In my past SIMs, I've explored the (fascinating) history of BOAC/BEA/BA via various (SIM) aircraft such as B707, B747, Vickers VC-10, DH.106 Comet etc. This post is about a 707 of British Airways, a livery that's included in the add-on repaint pack for Asobo/AH B707. There is however no BOAC livery in this pack which is what I was actually looking for today. BA, as we know it now, is a younger kid around the block...🙂...it just turned 50, quietly without much fanfare, this year (2024) on March 31. However, it must be noted that BA's genetic roots can be actually traced back more than 100 years, to AT&T (No, this has no relation to the AT&T of Alexander Graham Bell's American Telephone and Telegraph (Company)...🙂...), but it stands for Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (airline), which was founded in 1916 and had started service in 1919, from the London borough's Hounslow Heath Aerodrome. So, indeed, the earliest ancestral origin of BA dates back to 1919, 105 years ago. 

BA was founded officially in 1974 from the merger of 4 airlines, of which the two major components were BOAC and BEA. Here, in the context of B707 and this post, it's impossible to speak of BA's 707s without reference to BOAC. Most of the BA's 707s were inherited from BOAC. And BA would fly these 707s for nearly 10 years after its own founding date. This is significant because here are some key dates to take note of:

1. DH.106 Comet (world's first commercial jet) introduced into service (1952)
2. B707 introduced into service (1958)
3. Vickers VC10 introduced into service (1964)
4. B747 introduced into service (1970)
5. British Airways founded (1974)  

So, by the time BA was founded, the iconic B747 was already 4 years into service. However, BA would continue to operate (and find profitability) using a mix of B707s and early 747 variants (-100/-200), that it had inherited from BOAC (BA would start acquiring its own (popular) 747-400s in the 1980s to eventually become the world's largest operator of the type). BOAC got into a bind for the acquisition of the B707s. In the period (1950-1970), nationalism in aviation (on both sides of the Atlantic) was the rule of the day. BOAC, been officially identified as the national flag-carrying airline of Great Britain, its acquisition of American built a/c could not have been an easy task...🙂...considering, in 1952, BOAC was the first airline in the world to introduce passenger jet service with the (British) DH.106 Comet, and in 1964, it was also the first to introduce the (British) Vickers VC10 into service.

So, when, in 1956, BOAC ordered 15 B707s, the aftermath of its bold decision must have sent shockwaves across the regulatory and government authorities...🙂...Anyway, those BOAC ordered B707s entered service in 1960 (for the first time with a British carrier), proving profitable to BOAC, and would eventually make it to British Airways. Profitability or not...BOAC indeed got into a bit of a trouble, "After a row in Parliament..., BOAC was instructed to purchase 17 VC10 a/c from the 30-aircraft order which BOAC had earlier cancelled..."...Oh well...The VC10 was a beautiful and capable a/c, but for one or more reasons, the proof is in history: 54 VC10s vs over 1,000 B707s were eventually ordered and built. BOAC reminds me of Western Airlines, the first major (operating) airline in U.S., which had also introduced the 707 in 1960 (see my Western 707 post). At one point, in 1950s, just as BOAC, Western had got into a dispute with Washington DC, been told by President Eisenhower to buy American-built a/c, to which Western's President had reportedly responded by saying, "Mr. President, you run your country and let me run my airline...!"...🙂...And, today, the economic survivability (mostly) dictates for the airlines if it will be Boeing or Airbus...🙂...So, rather than nationalism-based aviation, financial bottom-line and money talks, as they say...

Please find a set of 20 images of this special B707 (G-AYSL), below, that had actually come to British Airways, not via BOAC, but via Dan Air, and served BA for only 2 years till 1983, when BA retired all its B707s. BA's last recorded B707 flight was from Cairo to Heathrow. So, I've sampled, in this collection of images, a takeoff from Cairo (HECA) over the magical Nile River (spotted in my shot #s 6-7 and a simmering glimpse of it in shot #7), and then the flight across the (desolate and dry) Sahara deserts. The touchdown is into (EGLL) London Heathrow's ILS Rwy 27R (BTW, I now know how to make this airplane autopilot's (LOC/GS) guide me precisely down to the threshold of the Runway...see the cockpit annunciations and my concluding screen shots). The takeoff and touchdown are timed at my favorite times of the day in MSFS...dawn and dusk respectively...🙂...

Hope you enjoy this B707 in the iconic colors of British Airways...and while at it, we (should) wish a Happy (belated) 50th birthday to this airline...🙂...! 

Thanks for viewing...!

Splendid post! Enjoyable reading and viewing.

Fine set, thanks for showing, and a nice lightning by the way..

cheers 😉

Nice set of shots! 😉 

Can't anyone do a Flight Director correctly???  The airplane symbol is orange or white, and the command bars are yellow.  How many cockpit pictures are there on Airliners.net!   Then, we have "V" bar flight director command bars with a split cue flight director airplane symbol! 

I'm saving my money on this one.

Rich Boll

Nice set P_7878, and great backstory as usual.

Shame the wheelnuts (shot three, but you have to look closely) are the wrong thread and size. If I'd noticed that beforehand I'd never have bought this.

 

Cracking set of shots and an interesting journey.  I fly to Sharm-el-Sheikh fairly regularly and very much enjoy flying to destinations in Africa.  Cheers,

Calum

Folks: Thanks for the enthusiastic responses ...!

 

On 11/2/2024 at 9:50 PM, John F said:

Splendid post! Enjoyable reading and viewing.

Glad for your comments, John. It feels like yesterday when you were commenting on my CS 707 posts...🙂...but probably it has been a decade since I last flew and studied the 707 here...🙂... Great fun and nostalgia. Thanks for appreciating this classic jetliner in the new SIM... despite obviously some flaws in the current (SIM) version...

 

On 11/3/2024 at 1:09 AM, pmplayer said:

Fine set, thanks for showing, and a nice lightning by the way..

cheers 😉

Thank you, pmplayer. Yes, the dawn and dusk look marvelous in MSFS. I know you too have experimented with it while flying your jetliners...🙂...

 

22 hours ago, Alaska738 said:

Nice set of shots! 😉 

Will: Appreciated the note and glad you liked .... Cheers ...!

 

19 hours ago, richjb2 said:

Can't anyone do a Flight Director correctly???  The airplane symbol is orange or white, and the command bars are yellow.  How many cockpit pictures are there on Airliners.net!   Then, we have "V" bar flight director command bars with a split cue flight director airplane symbol! 

I'm saving my money on this one.

Rich Boll

Yes, Rich, there are several avionics and other issues that they need to fix here...Hopefully, an update will appear soon. 

 

19 hours ago, andy1252 said:

Nice set P_7878, and great backstory as usual.

Shame the wheelnuts (shot three, but you have to look closely) are the wrong thread and size. If I'd noticed that beforehand I'd never have bought this.

 

Thanks, Andy.

I wish there were a better version around at least at the level of the CS 707 we were all so used to...BTW, you might know that BOAC, whose 707s eventually became the asset of British Airways, had stipulated RR Conway engines for their 707 order with Boeing. This engine type (first ever turbofan jet engine to enter service) also found applications with VC10 and DC-8-40 etc., besides the 707. Ideally, for BOAC/BA 707s, this is the engine that should be simulated...Oh well.... we can always hope for better fidelity for the legacy jetliners (British types included...🙂...) that we're passionate about, but financial objectives will keep premier developers from taking on such classic...Let's see...

 

3 hours ago, CBass said:

Cracking set of shots and an interesting journey.  I fly to Sharm-el-Sheikh fairly regularly and very much enjoy flying to destinations in Africa.  Cheers,

Calum

Thanks much, Calum. Yes, I too enjoy flying in Africa and have flown the northern parts/countries a bit in MSFS. Sharm-el-Sheikh is indeed a very interesting destination...at least geographically...Cheers...!

4 hours ago, P_7878 said:

...but financial objectives will keep premier developers from taking on such classic

I'm afraid of that, too, P_7878. My other favorite is the DC 8, which I think will also never see the light in MSFS.

Great story and shots btw.

On 11/4/2024 at 3:59 PM, bernd1151 said:

I'm afraid of that, too, P_7878. My other favorite is the DC 8, which I think will also never see the light in MSFS.

Great story and shots btw.

Thank you, bernd. Appreciated...! If it were not for you and jankees...🙂...around here, we would not be seeing many classics flying in MSFS, despite the limitations of the conversion process. In our earlier SIMs, passionate freeware contributors like Manfred Jahn, Milton Shupe, David Maltby et al. provided a/c that we enjoyed, expanding the horizon of our hobby, when the premier developers would not take on such a/c or did bits much later on...these folks filled the void for us in this category...Not sure why we don't see some of that here already.

Yes, Aerosoft had a good rendition of one of the DC-8 models, including an excellent INS simulation, but I don't think we'll see that a/c soon enough in MSFS ...keeping fingers crossed still...Cheers ...!

Great set P_7878, shows your oldtimer very well.

On 11/9/2024 at 10:17 PM, P_7878 said:

Yes, Aerosoft had a good rendition of one of the DC-8 models

Have that one in P3d and i will do some shots later but before they bring it to msfs they should better improve some bugs.

It looks good but there are some issues with the autopilot, altitude hold and so on. 

On 11/11/2024 at 4:28 PM, andiflyit said:

Great set P_7878, shows your oldtimer very well.

Have that one in P3d and i will do some shots later but before they bring it to msfs they should better improve some bugs.

It looks good but there are some issues with the autopilot, altitude hold and so on. 

Yes, Andreas, it was not perfect, but a decent one for us DC-8 lovers.... We wish Aerosoft could tackle that one for MSFS...just a wish...🙂...Once I discarded my FSX/SE, that DC-8 went with it ...🙂...