Last day at work...sad.

[trof]

A friend sent me this today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CT-cSpTjBU

It's a tribute to Trans World Airline's last flight out of Heathrow and our fine people who worked there.

In 1991, Carl Icahn, sole owner of TWA at the time, sold our JFK to LHR rights to American Airlines for $425,000,000.
Hope you enjoyed the cash, Carl.
Maybe you bought some new artwork for your Manhattan penthouse.
Bastard.

Two years later we were in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

I started with TWA on Oct. 18, 1968 and 'retired' from there in January of 1996, although I flew for another 5 years with Nippon Cargo Airlines.

At TWA I started on the Convair 880 and went on to fly just about everything Boeing was making.
707, 727, 747.
The best commercial plane I ever flew was the Lockheed 1011.
What a sweet bird.
It had the necessary instrumentation to land in ZERO visibility.
I did that once at Heathrow when we were the ONLY aircraft to be able land that morning.
Like I said, a sweet bird.

It's still hard for me to believe that TWA is gone forever.
In it's glory years it was a fantastic airline and I was proud to work there. I remember the first time a little kid asked for my autograph when I was standing outside the cockpit door, saying goodbye to passengers. We used to do that.

A young friend who just got his commercial pilot's license wants to be an airline pilot. I'm trying to talk him out of it.
Flying sux now.
For the passengers and the employees.

Oh well.
Shit happens.
Time marches on.
Here's to the late, great TRANS WORLD AIRLINES.
:toast:
:-(

[trof]

1. The first airplane shown is the Lockheed Constellation-G.

The "Connie Super G" was the queen of the fleet until the jets came in. Howard Hughes, then owner of TWA, had input with Lockheed as to the plane's required performance and cockpit layout.

Trans World Airlines opened post-war commercial intercontinental air service on 6 February, 1946, with a New York - Paris flight in a Constellation. As the first pressurized airliner in widespread use, the Constellation helped to usher in affordable and comfortable air travel for the masses.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

5. Hey!

Those look like radial engines..............:) I worked for a little outfit, as Materials Manager, that overhauled radials.

[trof]

8. Yessir. 18 cylinder.

The R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone was one of the most powerful radial aircraft engines produced in the United States. It was a twin row, supercharged, air-cooled, radial engine with 18 cylinders. Power ranged from 2,200 to over 3,700 hp (1,640 to 2,760 kW), depending on the model. First developed prior to World War II, the R-3350's design required a long time to mature before finally being used to power the B-29 Superfortress. After the war, the engine had matured sufficiently to become a major civilian airliner design, notably in its Turbo-Compound forms.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

12. Those hummers are HUGE!

The biggest we did were 2800's.............I'm not a gear head or grease monkey myself but watching those things come together and run on the test cell was very cool! :)

[trof]

2. Last flight out of LHR is a Boeing 747.

I flew one for the last 11-12 years of my career.
It was OK, but not as good as the L-1011.
Big mother though.

This is the last one I flew.


This is a freighter version of the -200 model. It could be fitted with or without the nose door.
Ours had the nose door.
It has a 105 ton capacity and a Max Takeoff Weight of 833,000 lb.

[matcom]

3. got stuck in Chicago on TWA

flying to Utah for spring break skiing with a buddy of mine in high school.

snow storm.

we were 17.

they put us up in a hotel and gave us free bar passes.

we were 17.

they paid for EVERYTHING we ate and drank AND 100% of our room.

we were 17.

TWA was the balls.

now, THOSE were the days when flying was FUN!

[trof]

4. Them wuz the days.

Was before airline 'deregulation'?
Naw, that was in '78.
You're not that old.
;-)

[matcom]

9. would have been '85ish

:)

[trof]

6. 747 nose door:

"OPEN WIDE"

[xchrom]

7. i remember flying -- before i was treated like a

COW.

flying is such a rude experience now.

i used to love to fly -- even hang out at airports because it was exciting to see people from all over the world coming and going.

people were polite -- they weren't being ABUSED by an institution.

[trof]

10. I believe I may wax nostalgic on the days before 'deregulation'.

Flying was a different world then.

[xchrom]

11. it was better trof -- it was better.

[trof]

13. OK, chirrun. Gather 'round. BEFORE airline deregulation...

Move a little closer to the fire.
Get comfortable.

The Airline Deregulation Act (or ADA) was a United States federal law signed into law on October 28, 1978. The main purpose of the act was to remove government control from commercial aviation and expose the passenger airline industry to market forces.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_Deregulation_Act

President Jimmy Carter, bless his heart, signed that bill.

Since 1938, the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) had regulated all domestic air transport as a public utility, setting fares, routes, and schedules. The CAB promoted air travel, for instance by generally attempting to hold fares down in the short-haul market, to be subsidized by higher fares in the long-haul market. The CAB was also obliged to ensure that the airlines had a reasonable rate of return.

See, way back then it was a PUBLIC UTILITY.
The gummint said where you could fly and how much you could charge and were OBLIGED to see that the airlines had a reasonable rate of return.

The airlines COULD NOT compete on price, so guess what?
They competed on service, I mean REALLY GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE and what they could give you while you were on their airplane.

Food? FANTASTIC!
And FREE!
Booze? FREE on many flights. And, at the slightest provocation (late departure, turbulence, delayed flight, gate change, whatever) the captain could call one of the flight attendants up and say "Comp 'em.".
Free drinks for all.
Partay Time.
;-)

Flight attendants did their dead level BEST to make sure you were a sublimely happy passenger when you deplaned.

Customers were PLEASED.
There was NO air rage.

I voted for Carter, twice, but I'll never forgive him for deregulation.

It was the beginning of the end for U.S. airlines.
:-(

[GOPisEvil]

14. I flew TWA many a time.

It used to be THE way to get into St. Louis, which near dad's family. My last trip on TWA was several years ago: San Antonio to San Francisco through St. Louis.

[trof]

16. Yeah, STL was a HUB!

[trof]

15. More nostalgia: The 'open door' policy.

Back in the olden days (DC-3s) there was a curtain you could pull across the cockpit entrance to cut the glare of the cabin lights during night approaches.

Later there was a door.
Pretty flimsy, but a more or less solid barrier.
Then the FAA said it must be locked for takeoff and landing.
That's when you really don't want to be interrupted.

Once, on a Boeing 727, our door actually came off the hinges.
We were taxing out for takeoff and I told the flight engineer to try and stow it someplace out of the way.

He disappeared with it and came back.
"I put it in the forward lav."
"OK, great."
We got takeoff clearance and he said "Just a sec."
Disappeared again and was back almost instantly.
"What's the problem?"
"FAA says the cockpit door has to be locked for takeoff and landing. I threw the bolt."
:rofl:

[brook]

20. You're making me laugh!

- and cry a bit too. Those were the days, my friend.

I'll never forget what it was like to open the passenger door in Monterrey, Mexico on a warm summer night and be enveloped in the scent of orange blossoms. Or the 7 hour'puddle jump' from DFW to CHI in a Convair. Every time we landed, I'd ask the passengers what time it was. :)

[trof]

21. It was a different time then.

<sigh>

[trof]

17. More on 'open doors'.

Back in the day, as soon after takeoff as we'd kinda gotten things squared away, we opened the cockpit door.
Invited folks to come up.
Watch us FLY!
Have a chat.

Hell, I've even put a passenger (especially kids) in the co-pilot's seat for a few minutes.
Autopilot on, nothing they could do to make us instantly crash and burn
;-)

Cool?
Or what?
Lady goes back to her seat.
"Honey? I FLEW the airplane!"
How long would you remember that?
And would you come back and fly with us again?
Oh, yeah.

Celebrities/movie stars were usually a lot of fun.
Almost all of them were very nice.

I particularly remember Natalie Wood and James Garner.
Sad about her end. Nice lady.

[GOPisEvil]

18. I flew a 747 when I was 2.

;)

Athens to Frankfurt on my 2nd birthday. Somewhere in my parents' house is a metal toy 747 with faded Lufthansa markings.

[trof]

19. Aw man...Athens.

Back in '85 I was flying a TWA 727 shuttle (Athens to Rome, Athens to Tel Aviv, Athens to Cairo).

Spent 2 months in Athens.
Like a paid vacation.
Miz t. and Daughter t. came over for a couple of weeks.

I was pretty much flying on 5, off 5.
We had a great time.
Loved the food.

[trof]

22. "Bulletproof Cockpit Doors"? We asked for them in 1970.

"Bulletproof Cockpit Doors Asked to Thwart Hijackers."

The story, written by the Copley News Service, had a Washington dateline. Remember, this was 1970. It began:

"Airline pilots have demanded bulletproof cockpit doors and bulkheads to thwart would-be aerial hijackers."

The story reported that Charles Ruby, president of the Airline Pilots Association, had written to the Federal Aviation Administration asking for "action now" to protect passengers and flight crews. He said what was needed were bulletproof partitions separating the cockpits from the cabins, bulletproof doors with electromagnetic locks, bulletproof windows, and a sliding panel in the cockpit doors so pilots could use defensive devices.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/bob/greene102901.asp

Just as auto manufacturers had whined that mandatory seatbelts would practically bankrupt them, the powerful Air Transport Association (the airline's management lobby) said the cost would be "prohibitive".

There's an old saying that you can't get changes in aviation rules & regs until you kill enough people.
Still true.
:-(

[madrchsod]

23. those were the days.......

http://thrillingwonder.blogspot.com/2007/02/glamour-of-flight.html
Dark Roasted Blend: The Glamour of Flight

[GoneOffShore]

24. Ever go over to FlyerTalk

There are a few pilots who frequent that board.

But if you're now a pax you might find it interesting.

Thanks for posting all the great pics!

:toast: to you and to all the fine people who ran TWA! :toast: