Good Morning, Oppo

[ttyymmnn]

[Sam Blockhan]

@ttyymmnn Peculiar bus

[Roadkilled]

@Sam-Blockhan

It's an old Commer Commando.

Morris also made bussed in that style.

[Sam Blockhan]

@Roadkilled Thank you for identifying it! Google won't let me find interior shots or pictures of the back. Why do the rear seats suddenly go up? Is the extra space for a staircase, cargo space, and a fire escape?

[ttyymmnn]

@Sam-Blockhan said in Good Morning, Oppo:

Why do the rear seats suddenly go up?

This is an absolute guess on my part, but my thought is it was to allow for luggage or other cargo.

[Roadkilled]

@Sam-Blockhan

There weren't many built and even fewer survive. I don't know the details and I can only guess. These busses were commonly used at airfields. I would assume that the rear was designed for a larger cargo area. That would allow a single trip to an airplane parked remotely on the airfield. You could bring passengers, luggage and cargo in a single trip. Cargo could be easily accessed from the rear.

There is one at the Yorkshire Air Museum with some additional information.
https://yorkshireairmuseum.org/explore/collections/

[ttyymmnn]

@Roadkilled

So it was basically a late-40s SuperShuttle from the airport to downtown.

[Roadkilled]

@ttyymmnn

I think it was more of a 1940s/50s version of the elevated busses that were used for taking passengers from the terminal to the plane.

[facw]

@Roadkilled I still think the mobile lounges are a good idea!

[ttyymmnn]

@facw said in Good Morning, Oppo:

@Roadkilled I still think the mobile lounges are a good idea!

I like the shark fins.

[Ad absurdum per aspera]

@Sam-Blockhan -- Looks like a bus carrying an egg sac from which more buses will hatch.

Fortunately a DC-3 emits an aesthetic force field that makes everything in its vicinity better looking.

[Roadkilled]

@facw said in Good Morning, Oppo:

@Roadkilled I still think the mobile lounges are a good idea!

Mobile lounges were useful when airports were limited by gate space. Now, most airports have expanded their terminals. The bottleneck seems to be landing slots.

I have had a few flights out of Schiphol where the plane was parked at a remote stand and passengers were bussed to and from the terminal. Low busses seem to be more common now for this situation.

[facw]

@Roadkilled Buses to the plane are much more common in Europe. There are potential advantages though:

• Higher gate density (less walking)
• Ability to load plane from any door (or multiple doors)
• Aircraft parking flexibility

Of course you have downsides:

• More personnel needed
• Longer trips between terminal and planes
• Last bus to plane is potentially a bottleneck
• Harder to treat premium passengers specially

[Roadkilled]

@facw
You are missing one major downside. Busses are much more challenging for people with disabilities. Most of the busses I've been on require climbing stairs to the aircraft. A few airports have ramps in North America, but most in Europe seem to use stairs.

[facw]

@Roadkilled Mobile lounges don't have that limitation though!

I'll admit I've never really though about how stair loaded planes handle that. Do they bring a lift? Do they just muscle people/chairs up/down the stairs?

[benn454]

@ttyymmnn I'm guessing the plane is liveried in English because it is expected to go on international flights, while the bus is liveried in Afrikaans because it is expected to never leave SA.

[AuthiCooper1300]

@benn454

I'm guessing the plane is liveried in English because it is expected to go on international flights, while the bus is liveried in Afrikaans because it is expected to never leave SA.

Interestingly, this very same DC-3 ("Klapperkop", ZS-BXF) has survived:

http://www.saamuseum.co.za/our-aircraft/68-douglas-dc-3-dakota.html

Notice that the lettering on the port side is indeed in English, while on the starboard side is in Afrikaans.

Good point about the bus though!