Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Air transport in the 1970s - Ansett L188 Electra

Ansett L188 Electra 76_918 by gtveloce
Ansett L188 Electra 76_918, a photo by gtveloce on Flickr.
Excuse the blur but it was hand-held after dusk!! Point is that it's an L188 Electra, one-time workhorse for TAA and Ansett, forced to serve out its days carrying cargo at night. Sydney then (as now) had a curfew on jets so "quieter" prop-driven aircraft did the night-time shifts. It extended the life of this Ansett Electra, which was retired from passenger duties in the early 1970s.

I remember both TAA and Ansett Electras swooping in from the south, joining the 16 approach quite late, over Marrickville or even Sydenham in order to 'nip in' before a bigger jet. They often soared over my head, one following the other in the 2-airline parallel timetable days.

This particular shot was taken in 1976, close to final retirement from the fleet.

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