I always look back to BRU with some kind of pleasure. Nearly each visit in the Seventies was "spiced"
with some nice stories to tell, be it going to the loo with a sub-machinegun in our back after being
"rounded-up" again by the police outside the wooden fence next to 25L or being told that we should go
to Cologne to photograph aircraft and to stay away from BRU. Well, fortunately the attitude towards
aircraft spotters has changed somewhat during the last 40 years. At least, we feel being tolerated nowadays..
But let`s start with some pics:
OO-SRD on a winter`s morning.
Sobelair had this ex Luxair 707 in its inventory
Trying to feed the hungry (and maybe the greedy ones, too), TR-LOX operated into Biafra for some time
Those DC-10s of SN were very difficult to catch. One had to hope for some delay to get them during daylight.
Sometimes those guys from the rampcontrol took us out onto the apron. This visit produced OO-SJO with a Nigeria A/W sticker.
So, thank you guys if one of you happens to read this post. I still remember one unpleasant visit to the upstairs office of
Mr. van Cuyck when we had to apologise for some kind of misbehaviour on the tarmac..
Abnd a B707-329 with "straight pipes"
The B747s were easier to get, coming in from New York and Canada in the morning
Then the B737s were delivered to replace la belle Caravelle. OO-SBD is still sporting a staight cheatline shortly after delivery.
helping OO-SBP (Common Market Commuter) was its stablemate, OO-SCA in different colours
Not very successful was the lease to T.A.R of France. Thanks to a very kind VW-Bus driver of SABENA who took us out to the plane
after finally getting sick from our begging and probably to get rid of us..
Then there was TEA, here a whole bunch of their B720s
and there were a few B737s
That was the only time I met a 737 with a new color-sceme
and another variation
This was our mount on the scheduled service from Antwerp, the fare war 20 German Marks return.
A very pleasing trip!
And one of their DC-6Bs at BRU
VGB
They even aspired to the aquisition of this ex United B720-022
G-HIHO was stored at BRU for a while after Highland Express had closed down
This ex LH B707-430 was a nice surprise
After landing in OO-VDF, we foolishly turned our attention to the two stored DC-6 of BASCO instead of turning
to the other side, namely the cargo ramp. After take-off back to Antwerp and to our car, we realized there was
a DC-8F of Air Centrafricaine parked on the cargo ramp. Of course, it was gone by the time we arrived
from Antwerp in our car!
And there was Air Congo or later Air Zaire with its DC-10s
And the cream of the crop was this 747, actually ex N747PA on lease to Air Zaire
Down in size, a surprise visitor (we had to sneak through the cargo-shed to get this picture)
QC 27
A leftover from SABENA
Thanks to the Havendienst, we managed this Maersk B707B with a tiny Nigerian sticker
Aeroamerica B720 had a little delay because of the dense fog, on its way to Berlin (delivery flight)
In front of the cargo-shed again...
Fresh from repaint, the tail was hidden behind those old brick-buildings, fortunately the fence then was
not too difficult to "manage".Later the 707 appeared at FRA with light blue titles.
The routine visitor from Canada
This 727 then belonged to ITT
And far away from home ist this B707
And a nice one from those good old days
That`s all, folks. I hope the authorities do not mind any longer when we had to make "ends meet" to get
a decent picture of the object of desire! Mostly, our (then) strange hobby met with disbelief and mistrust.
But there were some moments when a very helpful and understanding fellow showed up an gave us a helping hand.
So, many thanks to those guys (who may still remember these four crazy guys from Aachen) and to Mr. van Cuyck as
well. I hope he ist still well and alive (he must be over 80 now).
Greetings to BRU
Diddi
