The image brought back my own experience of going to see the first jet airliners. The year was 1960, and I was with my parents on a trip across the state to Portland, Oregon, where my folks were eager to stop at Portland airport to see the early jetliners. We drove in my parents' 1956 Pontiac Chieftain 870 2-door Catalina, and I was six years old.
A few years later, I enjoyed my first flight in a Pan Am 707, and another passion was added to my automotive interests. Not only would I continue to collect car models, but I was eager to collect large-scale models of America's early jetliners, focusing on the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 -- America's first jetliners, both launched with orders from Pan American.
While we might on rare occasions see 1956 Pontiacs on the highway today, we're unlikely to see 707's and DC-8's in action, and Pan Am itself vanished many years ago. I thought to myself that it would be fun to attempt to replicate in small scale my experience from 1960.
The principal "actor" would be Brooklin's 1956 Pontiac Chieftain:
The aircraft:
DC-8 Models 1/50-scale Douglas DC-8, Pan American World Airways' Jet Clipper Queen of the Pacific
Westways Models 1/50-scale Boeing 707, Pan American World Airways
Pacific Miniatures 1/60-scale Boeing 707, Pan American World Airways
For purposes of my photo set, we're locating at San Francisco International Airport, which was headquarters for Pan Am's Pacific and Alaska Division. We're witnessing the DC-8's departure for Honolulu, and the 707 will be flying Pan Am's famed round the world service, stopping in Honolulu, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Saigon, Delhi, Tehran, Beirut, Frankfurt, London, and New York. The second 707 has just touched down, arriving from London Heathrow via the Polar Route.
Thank you for letting me re-imagine a scene from the past!