All
68 Votes
(4.82 Average)
and
29,377 Views
 |
|
Boeing 707-100 (N702PA)
Pan American's "Clipper Hotspur" (N702PA, a Boeing 707) is seen in this scan of a 47-year-old Polaroid snapshot as passengers are boarding at Fiumicino-Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (Rome, Italy) for a flight to Ankara, Turkey.
I did the very best editing that I could with this photo. It was taken on a Polaroid camera, and this print is almost a half-century old. Anyone who knows about Polaroid pictures knows they printed instantly. To still have any type of image at all after 47 years of exposure to light is rather amazing. This is a color picture, but it was so badly faded and color-distorted that I finally gave up on trying to salvage it as a color photo and I simply converted it to black & white.
I snapped this picture in March or April of 1969 at Rome (Italy) Fiumicino International Airport. This was a stop on my PAA flight from New York to Ankara (Turkey) while I was enroute to my first duty assignment in Trabzon, Turkey.
Comments
perfect Gary.I've never seen a 707 original. At this time i was living in Eastern Germany. Zero Chance to see such plane!!
Near my old hometown we've had an russian airbase. There where Mig 19 and Mig 21. I will never forget the Sound of an Mig 21 engine. Soft like the new engine of the Dreamliner.And often the Supersonic Booms of this Jets. Fantastic!!
50 jears away.
Near my old hometown we've had an russian airbase. There where Mig 19 and Mig 21. I will never forget the Sound of an Mig 21 engine. Soft like the new engine of the Dreamliner.And often the Supersonic Booms of this Jets. Fantastic!!
50 jears away.
One of the reasons why I finally decided to convert this old color Polaroid into a B & W photo was that the picture was so badly faded and color-distorted it was very difficult to see the ventral fin on the tail, and I specifically wanted that fin to be visible in the pic. The early models of 707s like this one had ventral fins but later production models had no need of a ventral fin because the height of the tail had been increased.
** (I'm not 100% certain, but I think that even these early model 707s were retrofitted with taller/large tails and the ventrals were removed during the retrofits. Once again, I am not totally sure of this info.)
** (I'm not 100% certain, but I think that even these early model 707s were retrofitted with taller/large tails and the ventrals were removed during the retrofits. Once again, I am not totally sure of this info.)
Uwe ... Thank you for the comment (and the vote). (I really had to work on this in order to save it; the instant-print Polaroid photos of the 1960s tended to fade away into nothingness when exposed to light for many years.)
Uwe, did you ever meet Mathias (another FA member)? He also lived / lives in E. Germany. I honestly wish I could meet both of you. So much history we could learn from each other.
Uwe, did you ever meet Mathias (another FA member)? He also lived / lives in E. Germany. I honestly wish I could meet both of you. So much history we could learn from each other.
Hi Gary!!
Now I've never meet Matrhias, but iknow him from FA. He lives in "East Germany " near my old hometown. My old hometown is betwwen the cities Halle and Magdeburg.
If you ha ve a look to Flightradar or Google Earth you can see my old hometown. Have a look for the International Airport Magdeburg-Cochstedt CSO/EDBC. This was till the 90th the russian airbase. Have a look 15 miles around this Airport. You can see the City named " Hettstedt ". this was my hometown till 1990. After reunion Germany i was going to " West Germany". Now i'm living near, 25 km ,from Frankfurt. FRA/EDDF. in a Little town called " Hainstadt".
Now I've never meet Matrhias, but iknow him from FA. He lives in "East Germany " near my old hometown. My old hometown is betwwen the cities Halle and Magdeburg.
If you ha ve a look to Flightradar or Google Earth you can see my old hometown. Have a look for the International Airport Magdeburg-Cochstedt CSO/EDBC. This was till the 90th the russian airbase. Have a look 15 miles around this Airport. You can see the City named " Hettstedt ". this was my hometown till 1990. After reunion Germany i was going to " West Germany". Now i'm living near, 25 km ,from Frankfurt. FRA/EDDF. in a Little town called " Hainstadt".
gary, about the 707 tail retrofits, this is what Wikipedia says
"British certification requirements relating to engine-out go-arounds also forced Boeing to increase the height of the tail fin on all 707 variants, as well as add a ventral fin, which was retrofitted on earlier −120 and −220 aircraft. These modifications also aided in the mitigation of dutch roll by providing more stability in yaw."
"British certification requirements relating to engine-out go-arounds also forced Boeing to increase the height of the tail fin on all 707 variants, as well as add a ventral fin, which was retrofitted on earlier −120 and −220 aircraft. These modifications also aided in the mitigation of dutch roll by providing more stability in yaw."
Uwe, I have written down all you wrote, and I will look to find your hometown and also where you live now. I always enjoy searching for, and finding, places where people live on Google Earth.
When I was born, my first home was in a city named Tonawanda (between Buffalo and Niagara Falls) in New York State. Bell Aircraft and Curtis-Wright had aircraft factories nearby, but by the time I joined the USAF in 1968 and left my hometown, those factories were closed or closing and abandoning the Buffalo area.
When I was born, my first home was in a city named Tonawanda (between Buffalo and Niagara Falls) in New York State. Bell Aircraft and Curtis-Wright had aircraft factories nearby, but by the time I joined the USAF in 1968 and left my hometown, those factories were closed or closing and abandoning the Buffalo area.
Oh, so I was only partly right. The entire tail was not retroed; the ventral fins WERE the retrofits to the early models. (Actually, that makes way more sense than retroing the entire tail structure.)
Hey, Thanks, Sam. :-) I appreciate the info. (Thumbs Up)
Hey, Thanks, Sam. :-) I appreciate the info. (Thumbs Up)
for more,here my email uwe.zinke@online.de.
Awesome classic, Gary! This is anther aircraft that my Father flew on his business travels from 1970s to 2005.
thanks for sharing with us Gary,
Great photo, Gary! I remember the old 707s well. My first trip to Germany (1974) was on/in a Lufthansa 707. And speaking of Germany, Uwe, I used to live pretty close to you. During my last tour (mid to late '90s) there with the Army, I lived in Viernhiem and worked in Mannheim. I also lived in a number of other cities there before and during my Army years; about 15 years altogether in Germany and Belgium. I miss Germany a lot, especially the food!
Amazing pic. Had the opportunity to fly on this Pan Am Boeing model a couple of times
Lovely sound from those four engines at take off
Thanks
Lovely sound from those four engines at take off
Thanks
I do a lot of Photoshop and I will tell you that this is a very nice job is preserving the photo. Great shot, too!
My first jet flight was on a TWA version of this plane from New York Idlewild to St Louis. The pilot must have been ex-navy and he gave us a fun ride dodging thunderheasds all the way. Amazing airplane but very dirty exhaust. Take off was labored but after that the ride was great.
Love this photo, Gary!!!!! Fantastic!! Please dig up more and thanks for sharing!!
Thank you Gary your photo took back me to my childhood. when I was 13/14 I was going to fences of Ataturk airport to see Pan American boeings
Gary - Very interesting...In August 1970 I was on a Pan Am flight from Ankara to Paris. The young American sitting next to me said he'd been living in Trabzon, which as you know is right on the Black Sea, close to the old USSR (Georgia, Armenia & S. Russia). After a few drinks I asked him what an American was doing living in an out-of-the-way place like Trabzon. He said he was a language specialist who monitored radio and military broadcasts coming out of the Soviet Union. I never asked him if he was CIA, but that's what I assumed. Now that the Cold War is over, would you have any comment on that?
Speedtrap ... Thanks for the comment & compliment. Appreciate it very much.
Mark ... Nope, he was not CIA; he was USAF. Trabzon AS (Air Station) existed for the very reason he stated. The last American military left in 1970 and Trab was fully turned over to the host country.
Mark ... Nope, he was not CIA; he was USAF. Trabzon AS (Air Station) existed for the very reason he stated. The last American military left in 1970 and Trab was fully turned over to the host country.
Was it the version of the Polaroid camera that said "YES" when to take the shot? God that was the coolest thing in the world back then.
GREAT RESTORATION WORK GARY!!! AND THANKS FOR SHARING AVIATION HISTORY WITH US...
WHAT WAS YOUR JOB IN USAF I WAS IN TEXAS WITH THE 433RD AMXS AND ALSO IN HOMESTEAD...
WHAT WAS YOUR JOB IN USAF I WAS IN TEXAS WITH THE 433RD AMXS AND ALSO IN HOMESTEAD...
N702PA, serial number 17677, was delivered to Pan Am on December 15, 1959. Sold to TransAtlantic Airways on December 10, 1974, and scrapped in March, 1977.
|
ACTIVITY LOG
Want a full history search for N702PA dating back to 1998? Buy now. Get it within one hour.
|
| Date | Aircraft | Origin | Destination | Departure | Arrival | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17-Feb-2026 | C208 | Auburn University Regional Airport (KAUO) | Lovell Fld (KCHA) | 09:40PM CST | 11:37PM EST | 0:57 |
| 17-Feb-2026 | C208 | Indianapolis Intl (KIND) | Auburn University Regional Airport (KAUO) | 07:18PM EST | 08:59PM CST | 2:41 |
| 17-Feb-2026 | C208 | Lovell Fld (KCHA) | Indianapolis Intl (KIND) | 04:49PM EST | 06:42PM EST | 1:52 |
| 16-Feb-2026 | C208 | Donaldson Field (KGYH) | Lovell Fld (KCHA) | 11:12PM EST | 12:11AM EST (+1) | 0:59 |
| 16-Feb-2026 | C208 | Indianapolis Intl (KIND) | Donaldson Field (KGYH) | 07:14PM EST | 09:06PM EST | 1:52 |
| 16-Feb-2026 | C208 | Stoltzfus Airfield (OH22) | Indianapolis Intl (KIND) | 04:47PM EST | 06:27PM EST | 1:40 |
| 16-Feb-2026 | C208 | Akron-Canton Rgnl (KCAK) | Stoltzfus Airfield (OH22) | 03:02PM EST | 03:37PM EST | 0:34 |
| 16-Feb-2026 | C208 | Akron-Canton Rgnl (KCAK) | Wayne County (KBJJ) | 03:02PM EST | Diverted | |
| 15-Feb-2026 | C208 | Donaldson Field (KGYH) | Akron-Canton Rgnl (KCAK) | 06:39PM EST | 09:25PM EST | 2:46 |
| 15-Feb-2026 | C208 | Donaldson Field (KGYH) | Wayne County (KBJJ) | 06:39PM EST | Diverted | |
| 15-Feb-2026 | C208 | Indianapolis Intl (KIND) | Donaldson Field (KGYH) | 03:43PM EST | 05:58PM EST | 2:14 |
| 15-Feb-2026 | C208 | Lovell Fld (KCHA) | Indianapolis Intl (KIND) | 12:34PM EST | 02:27PM EST | 1:53 |
| 13-Feb-2026 | C208 | Auburn University Regional Airport (KAUO) | Lovell Fld (KCHA) | 11:12PM CST | 01:14AM EST (+1) | 1:01 |
| 13-Feb-2026 | C208 | Indianapolis Intl (KIND) | Auburn University Regional Airport (KAUO) | 09:16PM EST | 10:33PM CST | 2:17 |
| 13-Feb-2026 | C208 | Stoltzfus Airfield (OH22) | Indianapolis Intl (KIND) | 06:33PM EST | 08:05PM EST | 1:31 |
| 13-Feb-2026 | C208 | Raleigh Rgnl At Person County (KTDF) | Stoltzfus Airfield (OH22) | 02:25AM EST | 04:38AM EST | 2:13 |
| 12-Feb-2026 | C208 | Northeast Philadelphia (KPNE) | Raleigh Rgnl At Person County (KTDF) | 11:35PM EST | 01:29AM EST (+1) | 1:53 |
| 12-Feb-2026 | C208 | Raleigh Rgnl At Person County (KTDF) | Northeast Philadelphia (KPNE) | 07:11PM EST | 09:08PM EST | 1:57 |
| 11-Feb-2026 | C208 | Northeast Philadelphia (KPNE) | Raleigh Rgnl At Person County (KTDF) | 09:08PM EST | 11:05PM EST | 1:56 |
| 11-Feb-2026 | C208 | Stoltzfus Airfield (OH22) | Northeast Philadelphia (KPNE) | 06:43PM EST | 08:17PM EST | 1:33 |
| 07-Feb-2026 | C208 | Raleigh Rgnl At Person County (KTDF) | Stoltzfus Airfield (OH22) | 03:09PM EST | 06:08PM EST | 2:58 |
| 07-Feb-2026 | C208 | Northeast Philadelphia (KPNE) | Raleigh Rgnl At Person County (KTDF) | 12:04PM EST | 01:53PM EST | 1:48 |
| 07-Feb-2026 | C208 | Stoltzfus Airfield (OH22) | Northeast Philadelphia (KPNE) | 09:10AM EST | 10:49AM EST | 1:39 |
| 06-Feb-2026 | C208 | Donaldson Field (KGYH) | Stoltzfus Airfield (OH22) | 10:14PM EST | 12:58AM EST (+1) | 2:44 |
| 06-Feb-2026 | C208 | Indianapolis Intl (KIND) | Donaldson Field (KGYH) | 07:52PM EST | 09:25PM EST | 1:32 |
| 06-Feb-2026 | C208 | Stoltzfus Airfield (OH22) | Indianapolis Intl (KIND) | 05:19PM EST | 06:56PM EST | 1:36 |
| 05-Feb-2026 | C208 | Raleigh-Durham Intl (KRDU) | Stoltzfus Airfield (OH22) | 12:13AM EST | 02:16AM EST | 2:03 |
| 04-Feb-2026 | C208 | Indianapolis Intl (KIND) | Raleigh-Durham Intl (KRDU) | 09:11PM EST | 11:35PM EST | 2:24 |
| 04-Feb-2026 | C208 | Stoltzfus Airfield (OH22) | Indianapolis Intl (KIND) | 05:46PM EST | 07:11PM EST | 1:25 |
| Basic users (becoming a basic user is free and easy!) view 3 months history. Join | ||||||
Please log in or register to post a comment.