CHAPTER FIVE - EUROPE

Image: bea

Bulgaria

Fog in London - Mike Lewin
(abortive meeting in London and nightmare trip back to Sofia with stranded passengers)

Cyprus

Suez and the Rocky Path of True Love - Gerry Catling
(Nicosia as assembly point for Suez invasion)

The Hijack - Bruce Fry
(after VC10 hijack, Nicosia becomes hub of BOAC Middle East services overnight)

The Turkish Invasion - Taff Lark
(Greek coup, EOKA-B take over Cyprus and Turkish forces invade)

Germany

From BSAA to the Berlin Airlift - Charlie Item Smith
(The Avro Tudor gets a second life as a fuel tanker)

Learning German - Larry Gorton
( new manager’s attempts to master language end in series of embarrassments)

Italy

The Secret of Fiumicino - Bill Smith
(determined not to repeat his mistakes in Trinidad, Bill starts a newsletter and eventually discovers his career path)

Poland

The Standoff - Roy Burnham
(the US president’s bodyguards try to take their guns on board)

Romania

Heidi’s Haggis - Mike Lewin
(a promise to the British Embassy of a Burns Night haggis leads to Mrs L making one out of pillowcases)

Russia (USSR)

Trans-Siberian Start-up - Brian Burgess
(recollections of the planning of BOAC services to Tokyo via Moscow)

Red Faces in Red Square - Bernard Garvie
(diplomatic incident with chandelier)

The Golf Lesson - Peter Richards
(More embarrassing scenes at the Ukraina Hotel)

The Omelette Factory - Peter Richards
(flying over Siberia)

The Security Guard - Peter Richards
(a Security Officer comes a cropper)

The Stewardess - Taff Lark
(shades of 007)

Domodedovo Airport - Mike McDonald
(following the crumbling of Aeroflot, some of the former management market ‘the house of my grandfather’ to foreign carriers)

Spain

Flight Planning over the Sahara - Alan Douglas
(practical flight planning with minimum data)

Dictatorship and Honour - Gerry Catling
(negotiating the minefields of personal honour and bureaucratic veniality in Franco’s Spain)

Switzerland

The Precision of the Swiss - Gerry Catling
(Swiss measurement of take off noise – the Super VC10 is not a noisy aircraft’)

Other pages:

BETTER ON A CAMEL

BOAC and BEA reminiscences, memorabilia and history
Introduction
Review of background to airline experiences and recollections
Dedication
About the charity 'Practical Action'
Foreword
Foreword by Sir Ross Stainton, former Chairman of BOAC
CHAPTER ONE - THE FAR EAST AND INDIAN OCEAN
airport and airline memoirs about the far east - from India and the Seychelles to Japan
Burma - Lighting Up Time, by Gerry Catling (1954)
an airport story - cigars as insect repellent
Burma - The Day of the Dear Departed (1954), by Gerry Catling
memories of a delicate diplomatic exercise with BOAC in Burma
Burma, etc. - Britannias, by Alan Douglas
recollections of the Bristol Britannia in service with BOAC
Burma -The Sound Barrier, by Tony Russell (1972)
Dealings with the civil aviation authorities in Rangoon
Burma - The Fertiliser Factory, by David McCormack (1972)
memoirs of an airline manager - going the extra mile in customer service...
Burma - Cigars, Religion and Superstition, by Peter Jones (1975)
Meeting the Burmese People
Burma - Special Adviser to the Manager, by Peter Jones (1975)
attending a funeral in Rangoon
Burmese Days, by Peter Jones (1975)
a visit to Mandalay and the temples of Pagan
India - The Morning Commuter, by Peter Fieldhouse (1970)
Getting to the office in Calcutta
Japan - The Mount Fuji Disaster, by James Wilson (1966)
a retrospective view of the management of the aftermath of a major air crash
Pakistan - Yaqoob and Musaleem, by Peter Liver (1987)
fond memories of two aged retainers
Philippines - Cutting it Fine, by David Hogg (1970)
memoir of the chaos to civil aviation caused by a typhoon in Manila
Philippines - Being British, by David Hogg (1969)
reactions to an earthquake
Sri Lanka (Ceylon) - The Day my Number (almost) Came up, by Gerry Catling (1960)
memories of a BOAC Comet 4 landing on a wet runway..
Seychelles Days, by Mike McDonald (1974-1977)
An island idyll..civil aviation (and British Airways) arrive in the Seychelles
CHAPTER TWO - THE MIDDLE EAST
airport and airline reminiscences and memorabilia in the Middle East
Abu Dhabi - Snow Ploughs in the Desert, by Graham Moss (1970)
keeping VC-10 passengers cool on the ground
Abu Dhabi - Sand Trap, by David Hogg (1972)
hazards of driving in the desert
Bahrain - The Traffic Manual Expert, by David Meyrick (1962)