An Ansett L188 Electra doing night freight duties, 1976

Ansett L188 Electra 76_918, a photo by gtveloce on Flickr.

Excuse the blur but it was hand-held after dusk!! Point is that it's an L188 Electra, forced to serve out its days carrying cargo at night. Sydney then (as now) had a curfew on jets so "quieter" prop-driven aircraft did the night-time shifts. It extended the life of this Ansett Electra, which was retired from passenger duties in the early 1970s. I remember both TAA and Ansett Electras swooping in from the south, joining the 16 approach quite late, over Marrickville or even Sydenham in order to 'nip in' before a bigger jet. They often soared over my head, one following the other in the 2-airline parallel timetable days.

QF DC4 circa 1977 on approach to Sydney's 16

QF DC4 1977_229, a photo by gtveloce on Flickr.

It's hard to believe now but... it's a Qantas DC4... still in regular service in 1977!

Yes, QF needed the grass-field performance of the venerable Douglas back then, just to get to Norfolk Island... black and white shot, probably Tri-X. The DC4s were pensioned off a little later.

Ansett 727 on approach rwy 16 Sydney

Ansett 727 75_158, a photo by gtveloce on Flickr.

There's something about these 3-engined T-tailed Boeings that appeals to me. I'm not sure what it is, although it could be that I saw (and flew in) quite a few of 'em.

I once flew into Alice Springs on a 727 and I swear the pilot put it into reverse thrust whilst still airborne... over the threshold we go and wham, full roar from behind! We certainly stopped quickly on what was a short and bumpy strip. The subsequent takeoff was no less exciting...

Oh yes, and it's in Ansett markings, an airline that's no longer.