Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 21679 posts, RR: 23 Posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 20 hours ago) and read 11338 times:
Came across an interesting site (address in watermark in lower right hand corner of photo below) with hundreds of old photos I'd never seen before, mostly of propeller types but also some early jets. Few of the photos have dates or locations.
The Pan Am DC-6B photo below caught my eye, obviously dating from the 1950s based on the livery. Can anyone identify the airport?
Independence76 From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 168 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 10953 times:
I'm my guess would be somewhere in South America. Definitely cannot be sure of precisely where.
"In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes." - John Ruskin
I recognized the topography because my grandfather lives in a public housing estate on the hill at the foot of the mountains, an area known as 'choi hung'
BoeingGuy From United States of America, joined Dec 2010, 2377 posts, RR: 7 Reply 10, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 10 hours ago) and read 9992 times:
Definitely not LPB. LBP is up on the flat plains above the city, which sits in a bowl. The nearest mountains look nothing like that and are nowhere near that close. Have you been there, or did you just make a wild guess?
I spend pretty much every weekend in Hong Kong and would NEVER have guessed that. Amazing what that amount of time and a couple of societal revolutions can do to a town, eh?
sparky35805 From United States of America, joined Dec 2007, 245 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 4 hours ago) and read 9071 times:
The 6B has radar,so probably 1956-59.Mel Lawrence has photos on A.net from Honk Kong during the late 50s-early 60s before all the high rises were built.
Sparky
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 21679 posts, RR: 23 Reply 14, posted (1 year 3 months 1 week 4 hours ago) and read 8694 times:
Quoting rb211-524h (Reply 6): I'm pretty sure that is Hong Kong Kaitak with Kowloon mountains in the background in the 50s before all the high rises were built.
I'm sure that's it. Thanks. That's one that didn't cross my mind. I was thinking more of somewhere like Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan or maybe South America, althouth most of the mountainous cities down the west coast of South America were served by Panagra (50% owned by Pan Am, merged with Braniff in 1967), not Pan Am itself.
jsnww81 From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 1867 posts, RR: 16 Reply 17, posted (1 year 3 months 6 days 23 hours ago) and read 4012 times:
Quoting ChazPilot (Reply 16):
If that's Kai Tak, either HK was in the middle of it's worth drought ever or it only became a sub-tropical climate since this photo was taken!
That was my thinking too - the mountains in Hong Kong are far greener than that. My guess is Tehran's Mehrabad airport, which until the 1960s was pretty much out in the countryside and has the Alborz Mountains pretty close by. PA had a reasonably large presence at THR for most of its life, up until 1979, anyhow.
It's definitely the old HKG Kai Tak. Look at the 1959 photo of the Thai Airways DC-4 at HKG in reply 6, taken at almost exactly the same location. You can even see some of the same buildings in the background, including the building directly in line with the Pan Am DC-6B's wing, the bottom of which is also visible under the TG DC-4's fuselage. The white building (the highest building on the mountainside) above the DC-6B's forward fuselage is also visible in the DC-4 photo.
And note the rock formation at the top left hand corner of the DC-4 photo. That's known as "Lion Rock", a famous HKG landmark. Will repeat that photo here for convenience.
rampart From United States of America, joined Aug 2005, 2871 posts, RR: 7 Reply 21, posted (1 year 3 months 6 days 19 hours ago) and read 2325 times:
Quoting jsnww81 (Reply 17): That was my thinking too - the mountains in Hong Kong are far greener than that.
Both those photos were probably taken in the dry season, winter. Hong Kong get less than 5cm rain per month in the winter. Amazing since they get 2.5m of rain for the year.
My guess is that there had been significant deforestation in the hills up to that time. What hills you can see now, not covered in urban devlopment, have revegetated, some. But look at many of the more modern pictures that clearly show the mountains, still a lot of bare areas.
Yes, I was going to guess something in southern or central Asia as well.
Quoting rb211-524h (Reply 7):
I recognized the topography because my grandfather lives in a public housing estate on the hill at the foot of the mountains, an area known as 'choi hung'
rb211, you probably have a career with Geospatial Intelligence if you want one. That's fantastic terrain sleuthing!
rb211-524h From Australia, joined Nov 1999, 54 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (1 year 3 months 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 1518 times:
Best I could find for 90s pics (40 years on from original but still almost 20 years old) just before Kai Tak closed. These would give a side-by-side comparison with the OPs post with the Pan Am.
I don't think anybody could get the same perspective again for the Thai DC4 pic with Lion Rock in the background because spotters wouldn't be allowed on the tarmac in modern times looking N/NE.
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