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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0611.PDF
FLIGHT, 13 May 1955 611 ROUTINE CROSSING Passenger's Impressions of a Typical Transatlantic Flight by B.O.A.C. Stratocruiser R.M.A. "Caledonia" I F you fly B.O.A.C. Mon-arch from New York toLondon, as I did one day in late March, your journeywill probably begin at the East Side Airlines Terminal justbefore 3.30 in the afternoon. The flight was due out at5 p.m.,and the ticket (£142 18s single) offered a choice of tworeporting times: 3.30 at the terminal or 4 p.m. at NewYork International Airport. The bus from the East Side Terminal proved as quick andinexpensive a way as any of reaching the airport on time. Coach services are operated for the airlines by the private firm of CareyTransportation, whose streamlined Airporters, cruising at up to 60 m.p.h., cover the 15 miles or so to Idlewild in half an hour.Airline buses between London Airport and the Victoria or Waterloo terminals take at least twice as long to cover a similardistance. The use of modern express highways and the near- absence of traffic lights (if I remember rightly there are only foursets between East Side and Idlewild) make the New York journey much less tedious and, by American standards, a fair return fora single fare of $1 35c (9s 8d). Incidentally, the Carey coaches are still colloquially referred to as "limousines"—a reminder thatnot so many years ago one large car could convey a plane-load of passengers. Idlewild is at present using temporary terminal buildings, thoughthe Port of New York Authority have announced plans (Flight, April 22nd) for a permanent central terminal of gigantic propor-tions. The existing set-up, from a passenger's viewpoint, could be likened to a larger version of L.A.P. North with a better supplyof eating and drinking facilities, shops and "vending" machines. Features which I had not seen previously were the flight weatherforecasts displayed on some airline counters and, in other cases, the inclusion of captains' names on the indicator boards listing arrivalsand departures. With 49 fellow-passengers for London, I reported at theB.O.A.C. counter for checking of tickets, weighing of luggage and labelling of hand-baggage. Each of us also received a boarding-card showing the position of the seats allocated to us; printed on the reverse side was an "occupied" sign, for reserving one's seatat transit stops. Perhaps a few words should have been said at this point about embarkation procedures. Looking back, however,I realize that I somehow missed this part of the departure process; to the best of my recollection I simply bade farewell to my friendsand walked out of the terminal on to the aircraft. But no doubt there are Customs, emigration and tax men at Idlewild, and Iapologize for unwittingly slipping through the screen. The aircraft assigned to operate Flight BA510 on this particularday was G-AKGH Caledonia, flagship of B.O.A.C.'s fleet of 16 Stratocruisers. Well kept inside and out, it bore few signs of the650 North Atlantic crossings recorded in its log book since it was delivered to B.O.A.C. more than five years previously. Apassenger on its very first crossing—the delivery flight from Seattle to London—was the Editor of Flight, who described thejourney in a series of articles in December 1949. "Monarch" Stratocruisers can accommodate 60 passengers intheir two compartments—one forward and one aft of the amidships galley; sleeping berths, of which up to 16 are available at asurcharge of $50 (17 guineas), fold down from the walls of the forward cabin, and are enclosed by curtains during the night.Competition for first-class traffic is keener on the North Atlantic than on any other international route, and any shortcomings incabin comfort are soon reflected in the bookings situation. Con- sequently the maximum seating capacity of the Stratocruiser is notnormally sold; 50 passengers represent a full complement. Past experience should have taught me what to expect, but Iwas half-disappointed to find that my fellow travellers on this Blue Riband flight were not as depicted in the glossy magazine ads.for air travel—sophisticated, swan-necked ladies in Dior gowns, with tweedy, prematurely grey escorts drawn from the best regi-ments, clubs and boards of directors. True, there was a genuine duke aboard, but I didn't discover the fact until, waiting in theimmigration room at London Airport, my glance fell upon a copy of the passenger manifest. Perhaps the characters in the advertise-ments don't really exist; or, if they do, they probably travel only in twos and threes and not in whole aeroplanes-full. The Monarch service is scheduled to fly direct from New Yorkto London, leaving at 5 p.m. and arriving at 9.45 a.m. the next morning (local time in each case). A call is made at Boston (listedin the timetable as a "flagstop") if any passengers require to be picked up there. And if tailwinds are poor or non-existent, or ifthe payload is high, a refuelling stop is included in the flight plan. Gander is preferred for this purpose, because B.O.A.C. have theirown operations staff there. Failing Gander, the "technical stop" (to quote the timetable once more) is made at Goose Bay or Sydney,Nova Scotia. In our case, the flight plan was drawn up on the basis of bothlow tailwind component and a high payload (50 passengers plus full freight compartments). When all the passengers were aboardthe stewardess made a little speech announcing that, inter alia, we would be calling in at Sydney, Nova Scotia, that our flight timewould be 2 hr 28 min, and that dinner would be served en route. Next, the stewards gave their demonstration of life-jackets, whichare stowed beneath the seats. The accompanying commentary, beginning with the customary "As aboard a ship at sea . . ." dealtwith the position of emergency exits, as well as the method of donning life-jackets. It was delivered over the public addresssystem by the steward in the forward cabin, so that his colleague was required only to perform a kind of charade for the benefit ofthe passengers in the rear cabin. Finally, a distribution of newspapers, magazines and barley sugar. Our Stratocruiser taxied out to the runway with a characteristicthin stream of exhaust smoke flowing from each of its four quietly turning Wasp Majors. The runway was much in demand, bothfor landings and for aircraft which had left the ramp ahead of us, so it was not before 5.30 that our wheels left the runway—with agood proportion of its 9,000ft expanse unused. Caledonia's fare- well to New York was almost immediate, for we turned north-eastto follow an off-shore airway to Sydney. In gathering dusk we identified Nantucket Island and Cape Cod from our route mapsand that was the last glimpse of the United States. But by this time no one was interested in scenery, since the Stratocruiser'sroomy interior was fast being transformed into an airborne restaurant. The meal, all seven courses of it, was fully in keepingwith B.O.A.C.'s reputation, and so too was the service. One American passenger was pleased to see that the cabinattendants changed into white starched coats before serving dinner. Another drew attention to the silver serving trolley which dieyrolled down the aisle of the cabin—certainly an unusual sight in an aircraft but a brave gesture which, one hopes, has succeededdespite all the inevitable protests from wielders of slide-rules and calculators of costs-per-ton-mile. All of us, I think, were impressedby the cabin attendants' thoroughly professional manner—their ability to make the passengers feel well-cared-for and important,and to do so without confusing service and servility. It was dark by the time we reached Sydney (one minute behindflight time), where the passengers spent an hour in the airport waiting room while Caledonia was refuelled. After take-off Iadvanced my watch by five hours to prepare for the transition from New York to London time. Incidentally, flying the Atlanticprovides a useful opportunity of sorting out any mental confusion one may have over time zones; some people have to performmental acrobatics to grasp the significance of date-lines and of clocks being put forward or back (I know; I am one of them).The Atlantic route, at least, is simple enough: flying east, from America to Europe, you are approaching the rising sun, so thenight is shorter by five hours, and vice versa. However, re-setting my watch from 9 p.m. (Thursday) to2 a.m. (Friday) did not produce an instant desire for sleep, so this was the logical time to meet some fellow-passengers over adrink in the bar. Freedom to walk up and down stairs between the bar and the cabin is, of course, one of the great selling pointsof the Stratocruiser. B.O.A.C. are wise to retain it in their 83-seat tourist versions, now operating to Montreal and soon toserve New York. Situated on the lower deck immediately behind the trailing edge of the wing, the bar is trimmed in grey andyellow leather and has a large mirror as the forward wall to give an illusion of greater spaciousness. As it is, it will accommodateat least a dozen people in reasonable comfort, though it has no doubt attracted larger crowds on occasions. Here I encountered a cross-section of the wide variety of peoplewho make use of North Atlantic air services, with no common denominator other than the objective of crossing the ocean. The towering major in Canadian Army uniform ("call me Tiny") (Continued on page 613)
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