Here’s one to stir the memory banks, for those of you old enough, anyway. I know you’ll recognize the Alfa, but what about those jets? One of the sleekest noses of its kind. No, it’s not Russian. Hint: a Plymouth shared the same name. It was even flown in the US, by one major airline. If you’re stuck, I won’t keep you guessing:
image source jetphotos.net
The Sud Aviation Caravelle, the pioneer of the twin-rear engine configuration, that later became so popular. It first flew in 1955, and went into service in 1959, opening the jet era in Europe, as it was the first jet designed for shorter hauls. There was nothing like it in the US either, so instead of waiting for the similar DC9 (or 737), United put in an order for twenty of them. They flew mostly in the East and Midwest, between 1961 and 1973. I used to watch them from the observation deck (remember those?) at BWI in the late sixties. Noisy as hell on take-off.
I know, I know – it’s a CARAVELLE!!
Noisy were the old Convair 880s. Many a trip from San Francisco to St. Louis was on those “Star Stream 880’s” of TWA.
Sud-Aviation Caravelle, to be exact. United Airlines had ’em at one time pre-737-200 days. Shoot, the rest of the article was slowly downloading onto my iPhone, so at first, I thought this was a contest. Can’t say I flew on one, but built an AIRFIX model of one when I was a kid.
As in Alfa Sud the worst rust bucket ever created or Renault Caravelle?
Various bloggers here and on “Bring a Trailer” all seem to agree that most of the Alfas from this era came “pre-rusted” from the factory. The few I encountered in my California youth were usually “tango uniform” from electrical maladies-a-plenty.
Hey! Alfa Romeo Alfasud’s looked good, drove good, and were practical!
and rusted if ever wet
Yeah, but many automotive writers have said time and time again that the only fault the Alfasud had was it’s own rust problems mainly. But still, WHY did Fiat use ULTRA-cheap steel on so many cars?
Fiat got poor quality steel from the USSR as payment for the LADA factories and of course thats what they used to build cars and yes that was the Suds only major problem it disolved very very fast I know where a good one is but its been parked a long time with other Fiat Alfa cars so it has issues
I remember observation decks! We still have one in Grand Rapids (GRR), but it’s totally enclosed and kind of hidden away now. When I first moved here in 1998, it was much more accessible to the general public (as was the concourse it’s on), but after 9/11, all the airports got rearranged to be much more depressing places.
As a kid, I spent a fair amount of time on the observation deck at what was Youngstown International Airport (YNG). It seems we always had some relative flying in or out of there. Sometimes on nice summer afternoons, we’d just drive over to the airport to watch airplanes take off and land. My brother was nuts about airplanes when he was a kid, it was an easy way for my folks to keep him entertained for the afternoon.
I never spent any time in the Caravelle airliner, but I know what you mean about those early jets being noisy. I can remember a flight from Kennedy to Cleveland Hopkins on a 707, the noise from the engines gave me a headache. It was enlightening when a couple of days later I got on a 747, how much quieter the 747 was compared to the 707.
I did my radio internships at WASN in Youngstown. Ran the board for “Friday Night Football In The Valley” and voiced a s#%!load of commercials for various Warren and Youngstown businesses who bought air-time.
When was that?
I left the valley in 1991, and only get back twice a year…
As a side career, I did (do) radio and voice over work. I went to broadcast school kinda late in life (formal training) at about age 40; the internships at Youngstown and all the radio work there would’ve been in ’00.
I was long gone by then. When I was at YSU in the early/mid 80’s, I had friends who interned or worked at WFMJ Channel 21. My BIL interned and worked briefly at WYTV Channel 33, but left TV for a sales job.
I grew up in Grand Rapids and I vaguely recall seeing signs for the observation deck. Never checked it out though…
Pre-9/11, there were signs that pointed to the observation deck. I think the directional signs to the deck that were on the first floor have been removed, but if you know where it is, you can still go there.
It’s not an outdoor deck, like other airports, it almost looks like a waiting room of sorts. You’re on the top floor of the airport, with windows all around. You can see all of the flights, but frankly GRR isn’t all that busy. Many times while waiting for the flight I’m interested in, I watch the FedEx flights get unloaded.
But I like GR. It’s a nice place to hang your hat.
Geozinger, I have a Grand Rapids story you might find amusing. In summer 1990, when I was 10, we were on our way up to visit friends in Whitehall and overnighted in Grand Rapids. I think it was a Best Western, it was a high-rise with an enclosed pool on the top floor. Anyway, before we took off the next day, we went to the zoo. As were walking through the parking lot, my mom said she just saw a camel walking through the bushes on the zoo side. We all said yeah, right, there’s a camel on the loose, but she was vindicated. As it turned out, they had camel rides through the zoo for kids. She was right!
In Las Vegas there’s a place on Sunset Road next to McCarran airport where you can park and watch planes land and take off. During most parts of the day this seems to happen every two to three minutes. Interesting place to sit and have a bite to eat if you’re into watching planes.
We still have an observation deck at our local airport but we dont do jets only the SAAB turbo prop internal flights and the old warbirds and such during art deco week
Not just noisy, but slow and thirsty, too. Some of you might recognize the nose. It comes from the de Havilland Comet, the world’s first production jetliner.
The nose is very similar to the Comet’s, but not identical. It was the European style of the time, apparently.
They actually were the same. Sud licensed the cockpit design from DH.
I understand that is technically the case. I was going by the actual windows of the cockpit, which are similar, but not quite identical. I’m a stickler about little details like that 🙂
Cleveland Hopkins used to have (pre 9-11 days) a cool observation deck. Brookpark Road running west-east to the airport had a neat little dirt mound you could stand on and watch the planes fly right over your head before touching down.
@Brookpark Rd: Been there, done that!
I remember the first time I drove I-480 and had an airplane fly over my head as they approached the airport. I about drove off the road…
I’ll have to pay attention next time I go back, but I think they still have the signs next to the road way that read something about low flying aircraft…
I was in the Albuquerque International Sunport and Chicago O’Hare during this holiday season and I couldn’t help but wonder what it was like when loved ones could sit and wait with you for a plane to take off. My Grandmother used to take us kids out to the Fort Wayne, IN airport and park out on one of the old country roads near by to watch planes flying overhead. (When I lived in Detroit one of the security gards [retired cop] at the school I worked for would talk about parking out by the airport with his dates when he was a younger man. He even owned a van to facilitate things.)
It almost looks like the Alfa is ready to tow out the Caravelle and the stewardess in the door is giving him the thumbs up.
Alfa coupe is nice saw one along with a 65 Tiger and 58 Corvette Xmas day
Dang! It seems that whenever I know the answer, I am too late. And whenever I got to the article early, it’s about something I know nothing about. Oh well…
Surely you mean the observation deck at Friendship Airport, if it was the late sixties.
You’re right, of course. I’ll never forget going home one time and hearing about the name change. What!
Shortly after we moved there, in 1965, United’s fleet of DC-6Bs ruled the place. My favorite part was hearing (and watching) the big radials cough to life, one at a time, no uncommonly with a flame or two from the exhaust.
There was always one TWA 707 sitting there; probably a daily flight to Europe, or? The utilization rate was a lot lower then.
Times change. BWI is 737 Land now, with most of them sporting Southwest’s Caynon Blue livery. Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (say that ten times fast) is by far Southwest’s busiest airport on the East Coast, and their third largest overall.
Long Beach airport still has an observation deck of sorts; a bar/restaurant. This is what you could have witnessed in May 1958, first flight of the DC-8. Not much to see these days aside from JetBlue A320’s and the occasional FedEx DC10.
In 1976-1977, I rented a little house on Palm St. in San Diego, which directly looked out on the airport. San Diego has a pretty intense approach, seemingly right over the rooftops. Every morning, I’d step out on the balcony with my coffee to watch a big National Airlines DC-10 take off to Miami. Thanks to google, I can replicate the view, if a bit fuzzy: looks like a SWA 737 taking off.
The Alfa in the first picture was part of the ‘Team Transavia Holland’ photoshoot. Back in those days Team Transavia Holland raced two Alfa’s 1300 Junior GTA.
http://www.racehistorie.nl/cpz/Team-Transavia-Holland_pag.jpg
At Schiphol Amsterdam airport there’s still a opportunity to watch the incoming and going planes from a observation deck. They even placed a actual airplane (last flying KLM Fokker 100) to visit at the deck.
http://www.noordhollandsdagblad.nl/incoming/article10776481.ece/ALTERNATES/w470/fokker+100.jpg
Our airport (Quad City International) still has an observation deck, but its been enclosed and basically looks like a raised waiting room. However, there’s a great restaurant on the airport property and you can have a steak and breaded baked potato, and watch the flights. The airport’s been trying to buy the property for years, but fortunately, the owner isn’t interested.