Jet air traffic half a century on
Lufthansa entered the jet era in 1960
“Like driving a sports car instead of a VW beetle,“ exclaimed Lufthansa pilot Werner Utter, describing his feelings on flying the first of the new jets. Together with Rudolf Mayr, Lufthansa’s future chief pilot and a member of the Executive Board flew the first Boeing 707 for Lufthansa to Germany on 2 March 1960. The “Oscar Bravo”, coded D-ABOB – touched down in Hamburg at 11.51 hours after a flight of around 8,100 kilometres in nine hours and 47 minutes. That flight heralded the dawn of the jet age for Lufthansa and Germany.
On 17 March, the “Oscar Bravo“, named Hamburg in October 1960, completed the first Lufthansa direct flight from Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel to New York. Just two weeks later, Lufthansa aircraft were operating daily flights from Frankfurt to the USA. The Rhine-Main Airport became Lufthansa’s base for intercontinental air traffic.
The previous piston-engined propeller aircraft, like the Lockheed Super Constellation, once familiar sights in trans-Atlantic traffic were about to bow out. The new jetliner engines halved flying time from 17 to eight-and-a-half hours and doubled the possible number of passengers to 168. They also spared the passengers the bumps and vibrations of flying above the clouds. Although notices were posted at Hamburg Airport prior to the arrival of the first Boeing 707, warning people to beware of the hot exhaust blast from the new powerplants and the suction at the air intake, passengers soon became accustomed to the technological revolution and Lufthansa gradually expanded its jet fleet. The last of Lufthansa’s propeller aircraft, a Vickers Viscount, made its final journey on 3 March 1971.
Did you know that
… a turbine is not an engine? A turbine is only part of the engine – the part that helps drive it.
… the smallest jet engine in the Lufthansa fleet powers the Avro RJ85 operated by CityLine? The “Textron Lycoming LF507-1F“ generates a thrust of 31.14 kilonewtons.
… the biggest jet engine in the Lufthansa fleet powers the Airbus A380? The “Trent 900“ powerplant generates a thrust up to 356 kilonewtons.
… close to 2,000 technicians are employed at Lufthansa’s major engine overhaul plant in Hamburg?
… Lufthansa’s first long-range Boeing 707 was also the first to be named by Lufthansa? The ”Oscar Charly“ was ‘christened’ Berlin on 16 September 1960 by the then governing mayor of the City, Willy Brandt. That first ‘christening’ ceremony marked the start of the tradition of naming Lufthansa aircraft after German cities and federal states. The “Oscar Delta“ was also named Frankfurt am Main on 16 September 1960.
… the last Boeing 707 D-ABUF left the Lufthansa fleet after 24 years of service on 7 May 1984?
Lufthansa and Boeing
Almost 50 years to the day since Lufthansa penned the purchase contract for its first four B707 jet aircraft, the airline and Boeing signed another ground-breaking agreement: As launch customer, Lufthansa has placed orders for twenty Boeing 747-8 passenger jets. Lufthansa will be the world’s first airline to begin services with the new wide-body aircraft.