The arrival of Lufthansa’s shiny new Boeing 727 in Budapest was an event in itself. The flight from Frankfurt was almost always on time, the 727 looking like it had come from Boeing’s delivery centre the day before… We learnt early that she could climb and descend like no other jet serving Budapest and as such she was every controller’s best friend.
Although one did not play favorites with any airline, it was hard to refuse when an LH skipper asked for a particular runway or other small “favor” pilots sometimes requested. After several months of uneventful operation one morning we noticed that the return flight plan was filed to Belgrade rather than Frankfurt. So what gives?
Lufthansa had extended the service and connected to Belgrade via Budapest, not knowing that this would result in one of the most spectacular shows a 727 put on anywhere in the world.
Our single runway at the time was 13/31 with 31 being the runway in use most of the time due to the prevailing wind direction. Landing on 13 was discouraged unless unavoidable due to the final track passing right alongside the prohibited airspace established over the city of Budapest. People tended to start calling with complaints if they saw somebody flying anywhere near there… a fact that did not prevent us from clearing a few “friends”, among them LH, to tip-toe in to 13 when the sky was overcast and complainer Joe and friends were prevented from noticing.
On the other hand, taking off from 13 was really reserved for times when the wind did not make any other direction possible. The thunder of engines at take off power pointed directly at the city was more than anyone could explain away unless the wind was there to blame.
Needless to say, the LH 727 skipper wanted runway 13 for take-off for their first flight to Belgrade. It was a crisp, cloudless day with hardly a breeze. There was no way 13 could be authorized. So, away they went from 31, turning right as called for by the Standard Instrument Departure and we were left with a feeling of having failed a friend.
If only he could turn to the left… that would be a much shorter track. But the damn prohibited airspace was there and most types would fly smack through it if they were told to turn to the left. The idea kept coming back though…
A few days later I was again on day shift and when Lufthansa’s 727 got ready to taxi to runway 31, on an impulse I asked them whether they would prefer to turn left after take-off, making a really short left turn and then direct to Belgrade in the South. There was a short silence and then the self-assured reply: yes tower that is possible. I could feel the others in the tower cab looking at me with worried eyes and I am sure they were silently kissing good-buy to their Christmas bonuses, all because of my stupidity. But it was too late, the 727 was lining up…
The first indication that this would be different from other take-offs came when we saw the 727, normally doing nothing but rolling take-offs, stop at the end of the runway. Even from 3 kilometers away we could hear the three engines spool up to take off power and only when the noise reached its top did she begin to move forward. And move she did! In no time at all, she was rotating and then airborne, climbing like a homesick angel and even before having passed the tower, she was banking hard, turning left, showing her twinkling underbelly to us in the tower cab and to the gaping crowd on the observation terrace… incredibly, she was turning inside the airport perimeter fence, climbing triumphantly with her nose now pointing to 180 degrees, the short left turn executed as ordered… Our friends at departure control were looking all over the place to pick up the 727 on radar. Of course with the radar antenna on the airport, she was invisible to them until the plane flew out of the blind cone by which time Departure did not need to vector them any more…
News of this special procedure in Budapest traveled fast inside Lufthansa as well as among the controllers concerned. They all wanted to see the majestic sight of a 727 backtracking in the air with not even their wingtip extending outside the airport perimeter fence. And the Lufthansa pilots were more than happy to oblige.
After a time it became normal for them to call the tower for start-up and add immediately: WE ARE READY FOR A SHORT LEFT TURN.