Royal Air Force Film. Thursdays Comet (1966)

A journey from RAF Lyneham to the Far East aboard Transport Command`s 'Thursday Comet' with stopovers in Bahrain,Gan and Singapore.This film was recorded in 1966,I hope that you enjoy it. Thanks for watching and Subscribing.#planespotting #royalairforce #classicaircraft #planespotting #britisharmedforces #royalairforceuk #history

[@MrDastardly]

A fascinating film. When Britain had an aircraft industry & Hong Kong was free to think.

[@thomasm1964]

I was born there. Travelled out in a Bristol Britannia inside Mum (long story involving the IRA). Flew back - also in a Bristol Britannia - three years later. I can still remember walking out onto the apron and staring up at what then seemed to me to be a monstrous aircraft. I'v been to the one in Duxford and it looks tiny to me now. My dad also did two tours in Cyprus so we flew from Brize Norton to Akrotiri in a VC-10. As a child at boarding school, I flew a lot in VC-10s. Beautiful aircraft.

[@AAO342]

The Comet IV is such a beautiful aircraft . Great video as always .

[@joluqamalta2815]

Thanks a lot!

[@tobyraffles]

Interesting video from a time when we did have an Air Force,

[@derekshreeve5928]

Can't thank you enough for posting this. As a 6yr old (in Malta) and a 10yr old (in Singapore - we lived right at the end of the runway at Changi), Hastings, Argosies, Comets, Beverleys, Britannias, Shackletons et al were an almost constant presence. Love all of your videos but this one in particular has brought back so many memories.

[@joluqamalta2815]

Thanks for your comment.

[@mwd331]

This is an incredible piece of historical footage, amazing!

[@joluqamalta2815]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@BillHughes-wt5ud]

I flew from Aden to Lyneham via Malta in a RAF Transport Command Comet 4 in 1963 best flight ever on the world’s safest airline.

[@kennethgrindrod6438]

Good memories of flying abroad as a kid on the RAF aircraft back in the 50/60,s with my parent,s Singapore,Bahrain,Aden and Malta

[@conned]

There were bases with Lightning,SeaKing,..I spent my youth in em...kallan n seletar air bases,as I remembered

[@martinnuman1097]

Jo Luqa - your videos are always excellent. Thank you for posting.

[@joluqamalta2815]

Many thanks!

[@richardwilliams7668]

Wonderful memories serving at raf Lyneham working on the hercules, comets and britannias😊

[@AbandonedClassicsOne]

Fascinating! Three years later I took my first flight in an RAF VC10. Brize Norton to Cyprus to Gan to Singapore. This video might be the closest I’ll get to knowing more about that flight - when I was six. Thanks for posting!

[@joluqamalta2815]

Thanks for following!

[@AKawalski]

do you remember that you were sitting backwards?

[@AbandonedClassicsOne]

@@AKawalski Truthfully don't remember that though I do know it's common on military transports

[@AKawalski]

@@AbandonedClassicsOne all good my friend! Happy to know you had that experience. Thanks for replying…

[@user-gp9vk8he5g]

Loved those times served 1968 until 1990 on four continents how lucky were we.

[@AlphaPenComputers]

Hi Jo. You have an excellent YT Channel. As an "RAF Brat" I got to fly in these aircraft as a passenger. My father, ex WWII Bomber Command & then Transport Command, got to fly them all. The Hastings in particular was quite an aircraft however sitting in the back of a Beverley for many hours was an experience. Made an overnight stop in Luqa with the base full of Canberras & Shackletons. Very fond memories of ancient times... Mike in the UK.

[@joluqamalta2815]

Thanks for your comment.

[@richardstone5813]

Strangely enjoyed my flights in Hercules from Lyneham. Although the Akrotiri, Bahrain, Columbo ending up with aiming at the red chequer board, and the dramatic low level starboard turn to Kai Tak, Hong Kong took which about 30 hours in parachute seats was a bit hard on the ears and seat! Happy days!

[@AKawalski]

My right turn base leg was more comfortable than yours, but I love your version. Different times…

[@maxwellfan55]

Always felt in VERY safe hands flying with the RAF, even with props crossing the Atlantic in a thunderstorm. In peacetime, anyway!

[@markpriestley7884]

Worked on Nimrod in the RAF what a Aircraft did so much above and beyond the call of duty. Now we have a 737 say no more

[@StefanMochnacki]

Oops... he got on a Comet 4C, and got off a Britannia! Terrific clips of Britain's 1950s and 1960s aircraft and RAF activities. An amazing array of different planes.

[@scroggins100]

HI Jo, Love your vids. This one reminds me of how busy transport command used to get. Its amazing the memories these old vids trigger. I can remember those paper cups with the RAF Wings on them. And the route maps with the position in flight the Nav sent around the passengers..Mind you the box lunches were ruddy awful on Hercs.. Yeah... memories of when we had a RAF to be proud of.. Now its as big as a posh flying club... sad.

[@joluqamalta2815]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@AKawalski]

Tragic my friend, I despair.

[@simongray8019]

Amazing to think that those Comet 4c's ended up flying for Dan Air

[@davidantill6949]

In that case, I may have flown on the aircraft in this video 😊

[@peterhubbard1938]

WOW!! This brught back many happy memories for me. I was stationed at RAF Changi in 1959/62 and worked as a mechanic at SASS, Staging Aircraft Servicing Section, where every flight of Comets and Britannias from the UK landed as well as every other visiting aircraft. It was a very great feeling welcoming all the new arrivals as well as saying your farewells to those returning home. Seeing the Hastings at Changi was also very poignant, as they, 48 Sdn shared the same dispersal as SASS and I had a number of friends that worked there. I like to say that I did not fly out to Singapore with the RAF, but by a chartered Britannia belonging to Hunting Clan and we landed at Paya Lebar Airport,

[@joluqamalta2815]

Glad that you enjoyed it,Thanks for visiting.

[@chrisweeks6973]

This takes me back and thank you for posting! I flew out on a British Eagle Airways Britannia trooping flight from LHR via Bahrain and Colombo to Paya Lebar in 1965, then by Hasting to Labuan, Borneo. Did supply drops from the Beverley. With those two types plus Argosy, Single and TwinPin, Canberra, Shackleton, Hunter, RAAF Sabre, Whirlwind and Wessex plus a Belfast, it was a busy little base. 👍

[@PercyPruneMHDOIFandBars]

Right at the end, with the Hastings, is a Javelin!! 😁

[@atp6064]

Departed on a Comet and disembarked from a Britannia in Bahrain!

[@AKawalski]

Exactly!

[@PercyPruneMHDOIFandBars]

Change at Kings Cross! 😉

[@atp6064]

Departed on a Comet and disembarked from a Britannia in Bahrain

[@nosferatu8293]

Thank you for posting these and I keep looking for my Father as he served in the RAF from '52 to '74. Great to watch when being British meant we could hold our heads up high.

[@PhreddCrintt]

SO many memories.

[@joluqamalta2815]

Thanks for following!

[@robertcombs55]

This is the year I got married!! 2 years later I was in Vietnam; which was no fun at all...lol

[@alanpearce1753]

Memories, had to wear a suit, first time out the country V.C ten an route Salalaha

[@shirleydrury5565]

Thank you my friend for this upload.😊👍👍😊

[@joluqamalta2815]

Thanks for visiting

[@rod4095]

This was great

[@joluqamalta2815]

👍👍👍

[@allandavis8201]

I think the service that passengers got from the RAFTC was better than any civilian airline because the personnel, wherever they were posted, had a vested interest in making sure that everything was done properly, from the groundcrew all through the system to the pilots etc because they flew on the same aircraft as everyone else, as did their families and friends, showing the RAF how it used to be, in my time as RAF groundcrew I flew a number of times in the aircraft that I had been involved with, from flight line servicing to in depth 2nd line maintenance and I never had a qualm about their safety, the abilities and experience of the aircrew could never be questioned or equaled by their civilian counterparts, the service onboard was excellent and the stewards/stewardesses (cabin crew) were always very nice and friendly, even when they had flown the same route for extended periods of time, the best were on the Tristar and especially when we and they were on the homeward bound leg of a trip, probably because they knew how long the pax had been away from home and that they were going to be on stand-down when we all got back to Blighty. I can’t say how things are in today’s RAF things have changed and probably not for the better, I could be wrong but when I left the RAF in 2003 the only regular places they went to were Afghanistan and Iraq, and not forgetting the Falkland Islands of course, but 21 years later I can only imagine how the Service has changed, just as it had during my time, from 1979-2003 the changes that occurred were huge, but necessary and I do not regret a moment of my time serving in the best Air Force in the world, small in number, huge in ability and experience, and I do realise that many many people will disagree with me but that doesn’t bother me, in fact, DILLIGAF, and if you don’t understand that then you have never served in the British military (and other countries military might understand it). Thanks for sharing this wonderful short documentary, and even though it was made before my time I could imagine my dad in Bahrain, Aden and Singapore, and from what he told me growing up he would never have changed a single minute of his service either. Thanks again, massive thumbs up 👍. Per Ardua Ad Astra. Lest We Forget. P.S, I think that besides WWII the next most important factor in Great Britain 🇬🇧 failing as an empire was that we tried to turn overseas territories into mini versions of the west lifestyle, and that is something that, at the time, was not what the local population wanted, they just wanted to be left alone to live how they had for centuries.

[@joluqamalta2815]

Thanks for your interesting comment sir!

[@allandavis8201]

@@joluqamalta2815 Hi there, you are welcome, I have been watching your videos for a long time and I love the variety and quality, and they give me a chance to put my experiences and thoughts down on paper (figuratively speaking), so thank you for giving me that opportunity. 😀👍🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇲🇹🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱

[@PercyPruneMHDOIFandBars]

So he's taking a kip on a Comet that sounds like a Britannia! I wondered where "Airplane!" got that joke from! 😂

[@JohnSmith-ei2pz]

RAF Changi another base lost!