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Post by beagle on Aug 31, 2012 20:06:55 GMT 12
I can remember getting issued with ear plugs for some friendship flights but not sure about the viscount.
4 darts against 2, but probably was better insulated, maybe not.
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Post by expatkiwi on Sept 1, 2012 2:21:28 GMT 12
I can remember getting issued with ear plugs for some friendship flights but not sure about the viscount. 4 darts against 2, but probably was better insulated, maybe not. I never got earplugs. Lotsa lollies though... |
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Post by expatkiwi on Sept 1, 2012 8:07:03 GMT 12
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Sept 1, 2012 13:31:33 GMT 12
My first flight with NAC was in the early 1960s (it would have been about 1963 or 1964) from Napier to Tauraunga via Gisborne. It was in a DC-3 named "Skyliner Gisborne" which I now know was ZK-BBJ. Many years later, I went for a flight in BBJ a few weeks before Fieldair retired it as a topdresser, sitting in the right-hand seat alongside Bruce Thompson, who was spreading superphosphate up the Waimata Valley out of Gisborne Airport.
My second flight with NAC was in 1968 from Napier to Christchurch via Wellington, with the first sector in a F.27 Friendship and the second sector in a Viscount.
My third flight with NAC was in December 1974 in a F.27 from Wellington to Napier after flying across the Tasman from Sydney to Wellington in a Air NZ DC-8.
I flew with NAC on a handful of other occasions after that before they merged with Air NZ, mostly between Gisborne and Wellington (at least one of those flights was via Napier), plus a couple of flights in either direction between Napier and Gisborne.
I've also flown in a Qantas Boeing 707-338C from Auckland to Sydey in February 1974.
And in terms of big airliners on domestic routes, I've flown from Wellington to Christchurch in an Air NZ Boeing 767-219. I was amazed that they actually climbed to FL350 on that short hop....it was literally straight up, cruise for about ten minutes or so, then straight down.
I've also witnessed an Air NZ Boeing 747 taking off from Wellington on a domestic flight to Auckland.
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Post by expatkiwi on Sept 1, 2012 13:53:51 GMT 12
I've also witnessed an Air NZ Boeing 747 taking off from Wellington on a domestic flight to Auckland. I didn't know that Wellington Airport was 747-capable... and using a Jumbo Jet for domestic flights? Wow. |
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Sept 1, 2012 14:28:14 GMT 12
It was in the early 1990s (if my memory is correct). Lots of airports around NZ were closed by fog, but the situation was constantly changing. I was booked to fly from Gisborne to Wellington (work-related) and when I turned up to check in at Gisborne Airport, I discovered two Air NZ Boeing 737s on the tarmac. They had been diverted there by airports closing after they had taken off and all their other alternates also closing during to the weather. The east coast of the North Island wasn't too bad that day, so there were lots of diversions to east coast airports. Eventually, the flight I was booked on got underway to Wellington, but we were diverted into Palmerston North because Wellington closed while we were enroute. On eventual arrival at Wellington after it opened again, I was surprised to see an Air NZ Boeing 747-400 on the tarmac and discovered it had diverted to Wellington early that morning after both Auckland and Ohakea were closed by bad weather. Presumably it had been inbound from Los Angeles. They were in the process of boarding passengers and on making an enquiry, I discovered they were using it to help clear the backlog of domestic passengers to Auckland, the airport there having just opened again. So I stuck around to watch it takeoff, expecting it to use the entire runway at Wellington, but was pleasently surprised to see it lift-off less than two-thirds of the way along the strip. I guess it would have been carrying a minimum fuel load, so even though every seat was taken, the aeroplane would have been reasonably light and as I witnessed, it was easily capable of taking off from Wellington. And Air NZ got to clear 400 or so of their domestic passenger backlog of Auckland-bound passengers in one hit!
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Post by vs on Sept 1, 2012 15:17:24 GMT 12
Qantas used to operate 747SP's into Wellington. Air New Zealand operated a Boeing 747 200 on a route proving flight (my father was one of the crew) and latter flew a Boeing 747 200 to Wellington to be on static display for the opening of the new Wellington terminal. United have also diverted a Boeing 747 400 to Wellington.
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pvsjetstar
Flight Lieutenant
email: rassie6@optusnet.com.au
Posts: 97
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Post by pvsjetstar on Sept 1, 2012 19:11:11 GMT 12
In reply to Expatkiwi, I think you would have had a hostess (female) on an NAC flight, not a steward (male). NAC had men in attendance for the very early DC3 flights between Auckland and Christchurch, and on the DC3 services that went through Nadi to Samoa and Rarotonga. After they finished it was all females until 1979, when the first male to fly on domestic services, Steve Kelly, joined (by now) Air NZ domestic in June that year. I was No.6 in the "male domain" starting on 10 Mar 1980 and I did over 24 years finishing on 09 Jul 2004. As males I was asked many times when I first started if I had been demoted from the international flights!!!! I politely replied that I had chosen domestic for my career!! It was a great life!!
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Post by expatkiwi on Sept 2, 2012 4:33:29 GMT 12
In reply to Expatkiwi, I think you would have had a hostess (female) on an NAC flight, not a steward (male). NAC had men in attendance for the very early DC3 flights between Auckland and Christchurch, and on the DC3 services that went through Nadi to Samoa and Rarotonga. After they finished it was all females until 1979, when the first male to fly on domestic services, Steve Kelly, joined (by now) Air NZ domestic in June that year. I was No.6 in the "male domain" starting on 10 Mar 1980 and I did over 24 years finishing on 09 Jul 2004. As males I was asked many times when I first started if I had been demoted from the international flights!!!! I politely replied that I had chosen domestic for my career!! It was a great life!! Glad you enjoyed it. |
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Post by expatkiwi on Sept 3, 2012 1:36:02 GMT 12
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Post by dakdriver on Sept 3, 2012 7:57:44 GMT 12
My first flight was in an NAC DC3 at Ashburton on a scenic flight from an airshow as far as I can work out this would be around 1956 I was ten years old. It was the start of my flying career and I never dreamed I would command one of these old ladies years later.
It would be interesting if any of you could put an exact date and aircraft rego on this.
FWIW
I Flew on Viscounts many times between Auckland, Welling and Christchurch quite often flew the last flight of the day on Sunday with no more than a few passengers on board, between Christchurch and Auckland, arriving at Auckland after 10 at night
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Post by expatkiwi on Sept 3, 2012 11:28:27 GMT 12
My first flight was in an NAC DC3 at Ashburton on a scenic flight from an airshow as far as I can work out this would be around 1956 I was ten years old. It was the start of my flying career and I never dreamed I would command one of these old ladies years later. It would be interesting if any of you could put an exact date and aircraft rego on this. FWIW I Flew on Viscounts many times between Auckland, Welling and Christchurch quite often flew the last flight of the day on Sunday with no more than a few passengers on board, between Christchurch and Auckland, arriving at Auckland after 10 at night What was your impression of the viscount? |
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Post by expatkiwi on Sept 3, 2012 11:43:22 GMT 12
One of the things I remember about NAC flights was walking outside the terminal to board the planes - especially in Auckland (noisy) and Wellington (windy days there!). The first time I used an internal walkway access for a NZ Domestic flight was with an Ansett NZ flight.
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Post by dakdriver on Sept 3, 2012 13:08:39 GMT 12
What was flying in a Viscount Like?
Geez…that was a long time ago and I can recall the first DC3 flight much more than the Viscount flights but I do remember the sense that they were smoother and certainly had no sync changes with the props comparing them with the F27(could be where the engines were positioned in relation to the cabin )
In those days the Viscount was BIG
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Post by expatkiwi on Sept 3, 2012 15:41:27 GMT 12
What was flying in a Viscount Like? Geez…that was a long time ago and I can recall the first DC3 flight much more than the Viscount flights but I do remember the sense that they were smoother and certainly had no sync changes with the props comparing them with the F27(could be where the engines were positioned in relation to the cabin ) In those days the Viscount was BIG In those days the F27 was big (being 8 years old did that to you)... there are a few Viscounts left flyable. It's sad seeing a stately bird like that just fade away... |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 3, 2012 21:11:41 GMT 12
My first flight was in an Air New Zealand Friendship to Norfolk Island in April 1981 and one of the things that stays with me to this day is the smell inside the plane, It was pungent but not at all unpleasant. Later I got to fly in them a lot when I was in the RNZAF up and down NZ, and even when I use to go into the RNZAF NATTS ones to remove and refit components, that same smell always hit me. It always took me back to that first flight.
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Post by beagle on Sept 3, 2012 21:16:09 GMT 12
the smell of holland
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 3, 2012 21:46:09 GMT 12
Haha, so it was old gouda cheese I could smell?
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Post by phil82 on Sept 4, 2012 2:54:18 GMT 12
My first flight was in an Air New Zealand Friendship to Norfolk Island in April 1981 and one of the things that stays with me to this day is the smell inside the plane, It was pungent but not at all unpleasant. Later I got to fly in them a lot when I was in the RNZAF up and down NZ, and even when I use to go into the RNZAF NATTS ones to remove and refit components, that same smell always hit me. It always took me back to that first flight.[/quote I spent a late honeymoon on Norfolk, 1971, when the only means of getting there was a single Qantas DC4 maintained only for that route! Here it is!  I flew NAC quite a bit, on DC3, and Friendship, also the Viscount. The Viscount was very noisy on the ground but not too bad once airborne. I once flew from CHCH to Wgtn on a scheduled NAC 737 flight but which was replaced by a ANZ Electra. B747 can land at Wellington, but can't operate at normal weights so they didn't. They were required to land one there at least once a year, which usually attracted a crowd. The DC8 did the Wgnt-Melbourne route for a number of years, in fact I flew one such flight in 1974. Also flew on both 747 and DC10 and the latter was, IMHO a far better aircraft. |
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Post by expatkiwi on Sept 4, 2012 6:00:26 GMT 12
Judging from the size of the passenger windows on the viscount, the views must have been pretty good...
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