In a similar fashion the heyday of the Boeing
707 at the London airport had passed so it was
always good to see these old campaigners.
Also present that day was Trans Mediterranean
Airways (TMA) of Lebanon 707-300C, OD-AGY- these being regular visitors to Heathrow at the
time. I also noted another of this type in USAF
VC-137B 58-6972 from the 89th Military Airlift
Wing at Andrews AFB, Maryland. Two other
military registered aircraft logged were TriStars
ZD948 and ZD949 in the process of being
transferred from British Airways to the RAF.
VARIETY
One of the joys of Heathrow in bygone times
was the potential for almost any rarity to be
next on approach. Today, such are the slot
restrictions due to the airport working so
close to capacity that there is less chance
of something out of the ordinary visiting.
For instance, the airport accepted far more
business aviation traffic then and seeing the
visiting bizjets was always enjoyable. My eyes
became calibrated to the steady stream of
airliners on approach, so what initially may
have looked like a gap in the inbounds could
sometimes be a bizjet whose smaller size
made it initially hard to pick up.
While these aircraft could be parked in the
cargo area or the British Airways maintenance
complex, among other locations, the hub of
activity was Field’s Executive Jet Centre in the
southeast corner of the airport. The company
had a large hangar that must have been
one of the most closely watched buildings
by enthusiasts anywhere in the country. As
soon as one of the doors moved even slightly
an array of telescopes and binoculars on the
‘Queens Building’ viewing terrace would be
trained on it trying to read off the registrations
of bizjets inside.
It seems to have been a fairly slow day
for such arrivals going by my log, but there
may well have been some gems parked in
Heathrow’s numerous nooks and crannies
that went unseen.
Former BOAC Comet 4, G-APDT (used by
apprentices at British Airways and then by the
airport re service for training) was also noted.
I logged 178 aircraft this day and as
can be seen from the list there was a rich
variety of classic jetliners. The days spent
on the ‘Queens Building’ at one of the most
interesting airports in the world still bring
back happy memories.http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 37An impressive line-up of British Airways aircraft parked at Terminal 1 as seen from the ‘Queens
Building’ viewing area. Andy KennaughOne of the most interesting types seen on April 11, 1984 was a British Midlands Airways Viscount,
similar to this one, which was operating a Leeds Bradford service. Bob O’Brien C ollectionThis photo of a Turkish Airlines Boeing 727-200 shows the view of the Field’s hangar in
the background from the ‘Queens Building’ viewing terrace. As soon as the hangar doors
moved enthusiasts would be straining with binoculars and telescopes to try and read off the
registrations of the bizjets inside. Fergal GoodmanThe author saw three Iberia Boeing 727-200s during the day in question. Richard Vandervord34-37_lhr-tales-1984mfDCmfDCmfDC.mfDC.indd 37 06/05/2016 12:30