I worked in Pan Am Res in DEN in the 60s and there was a story that went around about Harding Lawrence. Apparently he had an apartment built over the hangar in DEN and a couple times he showed up on BN airplanes at night in his pajamas and would just sit down in any empty seat in FCL! I think the BN sales rep told me that.

Bruce

Don't think so. The Concorde, BA and AF, flew only out of IAD and JFK trans Atlantic --- far as I can remember.

In the 60s PAA had a flt (058) that originated in DFW and went ORD/LHR. BN flew the DFW/ORD segment as PAA didn't have domestic rights. They called it cabotage internationally.

Bruce

Well, I'll be dipped! I simply do not remember BN having anything to do with the Concorde! In 1979 I was running the largest travel agency in Colorado and don't remember ever hearing about it, though I must have at least read about it at some point. Strange. The Wikipedia article says they even "owned" the ac while flying between DFW and the east coast! That's even more bizarre! But then BN was a different sort of animal --- especially with Harding Lawrence in charge.

I was the guest of BA on the Concorde in the early 80s and flew it from IAD to LHR on a Halloween night. There were about 12 passengers on board. Best meal I have ever had on an airplane. Ate and drank from block to block --- 3.5 hours. When we got out over international waters they went super sonic and the acceleration literally compressed you into the seat. There was a Mach Counter on the bulkhead and it read .99 - 1.02 - .98 - 1.00 etc the whole trip. The ocean was so far down that it was a solid dark blue and it almost seemed the ac was upside down and you were looking at the sky thru those little windows. Great experience!

btscott wrote on Jul 7^th, 2011 at 1:28pm:

Wasn't a cheap experience I guess. With that passenger load, for both sides.  

Regarding Braniff, I don't know why they did that. I own more than one book about that period and if there is a main tenor, it states that they wanted to gain operating experience on the ship. Well, they did and their crews got trained on it, but trying a commercial service in the most cost ineffective regime of the lady (which is everything below M1.4) while other companies are running the equally or larger sized low-cost birds is sort of insane.
Do that over a year (which they did) and your bank won't be happy about it.

You are limited to M0.95 over land, so you may be somehow faster when it comes to distance, but those short routes and all the departure/arrival stuff included render the time reduction close to nil, while the fuel flows like dumped there.

High ticket prices, same time to travel as the slow-mos and the wow effect of Concorde as the only attraction don't make good business, as proven there.
But just another chapter of the operation history, involving numerous reasons, background stories and facts.

Peter mentions Singapore Airlines. They even ran a half livery on the corresponding birds, so BA/SA was visible. I wouldn't call it beautiful, but unique.  
They also went supersonic first, until some regulations took over a part of the planned route.
Ah, so many stories about regulations alone to tell. Big ol' money/political business aviation is.

By the way, there's a reason why every modern SST model aims to go for 90.000+ft and that reason isn't just about speed.
If those planes ever happen? There's a big gap to fill since Concorde services ended in my eyes, so I'm hoping/wishing of course, as a fan, regardless of the airline itself.  

Me is sorry to go a bit off topic though, the thread was about the Braniff 707 of course. I just came across that name since a story is attached to it.

Geez, I don't know if I should miss those 'orange times' or if I just wonder how mankind could ever survive this phase.
I mean, the orange exterior is one thing, but that orange cabin in times where 'I'm on a trip' had at least two meanings are hard to take in 2011.  
Thanks for those views, Lou.

By the way, I think I can see my parents on that photo.