As a young boy, my dad often took me to the airport early on Saturday mornings for breakfast and to watch the planes take off. I was 7 when the first 707s were put in use by TWA in St. Louis. There was an open air observation deck, so you could hear as well as see. I vividly remember the first time I saw (and heard) one take off. I had no idea what I was about to experience, of course, and I was awestruck by the power of it. It looked to me like it was going straight up.

Thanks for the reminder!

Anybody remember sitting in one of the back rows on a DC-8 stretch looking down the aise and noticing the 'flex' of the fuselage on takeoff and in turbulence?

see my post #11 above

Oops. Missed that.

Sorry.

Carry on

Wardair used them. I fondly remember my first airline steak meal on one of those to Prestwick Scotland.

In the summer of 1967 I was to work on an AID project at a university in Srinagar, Kashmir. AID was to pay for my airfare but they were going to do it in India using rupees so I had to fly Pan Am or TWA. I live in Tucson which is almost half way around the world from New Delhi, the difference between a roundtrip fare and a round the world fare was $10 so I paid it and rode Pan Am 1 round the world, flying in 707's. That was the summer of the 6 day war and the Pan Am stop in Beirut was disrupted. We ate dinner in the restaurant in Terehran rather than in the air to accommodate a time delay. Because I had a round the world ticket I stopped in Amsterdam, Vienna on the way and Bangkok, Tokyo on the return. Pan Am made all my hotel reservations other than New Delhi and Srinagar. Because at that time Pan Am could not pickup or drop off domestic passengers I had to fly American from Tucson to JFK and Hughes from SFO to LAX and then to Tucson but all on the same ticket. We were delayed leaving JFK because a service truck accidentally bumped the plane before boarding, dinner in the restaurant instead of on the plane. There were so few on the plane that I had a whole row to myself, they gave me blankets and pillows (in economy class).

Close but no cigar. I was little but I think I flew a National Airlines DC8 from SFO to MSY in July 1972. Or would it have been a 727?

NATO still flies 707 as E-3A AWACS. Taking off daily from Geilenkirchen, Germany, although some hush-kits now installed on the engines. But still a great sound and a great airplane.

welcome to FT! that's a great first post

I agree.^
Wonderful first post, DEarlM Looking forward to your further contributions to FT
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Oh yeah!!! Middle East Airlines (MEA) operated 707s well into the mid-90s and on the European routes, retrofitted the planes with "hush kits" to make them "less noisy"

My parents both worked for Douglas and I was at the inaugural takeoff of the first DC-8 in Long Beach. Like many of the 707s (which had entered service a year earlier) most of the DC-8s used water injection (and were called "water burners") as a means of increasing thrust at takeoff and also to cool the turbine blades at high RPMs. The upshot was that some of the fuel went unburnt, leading to the black smoke exhaust trails. But fuel was very cheap then.

Here's a cool 1959 UAL promo film covering a DC-8 transcon flight. Takeoff is around 5:40 in. Note the cabin amenities, also the ethnic makeup of the pax and crew.

Really enjoyed this video. Of course, I was only a youngster when this was made but enjoyed many pleasant flights on DC 8's over the years.

When viewing the video, I wondered how much has really IMPROVED over the years, beyond just what changed. I don't see many red carpet lounges in first class or lounges in couch now a days. As you noted, the demographic has changed dramatically (no backpackers on this flight), and the video referred to "the men who know.." --- the pilots and maintenance people who are all men, apparently. But the stewardesses are female!! And of course, the "gentlemen" were smoking on the plane. Maybe someone will start another thread on the real "improvements".

Couldn't help but notice the lack of desk computers in the office, no cell phones or ipads. How did they ever do it???

This video was over 55 years ago-- the stone age for many on FlyerTalk.

Thanks for the great memories!

I remember when the 747 and the L-1011 were the biggest planes on the runways! Loved them. I also remember when the Concorde came for a visit to my hometown, sometime in the mid-70s (I think they were trying to sell the concept, and were taking the plane on a goodwill tour of sorts). Loud. But, oh, what a lovely, lovely sight, especially to the eyes of a child. I will never forget that.

i flew a number of times on the convair 880. that was loud and smoky. the plane was flying a triangular route. JFK-fco-MIL-jfk. i do not recall any bend in that plane.