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Post by PB on Nov 30, 2023 8:00:55 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 30/11/23Tomorrow it's December, the very word conjures visions of Christmas cards dropping through the letter box conveying seasonal greetings, robins, and snow - and most welcome they are - it also presents some almost childlike recall of magical moments long ago when Christmas Day with Mum and Dad and that fantastic new train set was the absolute pinnacle of life's joys. The world is very different today, but I'm sure that children feel the magic and seeing it in their eyes is to be looked forward to. Our first grandson is well over four and I'm sure he will be full of the joys of Christmas - and that alone will make Christmas 'magical'. A little magic in our lives goes a long way!!
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” So said the words of Dickens in his classic "Christmas Carol"... or should I say the words of Scrooge in Dickens wonderful account of the festive 'spirit'. I guess we all live in the three mediums of past, present, and future - without them what would life be? I think in my case, and that of others who share the Blackbushe story, the past, present, and future of our noble airfield each take a generous share of our 'thinking time'...all are within POTD's cerebral field of operations.The "past"...The "present"......The "future"...?Who said, "Bah, humbug"PB
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Post by PB on Dec 1, 2023 8:03:37 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 01/12/23December has arrived, at 07.00 the outside air temperature is indicating -6C. Very festive.
December, the month at the beginning of which in 1972 I departed Heathrow on my first 'round-the-world' duty trip with BOAC and arrived back late on Christmas night. Beirut, Delhi, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Fiji, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York in just over three weeks. Dear old VC10 days.. The trip I met the lady who is my wonderful wife that brought us back to the UK on Christmas night. Christmas feels like that trip is still ongoing, and this year our second grandson will experience his first Christmas. My father died on Christmas night a few years later, he never knew that his first grandson was en route. December and Christmas have deep meanings for us... Proof at the Pathfinder, it's that time of year again..There was a report quite some years ago that an American U2 aeroplane landed at Blackbushe. Never seen any proof, but there are some who say it happened. Blackbushe was a major United States Navy base, who knows, it was a stealth machine! Tomorrow night the name U2 lands at Blackbushe, I quote from the very words of the Pathfinder.."More live music here on Saturday 2nd December when we host 'A Sort of U2'. Join us as they play hits from the stadium rocking superstars. Doors open at 7pm Band at 8pm. Bring your singing voices and dancing shoes".Doors open at 7pm, music starts at 8pm..A sad winter's tale - and tail.. The last Eagle movement at Blackbushe and a very sad one. The Viscount flew in from an airport up north, was parked over on the northern side of the Airport and unceremoniously destroyed. If ever irony was at large it must have been then...I guess it was sometime in the seventies, not everything is rubber stamped on my brain, but the awful visions are hard to forget..Take care, PB
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Post by PB on Dec 2, 2023 7:22:36 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 02/12/23Only -1.6C at 05.45 this morning, positively balmy compared to this time yesterday.
Yesterday "POTD" set foot on some of the sentimental issues that come to the fore at this time of year. Brought back recall of one of the great British Christmas TV adverts, it still touches the heart strings and even serves a tear in the corner of an eye as recall is made of the VC10 and 707 years that provided undreamed of experiences with amazing people who shared the jet lagged life of long haul operations. Seeing as you're special, here's the advert in question... Perhaps I'm just a sentimental old fool, but some deep emotions are locked in there that reflect on deeply sentimental and special times.
Sentiment and emotions play an essential part on the stage of life, aviation is perhaps interwoven with emotional and sentimental 'journeys' more than many other walks of life. The people you shared it with, airports, and the beauty of flight and the panoramas that our planet unveils day after day. All are whisked into the blending machine of life and served as a rich cocktail the taste of which is unlike any other...
Anyway, enough of the sentimental stuff and straight back into some more..
Stepping back into the days when Blackbushe Airport was a rising star in our nation's offering of civil airports there came some wonderful aeroplanes from the drawing boards of British designers. Today, 2nd December marks the first flights of two such venerable flying machines and their launch into the post-war civil aviation scene - the days when this country was famed for designing, building, and flying aeroplanes that were 100% stamped with being British built.. These two landmarks on British aviation first flew on 2nd December, 1945 and through their lives also became landmarks in the story of Blackbushe..The charmingly ponderous Bristol Freighter, took her time to get places, never won a beauty contest, but she filled a hole in the needs of post-war aviation and the long distance haulage of goods.Very much synonymous with the Blackbushe scene in the fifties, here are some parked up on Blackbushe 'south'.The last visit. A Mk32 Freighter joined a Viscount at Blackbushe in the sixties for the making of a drama TV series. 'Gold Robbers' a mini TV series in the late 1960s, a Viscount AND a Bristol Freighter together again on Blackbushe tarmac was a sight to behold.G-AGPV was that prototype Bristol Freighter that first flew on 2nd December, 1945. She was overhauled by Eagle at Blackbushe in March, 1958, and thereafter flew in and out of Blackbushe quite regularly under the name of Shortcut Aviation thoughout 1958 and into 1959.. Some 214 Freighters were built including the stretched Mk32 version, very few remain although there is one at Bristol Filton, rescued from New Zealand a few years ago. This rugged old workhorse never won a beauty contest, but the type ended up serving operators the world over.The second 'all-British' first flight on this day in 1945 was the multi engined Handley-Page Hermes. Its large fin and size becoming very familiar sights in the life of Blackbushe. Sadly, her life did not start off well, the prototype suffered a fatal accident on its first flight. Eventually the type joined BOAC before being sold off to the growing independent airlines and hence the type's association with Blackbushe.BOAC days during a visit to Blackbushe..Truly synonymous with Blackbushe of old - Britavia, and a Hermes. ...and onboard.And so it is that time takes all away, apart from a few precious bits. One Hermes fuselage survives at IMW Duxford and the Freighter is close to being extinct. It seems just a few short years ago that a visit to Blackbushe would always include the sight of these two who shared a common first flight date. The memories linger although the years try to take the sharp edges off precious images of days the likes of which we will never see again.
PB
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Post by PB on Dec 2, 2023 13:13:29 GMT
In Remembrance... "Stuart".
It was on this day in 2021 that our good friend Stuart Marshall was taken from us. Airport Manager, life long sharer of Blackbushe in the blood, a most sincere friend for many years, and co-founder of our Blackbushe Forum. Many of his accounts of days gone by and the aircraft that were part of Blackbushe in the past lie within the Forum, plus his books and writing on the wartime years are priceless in the assistance they continue to give when seeking detail of the past.
The many photos he left me, and his articles, are often part of the daily "POTD", indeed it feels as if he is still working with me toward our hopes of giving the Airport's past a bit of a dusting!
Sadly missed, I'm sure he will be looking down and willing Blackbushe toward the goal waited for for so many years.
Rest well dear friend...until we meet again. Our thoughts as always are with Sandra and his loving family.
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Post by PB on Dec 3, 2023 7:56:57 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 03/12/23Pleasantly surprised to find the outside air temperature at 06.00 had reached a positive +3C overnight, I'm sure -6C was showing around midnight?
Whatever the temperature air is funny stuff, couldn't exist without it, but most of all we couldn't fly without it. Imagine that! Talking of air, it was on this day way back in 1914 that Alec Ogilvie successfully patented the first reliable airspeed indicator.. Hard to imagine life without the reassurance of your airspeed indicated before you, those early pioneers of flight had to 'feel' there way through the air I guess?The arrival of a Comet 4 no doubt required careful airspeed monitoring, but she stopped having only consumed about half of the current Blackbushe runway!A salute this chill morning to the incredible team working through all weathers on the restoration of the Blackbushe Heritage Trust's Viking. Much progress is being made, much behind the scenes, by now the fuselage is back to bare metal the fake airline markings removed and ready now for the next stage - namely removing bumps and rough areas before that much looked forward application of new colours. Some way off, but with the recent delivery of new workshop machinery and tools this much loved aeroplane can look forward to many months of restorative TLC before she appears wearing her new coat.A salute to all the other volunteers who currently prepare the new on-site shop, look after sales of Heritage Trust material, and do fantastic work on fund raising missions... THANK YOU!!My time's up...
PB
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Post by PB on Dec 4, 2023 8:11:31 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 04/12/23Time flies faster, the face that looks back at me from the mirror (who is that guy?) seemingly more lines and cracks than the last time we exchanged glances, and there's no doubt the years are getting shorter. Last night the annual safari amid the cobwebs of the past year to recover the boxes of Christmas stuff was launched. Life down on the coal face where fossils of the past are/were discovered would not be much more daunting than the crawl through storage from years of the past to recover the multi sized boxes full of festive stuff. There's no doubt we live in a time warp where time is eaten up ever faster the period between these annual sorties seemingly ever shorter.. I recall last year's return of said boxed to their resting place thinking the planet had to perform yet another orbit of the Sun before we'd meet again. Ages!! Hmm, that was quick but we will have travelled 584 million miles in that orbit of our star, within our solar system that hurtles to who knows where... Perhaps best not to think about it, it all seems beyond imagination.
OK, that's the prelude to Christmas. Back to Earth. The next twelve months on our 'journey' will be decisive ones for our local airfields, namely Blackbushe and Farnborough. Blackbushe moving ever onward toward that day when bricks and mortar combine to produce a new hangar, or two, Farnborough moving once again toward more permitted movements and who knows what to local airspace... Our local MP, Ranil Jayawardena, has written to every household in his constituency with a multi choice set of questions with boxes to tick. "Are you opposed to the Airport plans", "which of the proposals concerns you most", "which mitigating circumstance concerns you the most". Make your own mind up as to which side of the aviation fence our MP resides.. Meanwhile, an exciting year waits ahead for Blackbushe Airport. There are still some calendars left, available from the store - www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/store - amid assorted other goodies that you shouldn't miss!! Please do not forget December 21st... The big pre-Christmas get together at the Pathfinder. A year of great successes in our journey toward restoring a Viking and a slice of Blackbushe history, BHT Trustees and Team Leaders will be updating everyone on what has been achieved to-date and what is planned for the future. We will also be opening the evening up to questions and answers and discussions so everyone can have their say.
Seasonal and other hot drinks will be on offer along with a cold buffet.
We’re not formally charging for this event, but would welcome a suggested donation of £5 (or whatever amount you want to give!) on the door to help us cover costs. It would be great to see a big festive turnout!
Looking forward to seeing you!!
PB
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Post by PB on Dec 5, 2023 7:22:21 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 05/12/23As winter creeps in its chill and gloomy way toward the bright lights of Christmas perhaps a journey back to December in 1943. RAF Hartford Bridge had been operational for just over a year and had found her teeth in battle hardened conditions. December of 1943 started quietly, the weather did not help, attacks on the V1 sites having to be abandoned. 88 and 107 Squadrons were ready next day as the weather improved as they carried out a 'circus' attack..ie bombing attacks with fighter cover. One aircraft was damaged due to a bid strike, the unfortunate bird probably unable to report an aircraft strike..
34 Wing photographed targets in the Pas de Calais region that included V1 launching sites. Very urgently required these photos were flown up to 2 Group at RAF Swanton Morley once they'd been printed at Hartford Bridge, PR work from Hartford Bridge included the unarmed Spitfires of 16 Squadron whose successes prior to D Day provided essential intelligence for the execution of the Invasion of Europe over the target.
The airfield today continues a more peaceful line of operations with flying training, business flying, and restoration of a Viking airliner by the Blackbushe Heritage Trust.The Trust's award recently received in appreciation of the effort and endeavour shown in not only the mammoth task of getting the aircraft from Austria, but also the incredible efforts made by the Team of volunteers in fund raising, events, and also the technical chaps out on the coal face in conditions that brass monkeys would understand.It's already been said, but to repeat the adverts, on 21st December the Blackbushe Heritage Trust will be holding an informal gathering at the Pathfinder Cafe. Refreshments will be available and the evening will give the chance for some networking and updating on how and where the Viking's journey is progressing. You would be very welcome, starts at 7pm and a suggested donation of a fiver would go toward covering costs and the overall costs.It may be eight decades since Spitfires flew from Blackbushe in anger, but their sound's still heard. The unique and only ex Russian Air Force Spitfire arrives at this year's Blackbushe Air Day. A wonderful day of gentle breezes, wall to wall sunshine, and a very worthwhile event. I think that's it for today..don't forget the next Air Day will be in June next year. Mark the 15th now!!
PB
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Post by PB on Dec 6, 2023 6:55:33 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 06/12/23Christmas is coming, the trains are going on strike AND so are the Doctors! Waiting for trains that aren't running is bad enough, but having already waited eighteen months to be seen for what is seemingly a neurological problem with its cerebral pain and associated restrictions the joke is wearing a little thin. It's not just me, my conditions are no doubt trivial to those suffered by the many others who 'wait'.. but I'm sure we all will wish the doctors a very happy Christmas.
Meanwhile we forge ahead. Today Blackbushe Heritage Trust will be 'on-show' at British Airways headquarters. It's BA's 'sustainability day' and we'll be on show to all demonstrating how the Viking project is progressing. The Viking was, of course, the backbone of British European Airways in the post war Northolt days plus the spine of numerous independent airlines who found Blackbushe to be a most agreeable base.The versatile Viking, here wearing a military outfit as required for trooping flights..Memories! An Eagle Viking departs Blackbushe from runway 08. Seen from the north-eastern quarter the Control Tower and distant Terminal are visible. The Airport was rather large in her days up until May, 1960. Blackbushe may be smaller nowadays, but her heart still beats in unison with the hoped for exciting future that awaits...Gotta go.. PB
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Post by PB on Dec 7, 2023 6:54:20 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 07/12/23Good morning Blackbushe people!!
A great day enjoyed yesterday as part of the Blackbushe Heritage Trust team who took the Trust and its work to British Airway's Waterside HQ participating in the airline's "Sustainability Day"... A chance to show what has been achieved already in the journey to bring our Viking into a restored condition where it will tell the story of Vikings and Blackbushe - with the support provided thus far by British Airways that has truly made our project viable. The Trust's stand at Waterside yesterday included our Viking model, naturally, plus a splendid collection photographs of Vikings in service with British European Airways where, of course, our own "Vagabond" originated. The visions were backed-up by Phil John's 'sound machine' whereby the sound of a Viking opening-up to take off thrust could be played along with cabin announcements as per BEA cabin crew in the fifties. A most worthwhile day showing BA what their help has helped us achieve so far, plus meeting many of the BA personnel including the Chief Executive himself who is most certainly very pleased to see how the Blackbushe Viking project is progressing...Dave Payne's fabulous study of a British European Airways Viking in flight as a backdrop to our Viking added to the air of romance recalled from days long gone..Now, as mentioned already on "POTD" but I'll mention it again, the Blackbushe Heritage Trust are holding a pre-Christmas festive gathering at the Pathfinder on 21 December. This is the chance for all of the 'Blackbushe people' to come together and enjoy a relaxed social occasion, a cold buffet will be served along with a choice of drinks, festive or otherwise! A chance for the 'regulars' seen around the Pathfinder at weekends to become acquainted with the our story and hear the latest in updates from Trustees as to the Viking's story.. DO TRY and join us at the Pathfinder on 21st December from 7pm. A 'donation' of £5 toward costs would be asked for. The evening will also provide a last chance to grab some raffle tickets and maybe win a flight simulator experience with BA at Heathrow, a flight in Cesna for an hour plus loads of other great prizes. The draw will take place later in the evening ...
Do please come and join us for a lighthearted evening and share the fun and festivities - it'll be great to see you!!Also on display yesterday at BA Waterside, Aviation Heritage UK's prestigious award received by the Blackbushe Heritage Trust recently "Group of the Year 2023"..PB
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Post by PB on Dec 8, 2023 7:07:46 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 08/12/23Another day, another memory... Take today's date, for example, anyone who was an advocate of the brilliant TV series "Mash" will recall the nimble Bell 47 helicopters that played an essential part in those days of warfare in Vietnam, today marks the type's first flight on this day in 1945. The rotary 'flying bubble' often featured in films and TV programmes - the ubiquitous 'chopper' of the time..The Army Historic Flight's Bell 47, the Sioux, participating in one of the Aerobility 'Picnic by the Planes' events some years ago.The Army Historic Flight always supported our events, this occasion being no exception!The end of a perfect evening, happy people enjoyed their picnic by the planes accompanied by live music from Steve 'Blackbushe Aviation' Morley and his band..and an unusual assortment of aeroplanes gathered up for the occasion...Richard Goodwin arrived with his jet powered Pitts, minus the jet engines on this occasion...A less pleasant event on this day, but one that has had a long lasting effect, happened in 1963. Pan Am Boeing 707 'Clipper Tradewind' was struck by lightning, a strike that ignited fuel vapour in the port wing. The resultant explosion detached a large portion of the wing and the rest is history costing 81 lives. The significance of this tragedy being that US Federal Aviation Administration then ordered the fitting of static dischargers to all commercial jets flying within the United States. 'See' you here tomorrow, and don't forget the Blackbushe Heritage Trust's pre-Christmas gathering at the Pathfinder on 21 December. See you there? Details on the website and in yesterday's "POTD"...
PB
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