BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

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tapclassic
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BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by tapclassic »

23/2/2014
BHX-BHX, 150GBP p\ pax.
Biman Bangladesh DC-10-30, S2-ACR.


A friend of us told us he was going to travel to the farewell flight weekend of the passenger travel in DC-10.
Biman Bangladesh is the last operator of a DC-10 with a cabin fit for passenger transportation.
All other pax planes are either stored never to fly again, or converted to cargo, or serving other purposes as flying hospitals or firefighting.
We had flown in the MD-11, which is soon to become cargo or nothing and the DC-10 was not new.
In fact I had flown Lisbon to Rio in a VARIG DC-10 in the Summer of 1983, at the time best quality airliner in the world, but the last one was Lisbon to Caracas in 1987 with VIASA.
We knew long ago the last commercial flight would be Dhaka to Birmingham via Kuwait, announced in the media last year, and no way we would go to Dhaka just to come back.
Well the last flight was on Friday 20th of February, but during the weekend they would do 9 scenic flights over Birmingham, Monday at 17h being the last one ever. This would be Birmingham to Birmingham, one hour scenic flights, at 150 GBP windows seat and 100 aisle. They only sold windows and aisles, to make it a flight for enthusiasts, up to 150 places. We booked two windows, but it was a nightmare to pay with a credit card in Biman’s website, and we had to ask our friend to lend his American Visa and sign an authorisation so we could take the card with us.
All set we showed up at 7h40 at the BHX airport. Flight was BG02 listed in the screens but he check-in counter was not there.
Could it have departed already? It was a long haul aircraft, but a local flight half empty, no bags carried. But right in front of was there were pictures of the DC-10 over two counters. The check-in, performed solely by Servisair people, assisted by the CEO of Biman, Mr. Steele (guy on the right) was quite smooth.

There was a memorabilia stuff shop set in the terminal, just by the security check, which we went back after the flight. Excitement started to build when we saw the plane from the terminal window, behind the Ryanair fleet.
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Good thing we would board on foot, instead of an air bridge which would kill any chance to get a good picture.

The boarding was normal; mostly all fans were male, and British. We talked to a French speaking guy, heard a couple speaking German, two sounding eastern Europe, the rest local. But all fans of aviation. We were told there would be some time to take pictures outside the plane after we exited the bus, as long as everyone followed the safety rules and stayed in the designated areas.
It was very hard to capture this huge plane in a single photo. We climbed over, and it is just magic to board a wide body by stairs. Seeing a #2 engine on top of the fuselage is now history…We could read “New Era” in the fuselage, by the nose. It had been for Biman when S2-ACR had been delivered to Biman in Long Beach California, in 1988, the one before last DC-10 ever produced, and the newest intact. Only 446 took the skies, all but 60 in civilian colours, barely beating out the main competitor, Lockheed L1011.
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When entering the plane, we were greeted by a very welcoming flight crew. The cabin was different from everything we had seen before. It looked like something tropical, seat with different patterns of green and orange, varying along the cabin. It was in full economy configuration, seating 2-5-2, and without overhead bins in the central area, felt spacious as a palace.
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Seating in 27A and 28A we awaited about one hour for departure. The captain announced they were negotiating the flight plan with local Air Traffic Control and Eurocontrol, and it took a while for a ground power generator (vehicle) to put the engines up and running. Lots of smoke came from a chimney before one engine roared, the APU being INOP. Before that we took pictures of everything one can imagine, and so did all the other passengers. All safety cards had been stolen, we got our hands in some magazines and frequent flyer application forms. We were given a bottle of still water and a pack/bag of Capri-Sun joice (the English version of the popular Capri-Sonne, but sweeter).
We were set to go, when were heard the announcement that said something about our “….our merciful god…” blessing the flight and that it was forbidden to smoke etc. One of the biggest collective laughs I have in memory was when we were asked to switch off all electric equipment and mobile phones during the flight!!!
The safety instructions were performed manually by the flight attendants, and they were more photographed than any top model in a Paris catwalk.
We took off (sadly for the last time in a DC-10), and the captain said we would climb to 24 000 feet. We didn’t see anything of Birmingham, as soon as we crossed to the upper side of a low cloud ceiling.
Just after the landing gear was in people got up and started to enjoy the DC-10, and now it was clear why only 150 seats were available for in the flight. It was a total party, in the sense you could walk in the cabin, talk to the flight crew, take pictures with them, and see all the little details that make the DC-10 an historic bird. The projector from the inflight entertainment (not turned on), galleys, toilets, seating on cabin crew jump seats, you name it.
Even the flight crew were also in the mood, they asked us to take pictures with their cameras, and there was a common sense of nostalgia. We signed a business card, putting “LPMA/FNC” as our address and gave it the captain, wishing him luck in the 777. He was very happy and handed his own to us, Cpt I. Ahmed.
Full Picture gallery:
---------
A300,18,19,20,21,A332,A343/6,A388,RJ100,ATR4/72,B707,B721/2,B732/3/4/5/6/7/8/9,B742/4,B752/3,B772/L/3/W,ATP,B-N Islander,C152,CRJ2/700,DC-10,DHC-6/8-2/400,Do2/328,E135/40/45/75/95,F50/100,L1011-500,IL96,MD-11,
MD-82/3/7/8,S340,2000,S360,Yak42

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tapclassic
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Re: BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by tapclassic »

More pics:
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Us with the crew
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---------
A300,18,19,20,21,A332,A343/6,A388,RJ100,ATR4/72,B707,B721/2,B732/3/4/5/6/7/8/9,B742/4,B752/3,B772/L/3/W,ATP,B-N Islander,C152,CRJ2/700,DC-10,DHC-6/8-2/400,Do2/328,E135/40/45/75/95,F50/100,L1011-500,IL96,MD-11,
MD-82/3/7/8,S340,2000,S360,Yak42

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tapclassic
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Re: BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by tapclassic »

No way to see Birmingham at all...
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Where did this come from? :)


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GE CF-6 50 000lbf
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nice vortex


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on final to BHX
[font=Verdana]


Landed, only 6 more landings to happen ever, 2 with pax later on the same day, 3 the following and the ferry flight back to Dhaka for ...scrapping :(




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3 men flight deck


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[/font]
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A300,18,19,20,21,A332,A343/6,A388,RJ100,ATR4/72,B707,B721/2,B732/3/4/5/6/7/8/9,B742/4,B752/3,B772/L/3/W,ATP,B-N Islander,C152,CRJ2/700,DC-10,DHC-6/8-2/400,Do2/328,E135/40/45/75/95,F50/100,L1011-500,IL96,MD-11,
MD-82/3/7/8,S340,2000,S360,Yak42

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tapclassic
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Re: BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by tapclassic »

Panoramic, got it in one pic.

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Some close ups of neat details.


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MDC


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Image[font=Verdana]So many bolts, what contrast to the Dreamliner[/font]
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Wheel chocks on
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Air airplanes are "commies" :)
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Impressive fairings
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The -10 and -30 where the most popular versions of the DC-10
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I am always suspicious or airplanes with letter+number registration prefixes, but it was great this time.
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Engine strake
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Static pressure
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---------
A300,18,19,20,21,A332,A343/6,A388,RJ100,ATR4/72,B707,B721/2,B732/3/4/5/6/7/8/9,B742/4,B752/3,B772/L/3/W,ATP,B-N Islander,C152,CRJ2/700,DC-10,DHC-6/8-2/400,Do2/328,E135/40/45/75/95,F50/100,L1011-500,IL96,MD-11,
MD-82/3/7/8,S340,2000,S360,Yak42

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tapclassic
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Re: BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by tapclassic »

8th more populated country in the world
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Looks like Qantas' canguru from far away
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This must be "Biman" in bengali




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One last look while the firemen came in, we thought for a water cannon salutation, but they actually rounded up around one parked FR 737 and then left without single a water drop spilled. Must have been some drill.
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Funny airplane mockup for firemen training :)
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---------
A300,18,19,20,21,A332,A343/6,A388,RJ100,ATR4/72,B707,B721/2,B732/3/4/5/6/7/8/9,B742/4,B752/3,B772/L/3/W,ATP,B-N Islander,C152,CRJ2/700,DC-10,DHC-6/8-2/400,Do2/328,E135/40/45/75/95,F50/100,L1011-500,IL96,MD-11,
MD-82/3/7/8,S340,2000,S360,Yak42

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Re: BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by airtrainer »

Nice report !
I was on the following flight with some fellow luchtzakkers, what a great event !
Strange that you had issues with the booking, I used my MasterCard and had no problem at all...

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tapclassic
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Re: BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by tapclassic »

airtrainer wrote:Nice report !
I was on the following flight with some fellow luchtzakkers, what a great event !
Strange that you had issues with the booking, I used my MasterCard and had no problem at all...
The trouble is that the site requested cards to be "Verified by VISA", and I only have an AMEX besides the VISAs.
---------
A300,18,19,20,21,A332,A343/6,A388,RJ100,ATR4/72,B707,B721/2,B732/3/4/5/6/7/8/9,B742/4,B752/3,B772/L/3/W,ATP,B-N Islander,C152,CRJ2/700,DC-10,DHC-6/8-2/400,Do2/328,E135/40/45/75/95,F50/100,L1011-500,IL96,MD-11,
MD-82/3/7/8,S340,2000,S360,Yak42

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Re: BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by quixoticguide »

Nice report! How was the landing on your morning flight, windy? :)

This was the last landing on the Sunday 23th FEB 2014. 40kt crosswind :D
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Visit my flights on: http://www.quixoticguide.com

Sean_DM
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Re: BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by Sean_DM »

Great trip report, magnificant airplane (allthough on YouTube I saw it did show its age :) )
End of an Era.

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Re: BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by teddybAIR »

Great report! Thanks for sharing!
But those seats (ouch my eyes!) :)

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tapclassic
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Re: BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by tapclassic »

quixoticguide wrote:Nice report! How was the landing on your morning flight, windy? :)

This was the last landing on the Sunday 23th FEB 2014. 40kt crosswind :D
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The morning flight was OK, I saw other (in pics like yours) that required more of the pilot's handcraft.

You can see the vide of our t/o and landing, uneventful for the least:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKQERCoZ1Xw
---------
A300,18,19,20,21,A332,A343/6,A388,RJ100,ATR4/72,B707,B721/2,B732/3/4/5/6/7/8/9,B742/4,B752/3,B772/L/3/W,ATP,B-N Islander,C152,CRJ2/700,DC-10,DHC-6/8-2/400,Do2/328,E135/40/45/75/95,F50/100,L1011-500,IL96,MD-11,
MD-82/3/7/8,S340,2000,S360,Yak42

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Re: BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by tapclassic »

teddybAIR wrote:Great report! Thanks for sharing!
But those seats (ouch my eyes!) :)
And a very strong aroma, I can tell you.
I read in a blog that they used to carry shrimp to HKG and to clean the cargo hold before coming to Europe because the stench was very foul.

Crew was nice and they were in the mood for this emotional farewel..

Is anyone planning to go to the Monarch goodbye to the A300 in Europe?
13/4 LGW-BHX, 74GBP
---------
A300,18,19,20,21,A332,A343/6,A388,RJ100,ATR4/72,B707,B721/2,B732/3/4/5/6/7/8/9,B742/4,B752/3,B772/L/3/W,ATP,B-N Islander,C152,CRJ2/700,DC-10,DHC-6/8-2/400,Do2/328,E135/40/45/75/95,F50/100,L1011-500,IL96,MD-11,
MD-82/3/7/8,S340,2000,S360,Yak42

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Re: BHX-BHX: Farewell to the DC-10 pax - Biman Bangladesh

Post by teddybAIR »

Someone posted a video on youtube:

Last edited by sn26567 on 03 Mar 2014, 10:52, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: adapted for youtube

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