They looked like something out of the Soviet Union! I much prefer today's BA livery, and for that matter every BA livery!

Are you for real or a bot? Life for colonial people in the 1950s was deeply rough and dangerous at the hands of the retreating Brits. In Kenya where you were thousands were killed as a result of British atrocities at the time this film was made. Shame on you for forgetting and misremembering.

Back then, air travel was mostly for the wealthy. And the world was NOT 'much more civilized'. There was far more poverty and misery in the world. Just one example was the Chinese 'Great Leap Forward', which began in 1958. Resulting in the starvation deaths of tens of millions of people over the next 4 years. Even in the West, things were hardly 'much more civilized'. Women still were treated as second-class citizens. And racism/prejudice of visible minorities was far, FAR worse than it is today. Your chances of economic prosperity if you were a single female or a visible minority were slim. And this is besides the gigantic increases in technology since then - in the medical field alone. Yes, if you were a 'white', middle-class-and-up dude? Things were probably better in terms of relative power and safety. But for the vast majority of humanity? Both inside and outside of the West? The world was a much worse place back then as compared to today. ☮

I blame low cost travel. I was born mid-80s and had my first flight mid-90s. Back then we could only afford to fly once every couple of years. But it was such a pleasure. People dressed up. Food was good. Legroom was good. The plane was always 50% full, but people were respectful. Now all the riffraff can fly and it's like a nasty bus service. Also staff were better. Years ago flight attendants were university educated. Now it's anyone who can introduce themselves in English and swim 20 metres.

Stratocruisers were a very dangerous aircraft by modern standards suffering 13 hull losses out of 59 built costing 139 lives! But them's were the days eh!

Ruined by cheesy "music".

Flying is a lot safer these days than it was when this film was made. Personally I rate safety over glamour.

@@jekanyika dont forget the noise and air pollutants.

@@martinxavier4631 Indeed.

It's better nowadays in first class

Rubbish - flying was relatively dangerous compared to today, hugely expensive and very uncomfortable as prop planes couldn't climb above the weather as today's jets do. Take your rose tinted specs off Richy!

Air travel then was much more expensive and less safe than the present day. You can get dressed up if you like, but I doubt that you will.

so is traveling in a car as today as opposed to about the same time period. while no doubt it is safer today with all the hi tech...since I did work for a major airline...I know this....the quality of people has fallen to bus class,something I am sure you fit into with no problem. as for dressing decently to travel via airliner...you will not find me in your favorite baggy wrinkled shorts,flip flops and stinking backpack. by the way did you enjoy the dc7-c back when it was fun to fly?? I really liked it a lot better than the starliner,did you???

I would bet you don't don't know shit about one propliner from the other...

You get a huge middle finger. In fact, I'm using both hands. I worked for the Boeing Co. as an engineer for many years. I'd put my knowledge up against yours anytime.

have you been brain dead very long?

Thxs

Turbo prop is a jet!

Mani Menon my father worked on ground staff Parkside brings back great memories many thanks

My father used to tow these aircraft when working on ground crew we lived in Houndslow West then. Great stuff thank you. What memories

Watched the "Whispering giant" land and take off at Ringway (Manchester) many times. Although the Comet had great lines and design plus the 707 was favoured by BOAC it's interesting the successor engines are now increasingly those of the jet prop design.

@@geoffreycodnett6570 employees of BOAC loved the Comet and especially the VC10, although I can't say much about the first Comets but I heard the engines use to put people to tears including the stewardesses with engine noise at the rear, this wasn't so much the truth until some of the semi-retired started handling BAC-111s and and the very old Viscounts which could deafen a whole national park. The VC10 with every mention has never had a bad thing said against it.

AIR TRANSPORT OF RADIOActive ISOTOPES* T RAVELLERS leaving Britain by air in the last two or three years may have seen large packages mysteriously labelled "to be kept 3 feet (0'914 metres) from persons and livestock, and 9 feet (2·743 metres) from undeveloped photographic film." To the initiated this cryptic message conveyed the information that the package contained radioactive isotopes from Britain's Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, Berkshire, and the warning was necessary because of weak rays emitted by the material, despite a heavy protective coating of sheet lead. Those who have never noticed such packages have lost their chance to do so, at least on the South African air route, for a new method of transport has now been worked out which will make such radioactive materials far more freely available.l The transport of these radio-isotopes has two major difficulties. In the first place their radiation must at all times be carefully shielded, as above a certain level it is dangerous to man and all living animals. Secondly, the majority have a comparatively short life; their radioactivity often disappears quickly so that if they are to be used at any great distance from the atomic pile in which they are made, rapid transport-which in effect means' transport by air if any great distance is to be covered-is essential. As Britain is now supplying these radio-isotopes throughout Europe and in many other parts of the world this vital problem of transport has received great attention. In the case of some isotopes the question of a container presents no difficulty. Radiophosphorus emits only a weak radiation, which is absorbed by less than half an inch of wood. This isotope is, therefore, easily transported in light wooden boxes. In the case of radio-iodine, however, the matter is absolutely different. The radiation from this is powerful and dangerous and to make it harmless to the passengers and crew of an aircraft, when carried in the ordinary • Abridged from a.n article by Trevor WUllams, Deputy Editor of the quarterly scientific magazine EruJ.eavou'l (London). 1. HaJUday, E. 0., and Alper, T. "Low-cost air trans· port of radio-active substances to South Africa." Nature, Vol. 166, pp. 110-111, July 15, 1950. South African Journal of Science 263 luggage compartment., a lead-shielded container weighing no less than 25 pounds (11'340 kilograms) is needed for a small consignment. Radio-sodium, too, is equally difficult. Transport of even a small quantity of this from London to Cape Town demanded such a weighty container that the freight rate was about £70. This impasse suggested attempting to safeguard passengers not by lead-shielding the material in the body of the plane but by keeping it at a distance. The wing span of the D.C.4 aircraft which South African Airways use for this service is more than 100 feet (30·479 metres) and tests showed that if it was put in the wing-tips even a substantial quantity of radio·sodium could be carried without danger to the passengers or crew. The great danger of the s~bstances if not carefully handled, however, made much further research necessary before a technique was developed which provided for safety in all the hazards to which aircraft may be subject. This technique is now perfected, however, and already substantial quantities of urgently needed radioisotopes are being carried to South Africa in wing-tip containers. The containers are provided with a warning red lid. Shortly before the aircraft leaves, the radioactive material is carried out to it, packed in a brass tube enclosed in a heavy lead pot. Quickly the brass tube is lifted out with a long hooked stick and lowered into the compartment in the wingtip which is lined with sponge.rubber. At the other end this routine is reversed. Special precautions have been devised to protect passengers and crew in the event of any deviation from the normal routine of flight. If a man climbs on the wing to superintend refuelling he runs no risk unless he stays an inordinately long time. If the aircraft is delayed no action is taken for the first 24 hours. If the delay is longer, or repair work has to be done on the wing itself, the container is carefully hooked out and transferred to a relief plane or carried to an unfrequented part of the airfield. In the event of a serious crash, salvage parties are instructed to hook out the brass container and bury it not less than 2 feet (0·610 metres) deep. This will give adequate permanent shielding to consignments of low activities; consignments of high activity will automatically lose their activity within a short time. April 1951

So you got free air travel as a family perk? My family could never afford to fly in the 1960s! I could only afford it once charter airlines - you know the crap stuff - came along and then wide bodies. Then us oiks could get a look in!

@@peterm7548 Not as much as you might think and not as much as I wanted. My mom hated flying, so we didn't fly very much. But, it was Wonderful when we did. I'm former USAF and a pilot myself. Yes I loved it as a kid, but not much these "mentally sick people" days... Best Regards

​​@@peterm7548 I have to agree with you. Commercial aviation up to the mid 1970's was a mixture of state subsidised extravagance catering for the elite customers and the posh boys who got jobs flying and ATC and the posh girls who got jobs as hosts. In 1996 a British Airways senior stewardess,I met, was making £100,000 pa - then - !and dished out endless free flights

@@toonmag50 My Dad was a BOAC exec from 1960 onwards and we flew everywhere in the 60's. he stayed in the airline industry and rose to the top. He was a chartered accountant and nearly transferred to becoming a pilot.

It still is, as British Airways. BA is a conglomerate created by uniting BOAC with BEA, British United, and British Caledonian. This did not happen overnight but over decades.

gunsaway1 brilliant footage and one he'll of an airline

gunsaway1

Lost its way long ago. Now an IAG company and was always never a supporter of UK or European aircraft. Favoured London above all other airports and still does.

Or Winnebago sized passengers….

I prefer comfy and laid back but to each his own.

Still is a pleasure to fly, but it's so routine now, it doesn't have the "glamour"of the 1950s/1960s,

But few could afford to do it.

Maybe but horrendously expensive.

Depends from how you view it. Back then long range would have taken ages with several refueling stops - Cruising altitudes were way lower than today with more turbulence flying through weather and air sickness was a result of that. The equipment back then was loud as hell with alot of mechanical vibration going on, so it`s all with an up- and downside.

No it wasn't! these old aircraft flew in the weather, not above like now, and lots of people were air sick! Yuk!

Apparently then known as 'Leaky Linda' or something, then scrapped by 1968 with relatively low hours. Interesting history!

I think the Comet was one of the most beautiful man made objects ever created, a rival for Concorde.

@@AL_THOMAS ". . . ever created. ." Really? ?

@@AL_THOMAS I beg to differ..

@@ChrisCokeRobinson fair enough. Why? What brought you to a video of the Comet?

@@adhoc9647 yes. That’s why I wrote it. I think it’s beautiful. Some beg to differ. It would be boring if everyone thought the same things were beautiful.

Very different! Today it's like everyone flies Conair. Sad very sad

tricky dick still cool though

Flying back then wasnt as good as it looked Jet engines made it smoother and faster The propeller engines vibrating the plane for 13 hours over the Atlantic? Or a smooth 8 hours? I know what my choice would be

@@Keithbarber yeah I know that. I'd rprobably take modern air travel over the one in the olden days but there was just this aesthetic and glamor that's just not there today

Kind of does, though to me, it gives off more the impression of being in a rush.. panicking, late.... (Going to the airport)

Look up Frank Cordell, the composer of this soundtrack. An interesting life. The style of music was pretty groovy for its time, but admittedly pretty weird-sounding now.

Nahh Tom and jerry

@@aka-invisible5666 🤣

@@aka-invisible5666 hehe that's quite true!!

Yes, the story is true, I was an air-steward with BOAC and remember this incident. I could tell you many weird and wonderful stories of those days, I was sometimes called as steward on a freighter where I only looked after, fed and watered the flight deck crew, there was a tiny cabin behind the flight deck for me to work, and on one occasion share with a dead body in a coffin that had arrived too late to be stowed in the main hold, it came in handy to 'lay out' the meal trays on for the flight deck as table space was extremely short. Tales of some of the antics the crews sometimes got up to overseas would make your hair stand on end.

@@stu3245 Great to hear this corroborated thanks,it was a Britannia,and love the coffin anecdote, very handy that must have been. Maybe not on a Brit, but I heard of a head of cabin crew who was narrowly saved during a safety drill when a door liferaft was accidentally actuated into the cabin, pressing him to the ceiling, and the cockpit axe was used to save him from choking.

Yes. I recall the incident. My father was with BOAC from 1946 until retirement in 1980. In London, Karachi, Lagos, Bahrain, Baghdad, Rangoon, Perth & Sydney.

@@stu3245 Also,on the Africa run: Tense encounter with Nigerian govt troops at Kano trying to get hold of Biafran steward during the civil war, and aborted landing at Khartoum to avoid camel caravan crossing rhe runway.

Or the engines were low budget versions off the Air Terranean's Fireflash and ran on nuclear fuel too :D

You're not wrong, but... remember the Vickers Viscount / Vanguard flew for BEA, not for BOAC... (afaik)

No

George!

Actually that is my late father F/E James Palmer. Sadly he passed away on 1st December 1996.

@@Man_from_UNCLE fair enough - he looks like Brian Murphy though

Unnecessary obscene language.

They were stowages for coats, hats and soft items only, putting bags there was not allowed.

Of course it would but these were the aviation equivalents of sailing ships. Very primitive aircraft compared to today.

Yeah...but then they serve you bottle caps

They only lasted from 1952 to 1954 (I think) due to reliability issues.

​@@louiejonesponation They were withdrawn in 1954 and returned in 1958, but by then the 707 had gained the lead.

According the credits at the end it's William Franklyn whose name rings a bell but perhaps others out there can tell me who he was................

@@Man_from_UNCLE He did the Schweppes ads voiceovers form 1965-73! "Schhh.. .you know who"!