I flew a couple of times on a DC-7CF of Northwest Orient Airlines. I remember reading about DC-7C's flying over the polar region carried a rifle. It was a comfortable plane to fly in.
It is also interesting to note, KLM had a semiautomatic rifle on board with ammo in case they crash landed in the polar region for protection from polar bears. All KLM DC-7 flights across the polar area carried them... Just a little trivia here....
Ik vloog in en DC7C deze vlucht naar Nederlands Nieuw Guinea als een marinier in 1960, prachtige vlucht, toen was vliegen nog iets bijzonders, kregen zelfs een speciaal papier(een onderscheiding) toen we over de Noordpole vlogen met een ceremonie. devlucht terug was ook een DC7C. onze pilot was kapitein Dijkstra.
Really liked KLM Dutch until they asked hubby and I to change seats to accomodate a family which we readily agreed to but found they put us near the lavatories!! "No good deed goes unpunished" lol!
Once jet planes went into widespread service, the stop ion Anchorage was probably eliminated and KLM (and others) could fly nonstop from Amsterdam to Tokyo via the over-the-pole route.
The Soviet Union did not allow western planes passing through its airspace at the time, hence this route. Previously they flew via the Middle East, a much longer route than via Alaska (as the map in the video shows)
Very good post. I do have one question. At 1:23, the flight's route map showed it crossing the Kamchatka Peninsula, airspace of the then-USSR. Was this allowed then? Tragically, some thirty years later, KAL 007 found out that it was not!
KLM used to be one of my favorite airlines.
Flew on a KLM DC - 7 from Vienna to Amsterdam in 1957.
I flew a couple of times on a DC-7CF of Northwest Orient Airlines. I remember reading about DC-7C's flying over the polar region carried a rifle. It was a comfortable plane to fly in.
It is also interesting to note, KLM had a semiautomatic rifle on board with ammo in case they crash landed in the polar region for protection from polar bears. All KLM DC-7 flights across the polar area carried them... Just a little trivia here....
Interesting to see how well Tokyo appeared to have recovered from its near-total destruction in the war, only 13 years earlier.
Ik vloog in en DC7C deze vlucht naar Nederlands Nieuw Guinea als een marinier in 1960, prachtige vlucht, toen was vliegen nog iets bijzonders, kregen zelfs een speciaal papier(een onderscheiding) toen we over de Noordpole vlogen met een ceremonie. devlucht terug was ook een DC7C. onze pilot was kapitein Dijkstra.
Really liked KLM Dutch until they asked hubby and I to change seats to accomodate a family which we readily agreed to but found they put us near the lavatories!! "No good deed goes unpunished" lol!
This was one of the reasons why this version of the DC-7 is known as the "Seven Seas."
Once jet planes went into widespread service, the stop ion Anchorage was probably eliminated and KLM (and others) could fly nonstop from Amsterdam to Tokyo via the over-the-pole route.
The Soviet Union did not allow western planes passing through its airspace at the time, hence this route. Previously they flew via the Middle East, a much longer route than via Alaska (as the map in the video shows)
congrats to you for this priceless look at transport in the fifties~
I was 4 years old. We fly with the KLM , from Papua New Guinea, to Alaska- Amsterdam March 1962
Very good post. I do have one question. At 1:23, the flight's route map showed it crossing the Kamchatka Peninsula, airspace of the then-USSR. Was this allowed then? Tragically, some thirty years later, KAL 007 found out that it was not!
Map error?
That was brilliant! So evocative! I wonder what the cost of such a flight would be compared to the average Dutch wage at the time?
All middle class People in all world flew in the 50s. But i was once time in life. It was more expensive.
The language you hear in the video is Dutch, not German
No shit? Who'd a thunk it. LOL
Old tokyo. Old nippon (´･ω･｀)
Great vid! The narrator sounds like he's trying to get rid of loogies stuck in his throat!
Mick Brown ITS DUTCH
they got moonshine or rice wine "tokyo,japan"
hello very interesting because I liked your video greetings