Memories

[Ikara]

I was reminiscing with a friend of mine yesterday and we were discussing the Pilot's Strike of 1989. We were attending an award weekend on Great Keppel Island and when we got back to Brisbane airport, we discovered that our flight home to Sydney was in a Continental Airways DC10 that had come down from Guam. Now I swear this is true (even SWMBO remembers it) when we got on board there was an open area between economy and first and in this area was a white grand piano! A bloody white grand piano! I'm also pretty sure that the aircraft was DC10 serial #1 because when we went down the runway for takeoff I have never experienced ratttling and shaking like it before or since.

Does anyone else remember this aircraft?

JB

 

[markis10]

Maybe the piano replaced the pub:

http://www.departedflights.com/COpub.html

 

[Sprucegoose]

I was reminiscing with a friend of mine yesterday and we were discussing the Pilot's Strike of 1989. We were attending an award weekend on Great Keppel Island and when we got back to Brisbane airport, we discovered that our flight home to Sydney was in a Continental Airways DC10 that had come down from Guam. Now I swear this is true (even SWMBO remembers it) when we got on board there was an open area between economy and first and in this area was a white grand piano! A bloody white grand piano! I'm also pretty sure that the aircraft was DC10 serial #1 because when we went down the runway for takeoff I have never experienced ratttling and shaking like it before or since.Does anyone else remember this aircraft?JB

I don't remember the piano but we went to Guam and there was a standup bar on the plane.Ah the pilots strike. A did an HS748 to Melbourne, some coughpy pommie rubbish to Adelaide (monarch?) and did I do the herc, can't remember now.......how interesting was that!

 

[markis10]

Monarch had a couple of planes here during the strike, as did America West, I remember gently reminding one Cactus crew that a descent request might be good when they were 50 miles south of CBR, their intended destination! Next time someone complains about seats maybe they should try a Herc , they are a great workhorse for the RAAF and others but hardly standard economy fare when it comes to pax comfort, although their toilet facilities were an improvement on the bou which was strictly boys only!

 

[Sprucegoose]

I must have done America West as well. I recall a captain called fast eddy.......he was fast as well.The herc was quite noisy as I recall. Interesting times if you didn't mind the lack of comfort and no points!

 

[awilcockson]

Next time someone complains about seats maybe they should try a Herc , they are a great workhorse for the RAAF and others but hardly standard economy fare when it comes to pax comfort,

You should try a low level summer scenic flight out of Richmond with 100 Air Training Corp cadets in the back! The smell of avgas, sideways seats, oppressive heat, turbulence and very small windows can (and did) only lead to one result. Let's just say I was one of only 2 cadets on the a/c that didn't throw up! I'm sure the crew had fun hosing out the back after that flight ...

 

[drron]

When the pilot's strike was called we had just arrived in Tasmania.Everything closed as "there are no tourists".Problem is we had come across on the old Empress.Very frustrating.For years after my line was-"I went to Tasmania once but it was closed"

But speaking of memories,last week with a clean up came across a couple of bars of Pan Am soap.Got it flying SYD-AKL in the early 80s.The only flights I had on Pan am.

 

[medhead]

As I'm struggling to remember when e pilot's strike happened, I'd say I didn't get to do any fun flying. [-]89???[/-] doh! Read the OP. Think I trained it on the sunlander that year.

You should try a low level summer scenic flight out of Richmond with 100 Air Training Corp cadets in the back! The smell of avgas, sideways seats, oppressive heat, turbulence and very small windows can (and did) only lead to one result. Let's just say I was one of only 2 cadets on the a/c that didn't throw up! I'm sure the crew had fun hosing out the back after that flight ...

That's pretty standard, I know some regular army guys who struggled with that problem during tactical flights.

 

[JohnK]

I didn't start flying until 1990 and thankfully managed to avoid those type of aircraft.

For years after my line was-"I went to Tasmania once but it was closed"

Isn't Tasmania still closed?

 

[markis10]

You should try a low level summer scenic flight out of Richmond with 100 Air Training Corp cadets in the back! The smell of avgas, sideways seats, oppressive heat, turbulence and very small windows can (and did) only lead to one result. Let's just say I was one of only 2 cadets on the a/c that didn't throw up! I'm sure the crew had fun hosing out the back after that flight ...

Or being a cadet doing Laverton-Hobart-Launceston-Richmond-Amberly-Richmond-Laverton over 3 days to get to the RAAFs 80th in an E model. Or doing 4 hours over the oil rigs in a bou!

 

[MarkD]

I must have done America West as well. I recall a captain called fast eddy.......he was fast as well.The herc was quite noisy as I recall. Interesting times if you didn't mind the lack of comfort and no points!

I got bloody JAT yugoslav syd~ mel and a korean 747 back


Damn you iphone and fat fingers. Sent from my iphone and AFF app )

 

[drron]

I didn't start flying until 1990 and thankfully managed to avoid those type of aircraft.


Isn't Tasmania still closed?

No.But it does do a good impression of it!

 

[rechoboam]

When the pilot's strike was called we had just arrived in Tasmania.Everything closed as "there are no tourists".Problem is we had come across on the old Empress.Very frustrating.For years after my line was-"I went to Tasmania once but it was closed"

But speaking of memories,last week with a clean up came across a couple of bars of Pan Am soap.Got it flying SYD-AKL in the early 80s.The only flights I had on Pan am.

My old man was a travel agent in the 60s and has a shed full of stuff, i need to take a look...

 

[notzac]

Oh my, this brings back some memories. I was all set for a holiday with my aunt and uncle to CNS when the pilot strike hit .. I can't remember whether we were scheduled to fly with AN or TN now, but either way .. we ended up on a Hercules (strapped in to the sides, earplugs absolutely mandatory, exactly zero in flight service .. it seemed to take a million years for the flight from BNE to CNS, but we got there in the end.

On the way back I was travelling as an UM (my aunt and uncle were continuing on their holiday); the return CNS-BNE was operated by a BI 757 and me the precious 9 year old had the FA's in the palm of my hand I think I still have a headrest protector thingy with the BI logo signed by all of the crew somewhere!