| | Dear Sirs. I was blessed to be able to fly home for demob in G-APNA, from Cyprus to London Airport, leaving Nicosia at 21-50 Cypriot time, on 15th January 1960, and arriving London at 02-10 London time 16th, in 6hrs 20 mins. The plane that was normally used was a DC4B, which would take 10 hrs each way, and every morning was on the tarmac at the same time, apart from one day per week. I did not look forward to that, so was very pleased to see the Britannia turn up. As a Bristolian, I had seen many of these in the air around here, so thay had a special place in my heart. The plane was in Hunting Clan colours, and the company kindly sent me an excellent quality black and white A5 size photo, which I still have. Joan Reagan, a well-known singer of the period, got off the plane and I saw the back of her as she walked towards the teminal. We then were allowed on. I went through the front door on the port side, and chose the single seat ( facing rearwards if I recall correctly), and the propeller was in full view. The outward journey was my first flight, in a Hastings, and we took eight and a half hours to reach Malta, with a thunderstorm over Sardinia, and another six hours or so to Nicosia. Several RAF Britannia's came to both Nicosia and Akrotiri during my service there. They were brand new planes at the time. I hope this is of interest to your readers. Kind regards. David. |
by Rigo VDB @ EBBR
by Peter Nicholson @ CVT