Video of various planes taking off at O'Hare airport in Chicago on Sunday August 26, 1979. This was 3 months after DC-10 flight 191 crashed during take off on May 25, 1979.
It’s the timelessness of jet travel which hasn’t changed much in 60 years, but life in general was a lot simpler in the 70s compared to the 21st century.
Growing up mid 80s. My Father would drive to White Castle and then park somewhere around Midway and we would watch planes landing. They zoom right over my head. Amazing memory of my Dad. We sit and eat and just watch. I miss him dearly. Simple times
Yes, I grew up in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood - we would drive over to Midway and sit on top of the car and watch planes too. Once, my mom talked someone into letting us into the tower - so cool.
Brook Semmler, Is that all you want to remember, loud, polluting engines. It may bring good memories back to you of when you were able to fly when aviation will still fairly new, but I really don’t think praising pollution is very smart and a lot of politically opinionated people would tear you apart for saying such a thing.
Love seeing the DC-8s take off...and yes, I remember when all you'd EVER see were 727s. Who would have thought the 737 would be the only survivor out of this whole line-up?
NewsLynne what’s more incredible is that less than 5 years ago the actual DC-9-50 shown here was still in service. Then with Delta. I made sure to get on one in 2012..New refurbed interior and flew like a charm.
I love this video. I started watching planes as a kid in 79 or 80 and it really gives me chills to see and hear the DC-8’s, DC-9’s and DC-10’s. I grew up very close to BWI airport and man, I used to wait for United DC-8’s and DC-10’s to come from Chicago every day. We also had several Dc-10’s from World airways every day.
At some of those DC-8s were eventually re-engined and had sort of a 2nd life. Delta flew them and I think UAL used them for the smaller Hawaiian cities from the west coast.
UAL 737-200, UAL 727, UAL DC-8, UAL 727, 2:26 North Central Dc-9 , NC Convair 580 (SWEET!!), UAL Dc-10 ( I wish they'd paint a UAL aircraft in this color job. One of the first airplanes i ever flew on was a UAL 727 in the Saul Bass.) NW orient 727- could be a 2B7 but also might be a -51. UAL 727s and 737. Fairchild metro perhaps United or COA Express. North Central (?) 737-200, North Central Convair 580, UAL DC-8 and DC-10. Wonderful that you still have this footage.
I was born way after 1970's but for some 'good' reason I always love the 1970's very much! This video is really something nice to watch especially on full screen because it has a certain 'coziness' - if you understand what I mean.
I bet he had no idea this would be such a treasure 40 years later! Loved those North Central 580's. And those 8 - stretches were so cool. Thanks for sending me back to the 1st year of deregulation! GREAT video!
You are welcome! Good point! My father took his video camera everywhere. He passed in 2001, so he never got to see how enjoyable all of his tapes became.
I love this old "home movie" style, so real and unaltered, it takes me back. Looking back at a period when you could park outside an airport perimeter road and watch planes to your heart's content and no hassles from local authorities. A very different place, America and the world were back then. ORD was an AA hub then, no AA metal...? What about some Braniff love? Regardless, thanks for the memories and the look back.
That was back when you could park on the side of Irving Park Rd to watch them take off. My dad used to take me to the same spot in the 80's. Those were the good ol days. Can't do that anymore.
Gosh I drive Uber and park up at the staging lot on Balmoral Ave, its really amazing how the jet era changed. In this video you see 727's & DC-8's left and right like the 737's & A319's I see today. What a change has it been. If you're lucky enough, I usually catch a MD-10 FedEx early morning and its just a feel I cant describe when I see it take off, makes me feel like I lived in the time this video was made. Sad & eerie what used to roam O'hare to today...
Real heavy metal. Not a tinny Airbus in sight. See the kids with their stationwagon watching classic airliners is so similar to my own experiences back then. August 1979 I was weeks away from entering 6th Grade.
+VideofromGeorge This was at Irving Park right West of Manheim, I used to park there also, but I did not have a camera, great video, thanks for the memories.....................
+varigdc10 On further view of the video it seems to me the actual picture is a bit distorted making the airplanes look too long and thin, also the speed of the take off run specially on rotation is too fast from the distance of the camera, it may be due to early VHS video technology, don't know.
+varigdc10 Correct, the image is slightly distorted. This version is zoomed in to eliminate the black bars on the sides; however, the speed was not adjusted at all.
This is just awesome. I grew up in La Crosse WI and spent a lot of time at the airport there as a kid. Anywhere we went on vacation, which was almost always by car, required a visit to the airport to watch the planes. My parents and grandparents were always really good about this. Brings back great memories. My favorites were North Central and Northwest Orient!! Thanks again!
O’Hare was always my favorite plane spotting location. When the Hari Krishnas were still allowed to bang their tambourines and drums inside the terminal and a “big one”was a stretch DC eight. I worked as a flight attendant then and worked on stretch DC s… Man did we walk our feet off! I love those days.
Spending a day watching aircraft take off and land would be a day well spent. That powerful spool up at the start of the take off roll is always a thrill.
This is amazing footage. My very first flight was for my birthday and it was RT in the same day from GRR to ORD on United. Boeing 727-200 over and B 737-200 back. Loved it! It set in motion my love of commercial aviation.
The DC-8 (1::30) was really a terrifically designed passenger aircraft. I had my first flights about this time. A Western Airlines 707 flight to Hawaii was very unpleasant, very limited leg room and cramped, the Hawaii return was on a Continental DC-10, very nice. the DC-8s on United were excellent, with good meals. Rides in their 737s were in the cramped, limited legroom debate. I did like the 727-200s, on various carriers, they were very nice.
2:25. It’s incredible that the DC-9-50 shown here was still in service into 2013-14. Then with Delta. The last surviving passenger variant from this flashback. Douglas aircraft were built like tanks.
If only 4k had been around in 1979. I drive on Irving Park every day and try to imagine what it must have been like back in the day when you could pull to the side and watch the planes take off. Thanks for the nostalgia!
Great videos. I grew up in the Chicago area in the burbs in the 70s and my dad took me to ORD to watch planes take off. There was an actual viewing area in the airport. I remember coming home from school the day the AA DC-10 crashed. Thanks for posting.
Yes Robert i saw the mushroom cloud of smoke from elk grove high schools parking lot, we were just getting of school when flight 191 crashed that day and i can remember the terrible smell coming from the fire also, what a horrible event in deed!
We lived in the Chicago suburbs too- in between the paths of two ORD runways. I remember seeing the smoke from that AA DC-10 crash like it was yesterday
From age 3 to age 9, I lived in the Greater Chicagoland area, and from, like, age 7 to age 9, my dad and I would go out to the O'Hare area, and take pictures of planes taking off and landing. Thiis video reminds me very much of those times. Thank you for sharing!
Wow, that brings back memories. Dc8s, dc10s ,727s when jets were loud, smokey and much more exciting to watch. I spent hours as a teen( about 35 years ago) watching those same old models come in and out of MIA. Great video !!!
Thanks for posting this. My dad would always take me here and pull off of Irving Park road, and do this very same thing. He would then bring us to McDonales, which was a treat back then. Awesome memories!
+The Rolls Royce Trent In spotting variety, sure. Have a mainline crash every few months though. No thanks, I'll take today's (incredible) safety over the crash-happy '70s ANY day.
thanks for posting you made my day things were a lot simpler back then a better time in my life gave me a good feeling to watch this i wish things now was the same as then,,,
Very impressive👀 United airline B737/727 DC8 and PIEDMONT B737 are my best memory on my Japanese magazine I bought 14age✨ This is very precious video, Thank you so much put that on RU-vid😍
Love this!!! That screaming DC-8 at the beginning. Some other great catches...North Central DC-9-51...love the “Herman the Duck” logo, and a few North Central CV-580’s probably off to Stevens Point, Madison, or Appleton.
Geeking out over the low color bandwidth of those early recorders. The vivid livery of the United planes, and the bright red tail of northwest looks almost black and white
Fantastic time capsule! I am fascinated by obscure recordings like this. Seeing the "vintage" aircraft (so many thundering 727's!), period cars, hearing people chatting, and even the ambient sound of crickets from over 35 years ago! It could home video from the 80's, but no...it's from the 70's! Thanks for sharing!
In a way 79 was the beginning of the 80s lol but the end of the 70s all at the same time lol!!!!! I was born in 79 but consider myself as an 80s baby and growing up in the 80s by the airport here in Memphis im more familiar with Delta and Republic who both had hubs here during the 80s so seeing these United 727s in this video just takes me back to the good old 80s lol
One of my favorite parts of flying out of O'Hare was that piece where you taxi across the bridge over Mannheim Rd and see all the cars below, on the way from the terminal to the runways. Haven't flown in a long time; I'm not sure if that is even the same any more.
Ah yes. I used to camp out on Irving park road watching landings. They’d fly right over your head, close too. Now they kick you out or ticket you. Miss those days! Great video! Glad you had the kids there, and nice trans am too👍
I was 3 that year. I’m from Peoria Illinois and remember seeing these planes coming and going from the airport there. We lived in a trailer park only a couple miles away. My favorite was seeing the Goodyear Blimps.
Thank you for posting this! The 727 was the workhorse for United! The days of going to just watch planes take off...I could do that for hours. Side note...wonder where those kids are today! : )
You are welcome. We are still in the area - I am 46, my brother is 44, and my sister is 48 years old. Our father (who filmed this) passed away in 2001.
Rare video to say the least. . also fascinating that it was filmed the same year and in the same airport which David Booth saw in his premonition of the plane crash at O'Hare International.
This is amazing and I am assuming that's Irving Park Rd and 22L. I may have actually been in one of those cars watching these planes take off. Love the Convair 580 and the DC-8's and when 727's ruled the skies. Great memories and thank you for sharing!
This is really cool. I was born in '82 but many of these planes were still flying as passenger jets in the early 90s. This reminds me of this fast-food joint (Roy Rogers?) across the highway from Newark International Airport that me and my family would stop at when driving to Connecticut from Philly to visit family. You'd see: a 727, DC-9, MD-80, DC-10, a 747, a 737-200 and 300, an A300, a 757, 767, and occasional 707! Good times.
I remember Dad taking us boys right where these cars are parked out on Irving Park Rd. we'd sit outside and watch as the planes took off. Back then they utilized those 2 runways for take-offs of every type of aircraft both Commercial and Cargo all except the 747 and 747-200 which were the only variants at that time. My Aunt and Uncle had a house in Wood Dale IL. and you could look out the kitchen window at night and it looked just like a highway of cars coming towards you with their bright lights on. Twice a day they had a TWA 747-200 come in 1 from LAX and the second from STL of course the one from STL would be used that evening for TWA's ORD - LHR ( London Heathrow Airport flight ) one part of my family would only fly TWA and the other part ( from Chicago ) would only fly on AA in fact my other Aunt and Uncle flew AA FLT 191 ORD - LAX regularly to see my cousins. They were originally booked to fly on the ill-fated fly 191 but my Uncle needed the employees to finish a bid before he could leave, so my Aunt Ruth called AA and rescheduled for the following day. I'm told many had last minute changes that took them off or put them on the Ill-fated flight. In fact one celebrity to have a last minute fear in her gut was the 'Bionic Woman ' Lindsey Wagner was traveling to LAX with her Mother and told her Mom, "Mom, we cannot board this flight, I have a terrible feeling, Mom lets cancel this flight for another tomorrow." Lindsey's Mom knew she was a no-nonsense type of person immediately agreed with her and they cancelled. It saved their lives. Seeing this footage brings back memories of days when we could walk pretty close to the door and if Dad were traveling for work we could sometimes get on with him and sit in the CAs or FOs seats while they did walk-arounds. First Class was so classy back then, but heck I'dve sat on the floor as long as I got a window. I want to thank you for posting these memories which lead to other memories, these were great times. Thanks again!
And when it came to quality TV sets and the camcorder and VCR that were novelties of that time, Magnavox was THE most reliable brand. My Mom wanted nothing but Magnavox when it came to having a big screen TV and a VCR.
G G, Sure. You can say that. But remember that aircraft today are more fuel efficient and don’t need four engines to fly across a continent like these ‘true’ or ‘real’ aircraft needed. I really don’t think a marketing strategy such as partnership is crappy because remember that airlines in the 70s were over-funding planes in hope they would offer more to the public person but it was never about civilians and they seemed to be more focused on profit; that’s why seats are cheaper and why you ask, because airlines have more routes, partners and better aircraft.
What great video...incredibly cool of a time that is long since gone in aviation...that 737-100, that 727 (friggin' scary underpowered plane), DC8 and more....