BOAC The Golden Age of Flying

Philip Hogge first learned to fly in 1958 by completing a gliding course with the Air Cadets. He then obtained an RAF Flying Scholarship while still at school and learned to fly a Tiger Moth, gaining his Private Pilot’s Licence. In 1962 he joined BOAC where he flew the Britannia 312 (the last propeller service across the Atlantic), then Brooklands built VC10s, Boeing 707s and eventually 747s. He was Flight Training Manager on 707s and then 747s, before becoming Chief Pilot on 747s, and finally GM Flight Operational Services in British Airways’ flight operations department. Airline flying in the 1960s was still an era of glamour, adventure and excitement in what Phil fondly recalls as the Golden Age of Flying. He has written two volumes of short stories in which he recalls, in fictional form, the challenges and enjoyment he and his colleagues shared in those days.