If I were to sum up the entire undertaking of this blog in a single photograph, this is, basically, exactly what I'm talking about.
A grey sky day with a light cover of clouds moving off, suggesting the shoulder of the rainy season. A Pan American Boeing 707 Clipper on the apron at Robertsfield, some time between about 1965 and 1975, most likely. Almost certainly originating at Idlewild/JFK the previous evening, and probably having stopped in Dakar earlier that morning. The stairway is down, but people are standing about in anticipation, almost as though the passengers have yet to deplane. The Clipper Service will continue, perhaps jumping to Accra or Lagos, or both, depending on the year and the day of service, and onward to a great combination of independence-era African cities: Douala, Kinshasa, even as far as Johannesburg.
The aircraft in the picture is not a Boeing 707. It is a Douglas DC-8. I know, I was there flying RC-130's for the USAF and I later flew these DC-8's after Delta Air Lines bought them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Daniel. Well-spotted.
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