jrl767

given Rio and Sao Paulo (Viracopos), I'll speculate this was a Panair do Brasil flight; if memory serves, their 1962 jet fleet was DC-8s

the rest of the routing was perhaps Dakar - Lisbon - Rome - Beirut

jrl767

in addition to the Britannia which was the flagship of their London <--> Accra service, GH operated the Viscount and the IL-18

jlemon

2. Indeed, it was.....and your routing for this weekly Panair do Brasil (PB) flight operated with a DC-8 is correct as well!

Panair do Brasil would later operate the Caravelle primarily from Rio in support of their regional operations in Brazil including service to Belem, Manaus, Porto Alegre and Recife, and also to other South American countries with flights to Asuncion, Montevideo and Santiago.

jlemon

6. Correct! And Ghana Airways would later operate the Vickers VC-10 between Accra and London......

jrl767

these were the Boeing 727 and the BAC One-Eleven

WHBM

Ghana Airways, following the country's independence in 1958, and them breaking away from the old West African Airways Corporation (WAAC) which was, like East African and Central African, a shared operation between multiple UK colonies in Africa, went out and ordered all sorts of types, generally as some part of a foreign aid package, and most of which were wasted in their usage. They also ordered two Boeing 707-463s, with Rolls Royce Conway engines, which were cancelled before delivery.

The eight Ilyushin 18s were hardly used at all, they got assigned to a handful of low-frequency runs which could probably have been covered by a single aircraft, and which anyway carried hardly any passengers. They were delivered new in 1961, but by the end of 1963 all were returned to the Soviet Union, where they then lived out full lives with Aeroflot. Ghana AW also got an Antonov 12 9G-AAZ which went the same way (and the same way back !), so that actually makes four turboprop types in 1962. One of their two Britannias also went back to manufacturer Bristol in 1963, when a moment of realisation appears to have stepped in. However, they did in that year also get a Convair 990, which was run for them by Swissair as their first jet until 1965 when the VC-10s arrived. Even the VC-10s were over-ordered, they bought three, one was never delivered, a second sold to MEA after 18 months service (with whom it was destroyed, along with most of the MEA fleet, at Beirut in the 1968 commando attack on Beirut airport), while the third was enough on its own.

In all truth one long-haul aircraft for the London service, and a couple of regional types to serve Nigeria (in particular) and other nearby points, were all that were really justified.

All of these types were flown and maintained by crews from the manufacturing country or their main airline. BOAC helped out a lot.

Trivia supplementary question. What was the first long-haul aircraft that Ghana Airways ran after they became independent ? Who operated it for them ?

JoeDTW

http://jonproctor.net/

For those of you who have not met him, Jon Proctor is one of the all around nicest people ever associated with the airline industry. Jon is the son of one of AA's earliest pilots, and he worked in various capacities for TWA for many years.

Jon is also one of the most knowledgeable people about airline history; his writing has appeared in Airways, Airliners, and many other magazines.

I first met Jon when I was twelve years old, at the 1980 Airliners International convention in DTW. He had a large table where he was selling airline postcards, and when he saw me, he introduced himself, chatted with me for a few minutes, then handed me a couple of postcards and said "don't tell anyone, but these are for you!" A truly great guy!

jlemon

Many thanks! ^

jlemon

36. Correct! Specifically the Boeing 727-100 and the British Aircraft Corp. BAC One-Eleven series 200.

I believe the first BAC One-Eleven (G-ASHG) may have crashed during a test flight. And here's a follow up quiz item:

At least four U.S. based airlines were interested in possibly operating the BAC One-Eleven. However, none of these air carriers actually took delivery of the type. Name these four air carriers and also explain why several of these airlines ended up not operating the iconic British twin jet. ANSWERED

WHBM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_BA...ven_test_crash

It was 8 weeks after the first flight. Mike Lithgow, Chief BAC test pilot, at the controls, realised that what they had entered was unrecoverable with that configuration of aircraft. During the descent he gave a running commentary onto the flight data recorder of what those who followed in his footsteps should do to overcome the design issue, which essentially is what was done.

Mike had been a naval aviator in WW2 off the Ark Royal carrier, and then when chief test pilot for Vickers he held the world air speed record for a while. There is a memorial to the crew unveiled not long ago at the crash site, in classic English countryside not far beyond Stonehenge.

jlemon

It is reported that the acquisition of the Ilyushin 18 turboprop aircraft by Ghana Airways may have been a political move as the president of Ghana had been accused of being too closely aligned at the time with the West. Thus the order with the Soviets for the Il-18s.....

As for the first long haul aircraft flown by an independent Ghana Airways, I'll make a wild guess here:

DC-10 equipment operated by KLM Royal Dutch.

WHBM

Long before those times. Remember they once ran Bristol Britannias.

jlemon

Ah, then perhaps this was BOAC with the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser......

miniliq

Yes, MIQ was Maiquetia, the small town south of Caracas where the airport is located. The deisgnation changed to CCS in the mid-60s.

Avianca's international 720B flights were called El Colombiano -- not sure if that's what you're referring to, because the phrase "Red Ruana Service" appeared prominently in their timetables.

jlemon

4. "El Colombiano" is what I was looking for specifically concerning Avianca's Boeing 720B service to the U.S. and Europe. And thanks also for the follow up concerning MIQ!

In formulating this quiz item, I used the March 1 to April 28, 1962 Avianca system timetable (which can accessed via timetableimages.com). "El Colombiano" appears only in association with the actual B720B schedules for their international flights to the U.S. and Europe. However, I did not see "Red Ruana Service" in this timetable...until I looked at the front cover. And there it was! So I stand corrected, sir!