Oh yes...I remember this scene as a young boy at Chi-towns O'hare airport back in the day. Very well done! That is back in the day when we free, happy and employed. People under 35 would be shocked if a time machine existed and they could see for themselves like I did. Back before the drug war when we were a team. When we liked each other.
The show gets the technical details right. The cockpit shots show the right avionics--the interior shots have the club seating and the lack of enclosed overhead baggage bins. The airplane only goes to 35,000 feet--the engines were small in those days (the 707 had 4 engines because it NEEDED that many) and the FAA wouldn't allow jets to fly higher than that (they were afraid that loss of pressurization would be a disaster that couldn't be handled--turned out not to be the problem they THOUGHT it would be). Technical INACCURACIES--the jet doesn't emit the signature black clouds of smoke on takeoff like the jets of the era did. The First Officer (making a radio call) lists their "heading 019 degrees"--not only is heading not given in a radio call (only position, time, altitude, ETA at next fix, and the fix thereafter) but a heading of 019 is going mainly NORTH--it should be anywhere from 040 to 110 degrees, depending on their great circle position. One more item--unless there was a rip-roaring tailwind, the early jets weren't capable of New York-London (or Paris) non-stops--usually, they would stage to Gander, Newfoundland for fuel before making the Atlantic leg.
I've always liked the looks of the 707--one of the prettiest airplanes ever designed. Other than size--I've always thought the Presidential 707s exuded much more CLASS than the 747s.
The DC-7 shots are of an airplane that used to sit derelict at St. Paul airport--somebody had tried to organize a travel club in the early 70s. I was on the airplane in 1974. About 4 years ago, somebody in Florida bought it--spent only a week to get it ferriable, took it to Florida, and finished the restoration. As far as I know, it is the only airworthy DC-7C in the world--they give rides in it. It was the ultimate piston-engine airliner--but within 5 years of introduction, most were phased out by jets.
It WAS an amazing time--transatlantic flight by jet made the world smaller--it was a time when we felt "we can do anything"--and everything only got BETTER. People dressed up for airline travel--good meals were served on real plates--unlimited free booze (even in the economy section). There were some negatives, as well. No women pilots--stewardesses had to retire at 30, and airfares were so high that only the rich could fly--even into the 1960s, most people had never flown.
Deregulation--We've traded off the elegance (correctly portrayed in the series) for the ability of MOST people to travel by air. Was it worth it? I think so.
-------------- "If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
Rosalind--"Iron-eyes Cody"--the "Indian" actor in these commercials, wasn't an Indian at all. He was Espera Oscar de Corti--an Italian.
"Cody" was portrayed as "The Indian weeping for what was done to the land"--the inference being that the Indians cared more for the land than whoever owns it now. That's another myth--look at at the trash on any Indian reservation.
Good commercial, though!
-------------- "If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
I was on PAM AM flight Cleveland to Miami when they declared bankruptcy, We were told connecting PAM AM flight tickets would not be honored. SOL folks.
A PAM AM gal in Miami got me on the last flight from Miami to Ft Myers, although she had just lost her job.
