03-28-2017, 01:46 PM
It was early in the morning in Toronto Canada as the jet bridge disconnected and the tug pushed the plane into position. Soon after the howling noise of the jet age started as one after the other 4 Rolls-Royce Conway engines spun to live. Next up the communication started:
"Tempest 102 to tower ready for departure."
"Tower to Tempest 102 affirmative, follow the Air Canada A321 right in front of you."
"Tempest 102 copies, following the Air Canada A321."
The noise from the engines got even louder and higher in pitch and soon the Vickers Commercial super 10 started to move following the much younger and much quieter A321.
Not much later she was on the runway and the engine spooled up to full strength, the breaks released and white water vapor from the injection showed as she started to barrel down the runway. 06R/24L was the shortest runway available not the one one would expect to be used by a international flight, but the VC10 came from an other era and well the water injection helped a bit to as she achieved lift off well clear of the end and the whining noise slowly subsided as she started her steep climb to reduce the noise impact to those on the ground as much as possible. Sadly not all people appreciate the wonderful sound track of the Conway engine. Flight AI 103 from YYZ to LHR was fully underway and would land just over 6 hours later around 2000 local time.
Aboard the plane things where business as usual, the 3 flight attended looked after 115 passengers aboard starting by handing out drinks and snacks once the plane had leveled off on it's course. Inside the cabin it was impossible to notice one was aboard a 50 year old plane, in fact thinking that one had found themselves aboard a science fiction space ship was more likely. The glossy whites, blues, teals and greens just made it look very futuristic. Up front there where the 8 first class pods all 8 of which were occupied, behind that where the 24 luxury business class seats of which only 1 was empty, following future to the back where 24 premium economy class seats and finally 60 normal economy class seats both of these classes where also fully occupied. The staff all wore the same style uniform mostly white with a teal center color and male and female both was just trousers and long sleeve shirt. Their service was excellent and fast having been well trained and very familiar with the plane they served out the drinks and snacks requested by each passenger before launch, this was it saved them the time of asking each passenger what they wanted.
In the cockpit things where however a clear return to the jet age, not 2, but 3 people called here the office for the day, captain, co-pilot and flight engineer all where needed to keep the 50 year old plane flying smoothly. The raw mechanical nature of the beast was clear here, this was not a fly by wire plane let alone fly by light with arrays of computers handling all their needs. This was actually flying and perhaps that is why it drew a certain mix of people, the captain was a former Royal Air Force pilot, the co-pilot was a young kid who just wanted to fly something by hand and the flight engineer ought to have been retired, but even with a gun to his head one would not be able to get him away from his job and well as long as he can do it, why not.
This is the nature of flights aboard the Tempest fleet, planes from a age long gone and past kept in operation just because and still flying commercial routes to this day. Some people will hate them for the noise they make, others will love that fact and in the end anyone that flies onboard them tends to come back for there is just no plane like her and no airline as dedicated to keep them flying despite all the odds against them. As the airlines founder and owner states, "I call this the Andromeda Initiative because it is foolish in many ways, but I love it and so do all who work here and it is that feeling that keeps it going."
"Tempest 102 to tower ready for departure."
"Tower to Tempest 102 affirmative, follow the Air Canada A321 right in front of you."
"Tempest 102 copies, following the Air Canada A321."
The noise from the engines got even louder and higher in pitch and soon the Vickers Commercial super 10 started to move following the much younger and much quieter A321.
Not much later she was on the runway and the engine spooled up to full strength, the breaks released and white water vapor from the injection showed as she started to barrel down the runway. 06R/24L was the shortest runway available not the one one would expect to be used by a international flight, but the VC10 came from an other era and well the water injection helped a bit to as she achieved lift off well clear of the end and the whining noise slowly subsided as she started her steep climb to reduce the noise impact to those on the ground as much as possible. Sadly not all people appreciate the wonderful sound track of the Conway engine. Flight AI 103 from YYZ to LHR was fully underway and would land just over 6 hours later around 2000 local time.
Aboard the plane things where business as usual, the 3 flight attended looked after 115 passengers aboard starting by handing out drinks and snacks once the plane had leveled off on it's course. Inside the cabin it was impossible to notice one was aboard a 50 year old plane, in fact thinking that one had found themselves aboard a science fiction space ship was more likely. The glossy whites, blues, teals and greens just made it look very futuristic. Up front there where the 8 first class pods all 8 of which were occupied, behind that where the 24 luxury business class seats of which only 1 was empty, following future to the back where 24 premium economy class seats and finally 60 normal economy class seats both of these classes where also fully occupied. The staff all wore the same style uniform mostly white with a teal center color and male and female both was just trousers and long sleeve shirt. Their service was excellent and fast having been well trained and very familiar with the plane they served out the drinks and snacks requested by each passenger before launch, this was it saved them the time of asking each passenger what they wanted.
In the cockpit things where however a clear return to the jet age, not 2, but 3 people called here the office for the day, captain, co-pilot and flight engineer all where needed to keep the 50 year old plane flying smoothly. The raw mechanical nature of the beast was clear here, this was not a fly by wire plane let alone fly by light with arrays of computers handling all their needs. This was actually flying and perhaps that is why it drew a certain mix of people, the captain was a former Royal Air Force pilot, the co-pilot was a young kid who just wanted to fly something by hand and the flight engineer ought to have been retired, but even with a gun to his head one would not be able to get him away from his job and well as long as he can do it, why not.
This is the nature of flights aboard the Tempest fleet, planes from a age long gone and past kept in operation just because and still flying commercial routes to this day. Some people will hate them for the noise they make, others will love that fact and in the end anyone that flies onboard them tends to come back for there is just no plane like her and no airline as dedicated to keep them flying despite all the odds against them. As the airlines founder and owner states, "I call this the Andromeda Initiative because it is foolish in many ways, but I love it and so do all who work here and it is that feeling that keeps it going."