air Terminal.

The Ford Trimotor (here an AT-4 model) was designed by William Stout and further developed, manufactured and sold by Ford's aviation division. The seemingly modern all metal construction incorporated corrugated Alclad alloy surfaces (adopted for strength and corrosion resistance but at the cost of drag and thus speed). Not quite so modern: the control surfaces were controlled by cables exterior to the fuselage and the engine instruments were located on the engine cowlings. The overall design closely resembled previous Hugo Junkers models, so much so that it was ruled as a patent infringement by two different European courts.

The aircraft carried eight to thirteen passengers in relative comfort for the era. The airframe was durable and the aircraft was easy to maintain and it earned a reputation for ruggedness.  The aircraft was stable in flight: one current pilot compares it to "driving a truck...not a pickup but a dump truck." Importantly, it was a success. In the late 1920s, Ford was reputedly the "largest manufacturer of commercial airplanes in the world." In all, 199 Trimotors were built and they served over 100 airlines.

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Pan American Airways Ford Trimotor ran routes from Miami to Havana to the Caribbean

Starting from 1929, Pan American Airways employed the Trimotor in their scheduled international flights from Miami to Cuba and the Caribbean. And then over the next decade, Pan Am used the aircraft extensively in its Central American and South American operations (including Panagra, Mexicana, Cubana, and SCADTA).

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Pan American Airways provided first-class comfort and service for first-class passengers.

The aircraft was manufactured from 1926 through 1933. By the end it had been surpassed by the much more modern Boeing 247 and especially the Douglas DC-2 and then the DC-3. It continued to serve in secondary operations, notably the transport of freight and mining equipment into the jungles and mountains of the world's backcountry.

New York has been so central to the last century that it has become very well known throughout the world.

Here we will focus on the late-1920s "Race to the Sky" that featured the almost simultaneous construction of the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and  40 Wall Street (then the Bank of Manhattan Building).

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The spires of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building lie ahead.

In the 1920s, the American economy boomed with no end in sight. This exuberance translated to the real estate market in Manhattan where expansion meant building upward. A number of projects emerged.

One group formed with Paris-trained William Van Alen as the architect. Originally set at forty stories, the midtown design increased to 54 and then 63 stories. After ground-breaking, the project was purchased by the automobile millionaire Walter Chrysler who had the ambition and the resources to enhance the construction. Chrysler and Van Alen developed a more progressive 68 story design that would be taller than the downtown Woolworth Building, the Gothic "Cathedral of Commerce" and the world's tallest building at the time.

Construction began in January 1929 and the steelwork was completed by October – at which time the height passed the Woolworth Building mark.

The same year, another group started a project downtown at 40 Wall Street – to be named after the long-standing Bank of Manhattan. The architect was H. Craig Severance, the former partner and close friend and now bitter rival of Van Alen. The building's original plans were for a 47 story office building but they were revised to 62 stories and 840 feet – which would exceed the Woolworth and the Chrysler buildings.

The two new buildings were competing for the distinction of the world's tallest building. And when the Empire State Building joined the fray, the popular press termed it "The Race into the Sky." This sense of a popular competition reflected the optimism of the time.

Severance revised the 40 Wall Street tower plans to 925 feet and publicly claimed the title of the world's tallest. Construction began in May 1929 and it was finished a year later.

In response, Chrysler and Van Alen pulled a show stopping move. Completely inside the building, in sheet metal shops on the 65th and 66th floors, they secretly constructed a 185-foot spire. On October 23, 1929, they raised the then-unknown spire in about 90 minutes – to make the Chrysler Building the world's tallest building at 1,046 feet. (Notably, this was the world's first man-made structure over 1,000 feet, surpassing the iconic Eifel Tower.)

The new spire meant that Chrysler would exceed the Empire State Building as well. However, the Empire State developer, John Raskob, revised his design to add five more floors and a new summit to his 80 story building. Two days later, co-developer Al Smith announced the new plans for an observation deck on the 86th floor and a height of 1,050 feet.

Raskob knew that this would be only four feet taller than Chrysler and he was afraid that Chrysler might try to "pull a trick like hiding a rod in the spire and then sticking it up at the last minute." Plans were revised again in December, 1929 to add a 200 foot metal "crown" and an additional 222 foot dirigible mooring mast. The height was now 1,250 feet making it by far the tallest building in the world.

Construction began in March 1930, the exterior was done by November, and the building opened in May 1931. The intense building speed was abetted by the suppliers' and workers' being eager to get on with the project – the onset of the Depression made any economic activity a boon.

The Empire State Building won "The Race into the Sky." But it was a financial burden for the next twenty years. The building opened into the teeth of the Great Depression and its location was relatively distant from the transportation centers. There were so few tenants at the beginning that the building earned the nickname "The Empty State Building." For the owners, it was a blessing that the building became a wildly popular tourist attraction (especially after the 1933 film King Kong featured the structure) because for many years the income from tourists exceeded the income from tenants. Over the years, more than 110 million have visited the observation decks.

The dirigible docking station turned out to be an idea too good to be true. From the center of Manhattan, wealthy patrons would have access to luxurious airship travel to exotic destinations far abroad. Departing passengers would check-in on the 86th floor, take an elevator up to the 101st, and climb steep ladders to the airship's entrance. All this was dangerous enough without fully appreciating the practicalities of actual flight. The canyons of Manhattan, created by the tall buildings, cause turbulence at this height. And the Empire State itself generated updrafts (so that snow can fall upward outside the building). Further, the airship would tether to the mast but do without mooring lines to make the position secure. And any maneuvers that required ballast be dumped would have to eject gallons of water onto the streets below.

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A "photographic illustration" of how the dirigible dock was supposed to work.

Hugo Eckener, the much acclaimed airship commander of the around-the-world Graf Zeppelin, was reported by the New York Times to have dismissed the project as impractical. "The notion that passengers would be able to descend an airport-style ramp from a moving airship to the tip of the tallest building in the world, even in excellent conditions, beggars belief." Shortly after the building opened, a small airship circled the station 25 times in 45mph winds before attempting to dock and then aborting the mission to avoid disaster. The idea was dropped.

By the 1950s, the Empire State Building filled up and it has been a financial success since that time. It reigned as the world's tallest for forty years and has become a symbol of New York's strength and resilience. (Times change. The Empire State is now 37th in the world, far behind many buildings that you would not recognize.)

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The two old rivals remain splendid in the New York City dusk

The History Channel produced two (different in scope) hour long programs, one on the Chrysler Building and the other on the Empire State Building. The first is better on personalities and on architectural aesthetics – one can more deeply appreciate the beauty of the building. The second is better on history and the actual construction processes – in particular you might look for the ability of the ironworkers to casually conduct their business, without a net, some 40 stories above the street below. Both are pretty good.

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Louis Hines photographed the ironworkers on the Empire State construction site. Don't look down...

At the end of the race, 85 years later, we are left with two architectural gems. The Chrysler Building remains the era's clearest Art Deco statement. The corners of the 61st floor are graced with eagles and the 31st floor are ornamented with replicas of Chrysler radiator caps. The special stainless steel cladding on the soaring crown glimmers in the sun and reflects the city's lights. The Empire State Building represents power and grace. It certainly holds the record for most years as the world's tallest building. A more dominating form of Art Deco, it has become an American icon and named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

In the summer of 2005, New York's own Skyscraper Museum asked one hundred architects, builders, critics, engineers, historians, and scholars, among others, to choose their 10 favorites among 25 New York towers. The Chrysler Building came in first place as 90% of them placed the building in their top-10 favorite buildings.

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Wagging our wings at the 58th floor of the Chrysler Building. (The next-to-last of the "regular" floors.)

From the 1930s until 1963, Pan American's headquarters were in the Chrysler Building. The executive offices commanded a grand view of New York City. (Trippe's own office was in the southeast corner on the 58th floor. Looking up from his desk, he could watch the airline traffic of LaGuardia and Idlewild.)

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The soaring majesty of the Empire State Building

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Flying over the Brooklyn Bridge. Apparently nowadays many Americans are ready to buy.

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In between the pillars of the financial district, a glimpse of 40 Wall Street with its green vaulted tower. The Gothic Woolworth building is to right, just above the Pan American Airways logo on the aircraft's fuselage.

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A quick diversion to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, two symbols of America's attracting the poor and oppressed to start a new life.

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And a closer look at the Statue of Liberty, a beacon of freedom.

We headed over Brooklyn to land at Idlewild Airport (KIDL). Built as an overflow airfield for LaGuardia, Idlewild became the primary international airport for New York in the 1950s. Most foreign carriers, and Pan American, operated here. When it came time to renew the terminals, the Port Authority decided to let the airlines design and build their own. TWA sponsored Eero Saarinen's neo-futuristic shell-roofed and tall-windowed TWA Flight Center. This was architectural award-winning stuff. And in 1960 Pan American opened the Worldport, a "flying saucer" shape with a large circular overhang designed to protect passengers from the weather when they boarded the aircraft – similar to the functions of Tempelhof. (The need was eliminated when jetways came into common practice.) The Worldport symbolized America's largest international carrier's gateway to the world. (Here is a long whimsical Pan Am promotional film that shows off the delightful new facility. My, how things have changed in the nature of the terminal experience.)

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Landing at 31R which seems sufficiently long for the Ford Trimotor.

Idlewild was renamed John F. Kennedy or simply "JFK" (KJFK) in 1963. And since that time seven of the original terminals have been substantially altered or replaced. After the 1991 demise of Pan American, Delta took over designating it Terminal 3. And in 2013, Delta demolished the Worldport to make room for additional aircraft parking.

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The elegance of this passenger experience is not quite up to the Worldport standard.

We parked and unloaded our passengers at the (future and past) site of Pan America's distinctive Worldport. With the terminal's destruction, there is plenty of space for non-jetway-capable aircraft to serve their customers the old-fashioned way. With rain in the air, our passengers were supplied with umbrellas to protect them from the weather. Sigh.


[Thanks to Drzewiecki Design for the (payware) New York Cityscape and LaGuardia and JFK (Idlewild) airports. And thanks to Craig "full" Richardson for the FSX-native Ford Trimotor.]


Summary:
Date: 2017-12-12
Route: KLGA-KJFK (KIDL)
Aircraft: Ford 4-AT Trimotor
Leg Distance: 23nm
Flight Time: 0:25
Total Distance: 18,468nm
Total Flight Time: 80:34

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Really enjoyed the Chrysler and Empty State Videos, but the Worldport video was my favorite.  I love that the family arrives at the modern jet port terminal in a Renault Dauphine.:)

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54 minutes ago, Jeff W said:

I love that the family arrives at the modern jet port terminal in a Renault Dauphine.

Gosh, I missed that. Great!

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RTW80 Leg 25. New York Idlewild to Gander. KJFK (KIDL)-CYQX.
2017-12-14

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Although Europe-bound, it was difficult to leave the "wonder city" of New York. Here is a 1948 Pan American promotional film for the airline and the city: Wings to New York. (The recording has some technical glitches at the start of the film, but it gets better after a few minutes.) A charming glimpse of a time gone by. I'd guess that those who know twenty-first century New York will find this a delight.

Nevertheless, the schedule commanded us to press on ... to Gander, Newfoundland as part of the Great Circle Route to Shannon and then London. This eastbound trip would, at mid-century, be flown non-stop or perhaps one-stop. We shall do the two-stop method to salute the role played by both Gander and Shannon in the development of transatlantic commercial flight.

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Tourist Class "Rainbow Service"

Juan Trippe wanted to develop tourist class service. He described his ideas as early as May 1943: "Air transport does have the choice . . . of becoming a luxury service to carry the well-to-do at high prices - or to carry the average man at what he can afford to pay. Pan American has chosen the latter course."

In the 1940s, the idea of a lower-priced "mass market" for transatlantic service was heresy. The tenor of long distance flying was dominated by government officials, successful businessmen, and wealthy blue bloods. And the competition was in terms of the quality of the service rather than price. A move toward a middle-class market meant a transformation in equipment and operating procedures for which most national airlines were unprepared. Pan American's initial efforts to offer reduced-price fares over the Atlantic were stone-walled by the European nations in the IATA. Richard Branson on Juan Trippe:
 

Before anyone else, he believed in airline travel as something to be enjoyed by ordinary mortals, not just a globe-trotting elite. In 1945 other airlines didn't think or act that way. Trippe decided to introduce a "tourist class" fare from New York to London. He cut the round-trip fare more than half, to $275 ($1,684 in today's dollars, which makes current pricing a bargain, right?). This went over like a lead balloon in the industry, where air fares were fixed by a cartel, the International Air Transport Association; it didn't want to hear about the tourist class. Incredibly, Britain closed its airports to Pan Am flights that had tourist seats. Pan Am was forced to switch to remote Shannon, Ireland. The industry's aversion to competition and making travel affordable was to have a long life, as Sir Freddie Laker would discover in the 1970s and Virgin Atlantic nearly a decade later.
 – Richard Branson. Time (Dec 7, 1998)
 


Of course, the democratization of long distance flight revolutionized the world. By the 1960s, people young or old, of wealth or ordinary means or on a student budget, found it possible to travel abroad. A transcontinental vacation was no longer a once-in-a-lifetime event but became something that millions would experience. The world got smaller not only for elites but for almost everyone.

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Love this as a song for the common man...Don't envy them...GO!

As it turned out, the first New York to London "Rainbow Class" flight was in a DC-6B, our own Clipper Liberty Bell. To honor that moment, we shall finish our Round-the-World tour in that aircraft.

But first, we left Idlewild in Pan American's signature aircraft of the time, the Boeing Stratocruiser. This would be First Class service. We were lucky. Just in time for the transatlantic crossing, the maintenance shop gave the "all clear." Apparently a Seattle company named Microsoft – not Boeing-related – solved their problem with the child windows.

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Stratocruiser being prepared for the morning flight

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Departing Idlewild ... or Kennedy

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Climbing to altitude while admiring the clouds.

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Above the weather "where the going is always smooth"

Climbed to 24,000 and got above the clouds. This was a comfortable ride "above the weather where the going is always smooth." This flight was aided by 100kts tailwinds almost all the way up the coast to Newfoundland.

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Below is the Bay of Fundy which possesses the world's highest tidal ranges. Attempts to tap into this tidal energy have yet to tame these enormously powerful waters.

Gander was constructed in 1936-1939 as part of the US-UK agreement to initiate experimental transatlantic passenger flights. While seaplanes were the immediate carrier, it was recognized that landplanes would eventually be brought into commercial operations. The airport soon acquired four paved runways to become, briefly, the "largest airport on the planet" – its runways were nearly as wide as they were long. Gander was the only functioning airport in the Maritimes and it sat on the Great Circle route between the United States and Europe.

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"Flying the Secret Sky" tells the tale of volunteer pilots who ferried warplanes across the North Atlantic.

With the outbreak of WWII, Gander quickly became a staging area for refueling and maintenance of military transports and ferrying operations to the war zone in Europe. In 1940, RAF officer Don Bennett, a specialist in long distance flight, organized what would later become RAF Ferry Command. The idea was to fly North American-built fighters and bombers directly to European Theater combat units – rather than rely on the slow and uncertain Atlantic convoys. Civilian pilots from Canada, America, and the Commonwealth volunteered to fly these new warplanes over the North Atlantic to Prestwick – a route which had before the war been more exploratory than routine. (Pre-war, only one hundred aircraft had attempted to cross the Atlantic, with only about half making it.) More than 9,000 would be delivered in all seasons and weather. By 1945, flying the North Atlantic would become "almost routine." For some film, a quick contemporary (and thus not especially informative) wartime look can be seen in this British Pathé 1942 newsreel. If you have the time, you might enjoy the rich and engaging PBS hour-long documentary Flying the Secret Sky: Story of the RAF Ferry Command. Imagine that in July 1942 you are a 26 year-old civilian ferry pilot. You are surprisingly called into the London office of the RAF Chief of Staff and asked "If you were to fly to Cairo, how would you go?" ...

After the war, the Newfoundland government regained control. From late 1945, the field began to serve regular transatlantic flights by Pan American, American Overseas, TWA, Trans Canada, and BOAC. During the 1950s, Gander might typically handle 13,000 aircraft and a quarter of a million passenger annually – making it one of the world's busiest international airports. A new terminal and upgraded navigation and safety installations followed. Known as "the crossroads of the world," it welcomed the likes of Queen Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro.

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Photograph of a Pan American Stratocruiser and DC-6B at Gander's old terminal.

During and after the war, the field used radar equipped Ground Control Approach in which an air controller would track an aircraft on radar and verbally guide the pilot onto the runway.  (Pan Am played the central role in organizing and implementing this system for commercial operations.) Given the capricious nature of Newfoundland's weather and the demands of airline schedules, it is hard to imagine modern transatlantic service without some sort of technical blind-flying assistance for pilots. Records were kept for all non-routine "talk-downs". For example:

 

May 6. Speed Bird GEK. Captain May. When turned on final on heading 180 plane tracked rapidly left. He was given a heading of 210 which corrected him gradually to course. When he reached the QDM he was given heading 208 which brought him down the QDM from 3 1/2 to 2 miles. At 2 miles he began drifting right and headings of 205, 203, 200, and finally 195. None of these headings brought him back toward course, so he was pulled up at 3/4 mile when he was 500 feet right and 100 feet above the glide path. There was evidently a cross draught at this point for all succeeding runs during the night had a similar drift. However, in the following approaches we were ready for it, and caught it in time. Captain May pulled up at our request, made another circuit, and was brought down the middle very satisfactorily. This run was very successful.
 


Eventually, in 1958, the Canadian government replaced the Ground Control Approach "talk downs" with a contemporary ILS system with which we are now familiar.

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Just as we entered the pattern, the clouds and rain settled over Gander and obscured the airport.

Gander International's weather is notoriously variable and challenging. (The day before our flight, Gander reported ½ mile visibility and blowing snow.) Our forecast on this flight was for clouds with modest winds and 10sm visibility. However, as we turned to our approach point, the weather deteriorated rapidly and visibility closed down. We were thankful to have the modern ILS to guide us onto Rwy 13 – this navigation equipment would have been brand new at mid-century. Happily, the high intensity approach lights appeared from a couple of miles out and we managed to get the ship down while crabbing into an unexpected 18kts crosswind. No screams from the passengers.

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Imperfect touchdown as we crabbed into Rwy 13

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Disembarking passengers. Note the Canadian Maple Leaf flying with the British Union Jack and American Stars 'n' Stripes not quite visible on each side.

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We spent some time in the international lounge. So the passengers were careful to take along their boarding passes.

With the rise of the Jet Age, and the arrival of routine non-stop service over the Atlantic, Gander's role diminished accordingly. It now acts as a critical backup airfield for the major airlines' transatlantic flights (see below). And it has become a regular stop for corporate/private jet aircraft: about twenty percent of transatlantic business jets stop at Gander.

On September 11, 2001, some 38 transatlantic jets and 6,500 passengers & crew were diverted to Gander when the US airspace was closed. The small town of Gander showed what it means to be a Good Samaritan. It is always worth our while to remember the human capacity for kindness, selflessness and generosity.

 

Responding to radio announcements, the residents and businesses of Gander and other towns supplied toothbrushes, deodorant, soap, blankets and even spare underwear, along with offers of hot showers and guest rooms. Newtel Communications, the telephone company, set up phone banks for passengers to call home. Local television cable companies wired schools and church halls, where passengers watched events unfolding in New York and realized how lucky they were. (here)
 


Here is a quick video with some interviews of the townspeople: How a small town became an unlikely hero of 9/11. And from the current Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Come from Away, here is a performance of "Welcome to the Rock."

Ben Brantley, chief theater critic for The New York Times, wrote "Try, if you must, to resist the gale of good will that blows out of 'Come From Away,' the big bearhug of a musical that opened on Sunday night at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater. But even the most stalwart cynics may have trouble staying dry-eyed during this portrait of heroic hospitality under extraordinary pressure."


Summary:
Date: 2017-12-14
Route: KJFK (KIDL)-CYQX
Aircraft: Boeing 377 (A2A)
Leg Distance: 954nm
Flight Time: 3:03
Total Distance: 19,422nm
Total Flight Time: 83:37
 

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I see you are back with Pan Am posters...

This is a really good diary... I shudder to think how much time it has cost you to put it together. Some really good stuff in it.

 

Dave Britzius

(Cape Town)

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RTW80 Leg 26. Gander to Shannon. CYQX-EINN.
2017-12-18


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George Bernard Shaw speaking for Irish Magic.

It is a secret pleasure to see Pan American using George Bernard Shaw in one of their classic travel posters. Shaw is (probably) Britain's second greatest playwright and is widely recognized around the world. Further, he is the author of the classic Pygmalion which charmed audiences since its 1913 opening in Vienna. (Shaw's genius was not always recognized by the British critics. "It is the custom of the English press when a play of mine is produced, to inform the world that it is not a play—that it is dull, blasphemous, unpopular, and financially unsuccessful. ... Hence arose an urgent demand on the part of the managers of Vienna and Berlin that I should have my plays performed by them first.") And its 1956 adaption by Lerner and Loewe to the wildly successful Broadway musical "My Fair Lady" did much to endear Shaw with the American public.

Equally, Shaw was a wonderfully blasphemous iconoclast of the soft socialist persuasion. He was not the safe sort of figure normally picked to market a commercial enterprise. His strong politics and sharp cutting wit made (and make) him dangerous to small careful minds. Perhaps he was the sort of genteel socialist that American businessmen might accept. Perhaps.

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We departed Gander in the middle of the night for a morning arrival in Ireland. The weather reports had been uncertain for Shannon, with less than a mile visibility. But things were expected to clear in the hours ahead.

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While most of the flight was through dark moonless skies over dark cloud-covered ocean, the gentle sunrise gave us a warm welcome to the day.

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... Which led to a spectacular morning cloudscape.

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Luxury as the President. Someone has to fill these seats...why not us?

While the Stratocruiser was more expensive to purchase and operate than the Constellation or the DC-6, Pan American used it most profitably as a First Class operation over the North Atlantic. The New York office adapted the idea of high luxury travel as a prestige option for these intercontinental flights. "The President" service was a special treat. 

During the beginning of the 1950s the majority of the transatlantic flights were done using the huge double decker Boeing 377 Stratocruiser. This aircraft was considered the top notch of technology, safety, comfort and luxury. The Pursers and Stewards had to wear a white jacket during the services.

I remember that we had a two tiered cart that we would park right next to the door and place white linens and two real silver buckets one with the best Cristal Champagne and the other full of fresh red roses. The most amazing variety of drinks and wines were available on these flights. We also offered berths and a special VIP lounge call The Presidential Suite, this was located right behind the pilot's compartment or cockpit. It had two wide berths and four first class seats facing each other with a beautiful wooden table in between the seats.

With the arrival of the Stratocruiser, Mr. Trippe our CEO designed the El Presidente Service which was a higher service than the current First Class that we already had. On these flights we would offer up to seven main meal options and on the flight to Europe we would offer wines from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, United States, Argentina and Germany.

Before Landing we would give each passenger at 50ml Chanel cologne or perfume as a thank you gift for traveling with us.

Maria "Lulu" Lucrecia. In Alejo Nicilas Larocca. My Pan-Am Story. Forty years as a Stewardess with the Worlds Most Experienced Airline.
 


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The private stateroom in the Presidential Suite. Sounds enticing for a long distance transoceanic flight.

Pan American's cuisine was international with a French accent. Pan Am joined with Maxim's of Paris to develop a cuisine and special preparations that produced a dining experience in the air.
 

Brightest child of this marriage of French tradition and American efficiency is the President Special service operated between New York and London and Paris. The President Special, pride of both Pan American and Maxim's, offers the highest standard of dining room elegance and a range of menu selections not found anywhere else aloft.
 
On flights restricted to 43 passengers with five cabin attendants assigned to their service, such food innovations as hot hors d'oeuvres are served during cocktail time, but the pièce de résistance of the President Special is the main course or rather any one of three gourmet selections.
 
President Special passengers have their choice of filet mignon, roast duckling bigarade or Lobster “Américaine." On another day the choice might be between filet mignon, rock cornish game hen or lobster. Another combination features filet mignon, lobster and roast pheasant. Nine basic menus are prepared for first-class transatlantic flights with a new selection every day for nine days.
 
Pan American’s food officials have found in their surveys that prime charcoal broiled steak still rates a three to one favorite as an entree and note, a little wistfully, that it remains and will remain on every first-class menu despite the airline's claim that it offers the only choice of three entrees in transatlantic service.
 
Accompanying these seven-course President Special meals is the rare Charles Heidsieck Blanc du-Blanc champagne, Meursault Beaune white wine or Château Haut-Brion red, with a choice of Cointreau, Benedictine or Cognac after dinner.    

... Tables set with gleaming linen clothes and highly polished silver have taken its place and plastic dishes have been replaced with Rosenthal China for President Special passengers. The stewardess serves each plate individually from a tea cart rolled up the aisle, allowing the passenger to select the steak done to his choice or the game hen that suits his fancy.

Excerpted from The Telegraph, Nashua NH (1957) quoted in The Pan Am Historical Foundation here.
 


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Pan American and Maxim's present...dining elegance.

Lot of time to think about luxury and cuisine while flying over the North Atlantic. Hmm. If this is the standard of excellence for 1956, just think how nice passenger flight will become in sixty years time. ...


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Traditional Ireland!

Here is a Pan American travelogue Wings to Ireland. A trip back to an earlier era. (The seems to have been filmed in 1947 with a L-049 Constellation and then later updated to include a DC-6B. Depending on your preferences, this travelogue might be a bit long. But is presents a delightful taste of the joys of rural Ireland a couple of generations ago.)

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Shannon Airport in the 1950s. Compare to the airport scenes in the film above.

Shannon Airport is relatively new. It was constructed during the war, developed, and then opened in 1945 as the country's first international airport. Immediately Pan American and American Overseas started operating DC-4s through Shannon on their transatlantic service. Through the 1950s, commercial air traffic increased as Shannon was the most convenient refueling point before-or-after crossing the ocean. And for many years, international restrictions meant that carriers had to stop at Shannon before entering European national airspaces – a requirement that produced an artificial demand for the airport's services right up until 2008.

Nowadays, Shannon is a regional airport – the third busiest in Ireland. It serves the southwest part of the country with flights to Spain as well as to the rest of Europe. And it is an important connection point for the Irish diaspora – many Americans return to "the old country" through Shannon.

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The approach to Rwy 06 passes directly over Foynes, the famous transatlantic seaplane base. Happily, the local rain and fog cleared with the morning sun.

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Landing at Shannon

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And the passengers deplaned for the stopover. Perhaps an Irish Coffee?

Foynes, just across the Shannon Estuary across from Shannon Airport, had a important moment in aviation history. When Pan American and Imperial Airways agreed to conduct commercial transatlantic flights in the 1930s, they employed flying boats. On the northern route, the two chosen refueling stops were Botwood in Newfoundland and Foynes in the Irish Free State. The Irish seaplane base hosted American B-314s and British Shorts Empire and Sunderland flying boats. This airlink was the first truly regular transatlantic flying and it lasted right through 1945.

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The original Irish Coffee was made here

One serendipitous product of this venture is the world famous beverage Irish coffee. In 1943, sophisticated and ambitious Brendan O'Regan was assigned the restaurant concession in the Foynes terminal. He made a point of hiring well-educated staff because he understood that Ireland's reputation would be influenced by the opinion-leaders flying over the Atlantic. He hired Joe Sheridan as his chef.

Late one night in the winter of 1943, a flight left Foynes for New York. After flying several hours in bad weather, the captain decided to return to Foynes to wait for better weather. The staff were called back. Sheridan was inspired to prepare something special for the weary passengers: he put some good Irish whiskey in their coffee. One passenger thanked him for the wonderful drink and asked if he used Brazilian coffee. Sheridan jokingly answered, "No, it was Irish coffee!"

Post-war, O'Regan and Sheridan transferred to the new Shannon Airport and operated the airport restaurant. Sheridan's Irish Coffee began to gain quite a following with stopover passengers and developed a world-wide reputation. Later, in 1952, Sheridan was recruited by Jack Koeppler, the owner of San Francisco's cosmopolitan Buena Vista Café, to replicate his recipe for the Bay area. (He spent the rest of his life there.) On another front, in 1951 O'Regan opened up the first "Duty Free" shop, another idea that spread around the world.

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In 1956, playwright Arthur Miller and his spouse (an actress named Marilyn Monroe) enjoy an Irish Coffee at Shannon.

Summary:
Date: 2017-12-18
Route: CYQX-EINN
Aircraft: Boeing 377 (A2A)
Leg Distance: 1,717nm
Flight Time: 5:38
Total Distance: 21,139nm
Total Flight Time: 89:15

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RTW80 Leg 27. Shannon to London. EINN-EGLL.
2017-12-19

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The DC-6B Clipper Liberty Bell was the transport for our final leg to London – "London Airport" in 1956 (now "Heathrow Airport"). We shall salute Pan Am's "Rainbow Class" that originated the idea of low-fare flying for ordinary people – and radicalized people's perception of the world.

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Clipper Liberty Bell was the first aircraft in the popular Rainbow Service

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We departed from Shannon, climbing up through the grey skies.

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Most of the flight was above a thick undercast that made for a day without sight-seeing.

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Descending into the clouds, worried about the fog below.

We arrive anticipating fog at the airport. As our colleague Jeff W pointed out: Ernest Gann said that Pan Am pilots, admired and envied for their long-range flying, are thought to be shy and backward in foul-weather work. While eventually it turned out to have acceptable visibility, the enroute reports had been fog with less than a mile visibility. Helped to concentrate the poor Pan American pilot's mind.

Of course, fog is a constant companion for long distance flight. But London fog, especially in the 1950s, was more dangerous. For hundreds of years, Londoners had been aware that fog, or smog, was a health threat although they lacked the science to quite know why. Both industrial and home-hearth burning of coal produced particulates that combined with seasonal fog to enter lungs and destroy health. This heavy fog was a commonplace occurrence and disarmingly termed a "pea souper." (This fog was also knows as "black fog" or "killer fog" – names less innocent in connotation.)

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Piccadilly Circus during the event

In December 1952, London experienced sustained cold weather, an anticyclonic temperature inversion, and windless conditions. Pollutants, particularly from the use of coal, formed a thick layer of fog over the city that lasted five days, from December 5th through the 9th. The atmospheric conditions meant there was no wind to clear the accumulation.

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The noxious air mass, teeming with acrid sulfur particles, reeked like rotten eggs. Londoners tried to ignore it. Until they couldn't. This was the Great Smog of 1952.

The smog reduced visibility to less than a few yards and disrupted city life. There was almost no private motor car driving and public transport, including ambulances, ceased. The yellow-brown fog was so pervasive that it seeped indoors and forced the cancellation of concerts and films – visibility dropped in large spaces and the audiences could not see the stage or screen. In fact, walking out of doors became a challenge when visibility dropped to less than a yard: people shuffled along feeling for obstacles in their path. By the time they returned home, their faces and nostrils were blackened by the air: they looked like coal miners. There was no panic, however, as Londoners prided themselves on handling fog.

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Buses required flares to light the way

Here is a brief visually informative 1952-1962 British documentary film The Great Smog of 1952 in London. The Museum of London has this short summary. And here is a much longer (54:14) television journalistic report Killer Fog (2000). (Or available on Vimeo here).

More dangerous, the persistent smog threatened the health of Londoners: at the time  medical officers estimated some 4,000 deaths and these estimates have since risen to 12,000 deaths. Tens of thousands more became ill to the point that they were hospitalized or applied for sickness benefits. Most fatalities were due to respiratory tract infections caused by the smog. And the impact was mostly among the young and the elderly and those with previous pulmonary problems. Heavy smokers, common at the time, were especially vulnerable. However, it was not until later, when undertakers began to run out of coffins and florists out of flowers, that the deadly impact of the Great Smog was realized.

In 1952 London, most homes were coal heated. This source, along with industrial production and the big coal-fired power stations, meant that smog was always a factor in the city. And during the early post-war years, economics meant that much of this was soft coal which is particularly laden with pollutants. Combine burning coal with steam locomotives, diesel-fueled buses, and private motor vehicle exhausts. London in 1952 was thus especially susceptible to an exceedingly dangerous smog.

But why was smog so deadly? Now we may know more about how all this happened. There is some recent chemistry and atmospheric science (published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) that suggests that the environmental conditions, similar but not identical to contemporary Beijing, could have produced a haze of concentrated sulfuric acid. The chemistry is subtle, but essentially sunshine might have burned off some of the fog to leave behind concentrated acid droplets which killed people.

The death toll provided an impetus toward environmental regulation. After a history of denying the danger of pollution, the government generated the "Clean Air Act" of 1956, the first of its kind. This, and further elaborations, led to restrictions on the use of dirty fuels in industry and subsidies to move residents away from coal as a home heating fuel. Substantial progress ensued – although at first additional smog events did occur. Slowly, government policy worked and now it seems as though London is unlikely to experience a similar disaster.

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Death in the Air examines two pathways to asphyxiation

For an interesting discussion, see the recent Verge interview with journalist Kate Dawson who wrote Death in the Air, a telling of the London tale. Headlines at the time were dominated by a serial murderer who asphyxiated his victims. The health disaster was largely unnoticed. Dawson makes some perceptive observations when she examines and then contrasts the two killers' stories and the ensuing public reactions.

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We were happy to use the ILS system to find Heathrow (London Airport) through the low-lying clouds.

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While foggy, the visibility was considerably better than feared.

Heathrow Airport is now the world's seventh busiest. Its four terminals handle 75 million passengers per year. It is so well-known that there's not much new to learn...

But note that its beginnings were Fairey-touched. In 1915, Fairey Aviation, led by Richard Fairey, started operations at Northolt Aerodrome (4nm north of current EGLL). However, in 1928 the Air Ministry asked that Fairey find a new flight testing location and they selected the current area due to its flat fields' making it suitable for an airfield. In the 1930s Fairey built a hangar and started aircraft assembly and testing at what was rather grandly called "The Great Western Aerodrome." And from 1935-1939, at Fairey's invitation, the Royal Aeronautical Society held its annual fly-ins here to promote new British aircraft developments – these events became full-scale industry airshows after the war.

In 1944, the Air Ministry used emergency powers to requisition the aerodrome with an eye on developing a commercial airfield. There was intentional deceit here – the official usage was said to be long-range bombers – taken to avoid the inevitable costs and delays that building a peacetime airport would entail. (Fairey acquiesced but fought a twenty-year court battle over the meager compensation as "farmland" worth £10 per acre.) Immediately after the war, it became clear that the intent was to develop an international airport. Pleasant Middlesex farmland, quiet streams, and peaceful "loitering lanes" were replaced by concrete and the roar of giant airplanes. ... In 1946, the newly christened London Airport opened for business and thus replaced Croydon Aerodrome. Here is a useful 1949 film London Airport that shows the new facility in its earliest days.

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London City's new modern control tower in 1957

By the 1950s, Heathrow had six runways, three pairs, in the shape of a hexagram. The new modern passenger terminal was in the middle connected to the city via tunnel. As a sign of the times, there was minimal parking available as it was expected that the passengers, wealthy enough to afford air transport, would have their driver take them to and from the airport. You might enjoy this enthusiastic 1955 British Pathé color film clip of the New London Airport. (Highly recommended for history buffs.)

Since that time, almost everything has changed. The name became "Heathrow Airport" in 1962. More important, all the current terminals have been built (with one built and demolished). The two main runways have been renovated and extended while the others have been turned into taxiways. And of course, capacity has increased dramatically.

With the increased traffic, Heathrow's reputation for comfort and convenience has declined. As the great philosopher Yogi Berra once remarked when asked about Toots Shor's immensely popular New York restaurant, "It's so crowded nobody goes there anymore."

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Landing smoothly enough...no worries.

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Remote parking for older aircraft

After landing, we were directed to a distant tarmac. The tower did not know what to do with an older aircraft. So ground control stuck us with another historic relic. Interesting to see this: something like Convair's new supersonic F-102 ... but considerably larger. Just a lovely looking aircraft!

Our passengers were happy enough to have arrived in London with plenty of time to spare. Especially delighted was the nervous Englishman who kept glancing at his pocket watch as he led his small party smartly toward the exits.

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Here  is a Pan American travelogue Wings to Britain. Dated as 1957, the film features a Boeing 707 in the opening and closing moments. [Artistic license?] However, most of the actual film footage is older, several years older. The narrative is colored by a quirky homage to traditional British culture. Perhaps this reflects the filmmaker's understanding of Britain's appeal to the prospective tourist. To see this portrayal, however, you would miss the other Britain, the dynamic Britain of commerce, industry, science, the arts, empire and democratic governance. But who would pay to see those sorts of things?



Summary:
Date: 2017-12-19
Route: EINN-EGLL
Aircraft: Douglas DC-6B (PMDG)
Leg Distance: 320nm
Flight Time: 1:27
Total Distance: 21,459nm
Total Flight Time: 90:42

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Well done Mike. A wonderful job.

Yours was my favourite diary (although some of the other's were pretty impressive as well.)

I dunno whether Mathijs Kok is monitoring this ATW80 flight (he seems to have disappeared) and still wants votes, but you definitely get my vote for value of content, while SeanG gets my vote for originality.

 

Dave Britzius

(Cape Town)

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