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Post by PB on Feb 23, 2024 6:56:52 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 23/02/24Decided to sleep on the sofa to give my far better half a chance of sleeping thanks to my lung wrenching cough that refuses to lie down. What a load of crap on TV at three in the morning! A chance to catch-up on some old recordings although I don't think I'll live long enough to see most of them, they just keep building up!
Looking back into the days when new aeroplane designs appeared perhaps more frequently than they do today, on this day in 1934 the fabulous looking Lockheed Electra first took to the sky. Twin radial engines and twin fins and all-metal she truly looked the part. A rare bird in this country, but.... ...visitors to last year's Blackbushe Air Day had the pleasure of seeing and hearing the type on show!!That's all for today.
PB
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Post by PB on Feb 24, 2024 6:11:48 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 24/02/24It's Saturday - yippeeee! 05.00 - don't want to miss a minute of my lung wrenching, muscle ripping, sonic wind tunnel of a chest bug. More sleep than the night before, well slightly more, only another hour and a half until the central heating kicks in! Being a total gent I left Mrs Brown to her slumbers some while ago, I guess having something - or someone - that sounds akin to a volcano erupting inches from your ear for hours can't be good for either party?Nothing like planning ahead and being optimistic about the future!!Meanwhile, tomorrow, should be shopping in Camberley the Blackbushe Heritage Trust Exhibition and Sales stall will be open in The Square Shopping Centre in Camberley, between 10am and 4pm. The Team are getting very organised now, this is just one of numerous planned sorties into the 'market place' to sell BHT merchandise and spread the word according to the Viking restoration - and raise funds! Reflecting on the past and Blackbushe's highly varied life. This is where the new hangars were built at the west end of the airfield during Doug Arnold's tenure. Today BCA own the area having kept the hangars for their second-hand car business. Must say, when Blackbushe was closed in 1960 I never dreamed that one day a Ju-52 and a Beech 18 would rest together on Blackbushe soil - or that anything 'aviation' would happen again.. ..or that five B-25s would live here for a while - or that I'd fly in one!..or come the 21st Century that all types of business aircraft would frequent that famous tarmac!That's enough from me, have a great day and stay well!!
PB
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Post by PB on Feb 25, 2024 8:08:17 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 25/02/25Having given a blow by blow account of my recent chest infection over the last day or two, you might think medical reports were up to date? Nope, last evening your scribe was nipping up the garden when a mossy path caused loss of footing and an earthbound trajectory. Unfortunately a concrete garden ornament was in my way, my journey downwards coming to an abrupt stop when my face/nose took the full impact! Five hours in A&E, nose stitched back together, left knee and right hand bloodied and bruised but serviceable! The face no longer looks like my face, horror film stuff, and a little uncomfortable. Frimley Park A&E were brilliant although the experience took about five long hours. They were packed out, but I was the most impressive looking casualty with a number of people taking a sharp intake of breath when they saw the sight. Doctors being on strike was unfortunate shall we say...but some were on duty!
Today is more interesting from an aviation history point of view, in 1965 the date witnessed the first flight of the MD DC-9. A delight to fly in and during my days as a Flight Dispatcher an aeroplane I got to know quite well! Going back to the early/mid sixties at Blackbushe when the DC-9 first flew, the battle for survival was very much ongoing....life on the apron and across the airfield looking somewhat sparse... but the Blackbushe story is still ongoing and will be long after those DC-9s have vanished.PB
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Post by PB on Feb 26, 2024 8:00:12 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 26/02/24"POTD" tries to bring some kind of aviation story with Blackbushe as its focus on a daily basis. As the injuries from my Saturday night event continue to swell, my eyes have all but disappeared behind vast red and black developments, the stitched nose continues to bleed, and the raging chest bug continues to rage making sleep almost impossible "POTD" production might find itself in jeopardy. Hopefully not, but the editorial staff are looking a bit 'jaded' this morning.
A snip from the past indicates that on this day in 2010 United Airlines Twitter account was hacked and started posting links to 'male-enhancement' pills.... On this chill windy February morning casting the mind back to 2017 and the Blackbushe 75th...Brief again today, but hopefully if you were there in 2017 some good memories are recalled?
PB
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Post by PB on Feb 27, 2024 6:43:46 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 27/02/24So we meet again! Another day of swigging pain killers and sheepish looks at the mirror wondering whole I'll see looking back at me today! Still not too pretty, in fact I was recommended for a horror movie role by one of my family yesterday, nice!!
On more cheerful subjects ...Easter quiz night at the Pathfinder..Have fun, have food, and support the Blackbushe Heritage Trust! Don't forget, form your team now!! The evenings are getting lighter, daffodils are nodding, the best time of year lies ahead with Spring and gathering warmth - and, of course, the new flying season where daylight and high-pressure combine to give those long hours..Going back some 82 years! October 1942, the month before Blackbushe opened as Royal Air Force Hartford Bridge. The history that has flowed from those runways is indeed profound, it's a marvel that she has survived the brickbats that have been played against her since 1960 but hopefully the outstanding response in support of Blackbushe shown during the recent Consultation leads us to hope that a new future at Blackbushe Airport awaits. These days may be over as heavy transport aircraft went about their business at Blackbushe, but the Airport has a future of opportunities as air travel evolves into quieter and new sources of propulsion. While Farnborough may consume the heavy end of business travel Blackbushe offers the affordable options not to mention ease of access. A mix of flying training, aircraft maintenance, passenger facilities and excellent dining opportunities too!! I look forward to an evening meal in Blackbushe's new restaurant. That's if I can an avoid trying to kill myself tripping over and head butting a concrete post...Days like this would be more akin to the future as a Ministry of Civil Aviation Dove prepares to land. Approach lights such as these will not be spread across the land, a new modern lighting system on the airfield combined with 21st Century 'onboard' systems that can already fly an approach..If the proposed Land Exchange goes ahead the Airport can develop the necessary infrastructure supporting a modern thriving General Aviation facility while the local community gain an extra 35 acres of Common Land. Win-win - or what?
Mind how you go! PB
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Post by PB on Feb 28, 2024 7:44:45 GMT
Photo of the Day" 28/02/24It's funny, or rather it isn't funny, how facial injuries can change one from being perhaps slightly grotesque to the utterly hideous! My wife changed the dressings yesterday, being a nurse I'm lucky to have someone who knows about this kind of thing.. Honestly, I've seen better looking corpses than me at this time with a stitched together nose, horribly swollen and bruised face, bloodied knees, and the top of both hands the colour of hands after a long shift down the coal mines. Oh, and the nose area is just a little sensitive..yipes!! One has to treat these things with good humour or it could all get a bit depressing. I'd love to jump in the car and pop up to my local aerodrome, but I'd probably empty the Pathfinder in seconds and that would not be good for business!!
Luckily MS Flight Siumulator 2020 is next to me, and I can lose myself in there for ages. Quite remarkable, given the PC is powerful enough, how one can fly from anywhere to anywhere VFR/IFR with incredibly detailed aircraft, scenery and clouds that are simply amazing, and flight planning as simple or as complex as you choose. Take off from a Blackbushe that looks just like 'Blackbushe' with a commercial upgrade from LN Simulations, head south and indeed there's my house!! The real world awaits! Yesterday afternoon, a low level IFR Cessna T207 Stationair flight from Blackbushe to Edinburgh, the weather 'as is' all the way, and other aircraft on airways are imported from real schedules. You hear Speedbird xxx and then look on FR24 and sure enough there it is! How real do you want? MSFS2020 has truly captured the essence of flight but nothing can beat the real thing!! MSFS 2024 is coming at some point and that will be a treat!
Anyway enough advertising and horror stories!! Talking of epic flights, even more than my EGLK-EGPH yesterday, today marks the day when Steve Fosset launched his solo, nonstop, non-refueled aerial circumnavigation of the globe. FLYING the GlobalFlyer, A purpose built aeroplane that featured 13 fuel tanks and a 7-foot (2-metre) cockpit, he took off from Salina, Kansas, on February 28 and returned there some 67 hours later, on March 3. Imagine!!
To round-up today's "POTD" a few monochrome moments from our days at Blackbushe. Therein lie a million memories...All the above from the camera of my dear friend, the late Gordon Wilmer. Every photo laced with memories that can never be repeated, funny how those days seemed 'never-ending', but time has its way!
Sorry about the self pity as alluded to in para 1...!!!
PB
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Post by PB on Feb 29, 2024 8:39:52 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 29/02/24Up at 04.00, breakfast at 05.00, what could cause such early movement when you're retired and free of the pressures that were so much a part of life - once!
Could it be discomfort from my recent 'prang', a bad dream, wind, an uninvited guest, rats in the roof, or another hurricane rattling the rafters that eluded the Met Office's forecasters? Was it bad news? Why was the "POTD" chap out and about when he could have been enjoying some more zzzz's? Perhaps pouring a glass of water into the bed at 03.30 had a bearing on proceedings! Somehow the bedside drink slipped from my hand and landed squarely between myself and Mrs Brown. OMG, thank heavens it didn't land upon the lady of the manor! Imagine...
Was that enough to get one to break the nocturnal peace, well yes, trying to sleep in a puddle is not terribly comfortable and by now the prang damage was back in pain full-flow.
But, there is something else..have you heard the news??
BLACKBUSHE AIRPORT TO CLOSE.
There, is that not enough to cause sleeplessness? No doubt, but fear not but this closure unlike in 1960 when destruction came, in 2024 it is constructive and the first steps toward the new Blackbushe!!
Seeing the light would indeed be the absolute truth because from next week the process of establishing total and a totally new power supply to Blackbushe begins, a 'connection' that will be reflected in all new runway lighting, and then General Aviation will have gained an all new night flying facility. If ever there was confirmation that the Blackbushe owners mean what they say this is it!!
The Airport will close from Monday 9th April until Friday 19th April to facilitate necessary work and excavation on the runway, but the work begins on Monday 4th March and will go on until the end of June. Cost? Around £1.5 million.Read it for yourself from the Airport's website... www.blackbusheairport.co.uk/agl This was a while ago, in the early sixties we lit the runway with 'goose-necks' paraffin flares that provided a runway at night, Gordon Wilmer and I would set-up our spot mid-field to capture some of the action.. Of course, way back in time during WW2 FIDO was let loose on the RAF airfield... Blackbushe enjoyed new experimental lighting as new systems were tested here during the heady days of the 1950's. The lighting system of the 21st Century will put Blackbushe in a new ball game, confidence if it need to demonstrated of the seriousness being taken toward the 'new' Blackbushe!!
PB
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Post by PB on Mar 1, 2024 7:47:28 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 01/03/24One great leap from February 29th and we're into Spring!! Wet and windy from where I'm looking but only 3.5 months to the Air Day, and on Monday the first activity toward Blackbushe's super-dooper lighting installation work. Won't be finished until June after the Air Day. As for now, we await the determination on the public Consultation as to the next step toward Blackbushe truly regaining her self-respect.
Last night wasn't much fun, I feel as if I've been dragged through several hedges face first. Ongoing fevery chest infection and crash damage that'll be a week old tomorrow. My advice is never allow a concrete fence post to block your fall - they have no mercy!! I just hope the strange dis-colourations on my face subside, it looks as if some crazed tattoo artist has let rip around my lips, chin, and face.. No photos!
I note that yesterday the Beech Baron made its first flight, 29th February, 1960. The type is older than the time passage since Blackbushe closed in May of that year... Frighteningly it seems no time since one of our early "Fly-ins" at Blackbushe - Easter 1962 I think - and the Baron made its first appearance on our airfield. I was only 14 apparently, but what a joy to be involved in the proceedings!!On the same day this Beech 23 demo aircraft, G-ASCL, also joined us offering flights that were willingly accepted by many!..and there's the gleaming new Baron! A fabulous day seeing Blackbushe seemingly covered in aeroplanes, just an ordinary day at Blackbushe now, but then we just could dream of the future..Next day a very different scene as desolation returned. But always and ever hopeful!I've just heard that we're scrapping 30 quick reaction Typhoons to save money! Our protection (hopefully!) against Vladimir calling... The plan has been likened to 'scrapping Spitfires before the Battle of Britain'....Signing off, have a wonderful March! PB
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Post by PB on Mar 2, 2024 7:58:36 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 02/03/24The first weekend of Spring 2024, it's great isn't it? The future of Blackbushe gets closer to being revealed - much as it has done for the past sixty-two years - but this time it's serious! On Monday the logistics involved with the massive runway lighting project begin and will continue to late June when all will be ready. I know it's only just Spring but it's tempting to look forward to the darker nights of autumn if only to see Blackbushe's main runway shine like it hasn't shone for six decades.
This has not been a good week for the "POTD" scribe where accident and misadventure combined with still raging chest bug have rather diluted one's zest for life. Having a lifelong yearning to leave the Earth and ascend above by means of wings and an engine, or two, what could be better when you're a degree under than to go flying? Happily next to me awaits my flight sim super dooper computer where more than once I've embarked on a number of long cross country flights aboard the Cessna 205. Yes, here in "POTD" Headquarters technology abounds - not that I know much about it except bashing out "POTD" on this PC and escaping to another realm on the other. Goes without saying, flights usually originate from Blackbushe! I pinched the callsign from a Blackbushe resident - hopefully Blackbushe Aviation won't mind! Photo via phone, a screen shot would have avoided the interference lines.Last evening I indulged in a series of circuits and bumps to polish-up my procedures, heights and speeds etc etc. Happily the runway lights are on in MSFS - and it looks good! Strong crosswind from the south called for deft rudder work! Good old flight-sim truly takes you above your station!Blackbushe Heritage Trust shop and history hub, no excuses for not seeing it now! Thanks to Chris Gazzard for the new decor and the photo..That's it, stay well!!
PB
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Post by PB on Mar 3, 2024 7:30:13 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 03/03/2406.30 on Sunday morning and still greeted by something of a horror picture when seeing my face in the mirror. No, I'm not anchored to profound vanity, just rather pee'd off by the damage inflicted by the accident a week ago - nose still bleeding, knee following suit, and tomorrow the stitches are all yanked out..Can't wait? Perhaps I'll get my driver to pop me into London Blackbushe later in the day for some fresh air and a bit of a walk on the 'wild -side'... Facial bruising remains akin to warpaint around the nose /mouth area. More importantly than all this self pity crap is that tomorrow things start to happen regarding the runway lighting project, a project that will result in the Airport having superb lighting for night and bad vis operations. Hurrah!!!
June not only will witness the completion of the lighting project, it will also host the Blackbushe Air Day on 15th and, of course, the 80th Anniversary of D-Day.
80 years since Hitler received a punch on the nose that in turn became the saving of Europe and perhaps the free world.
Leading up to D-Day "POTD" will visit the scene at Blackbushe - RAF Hartford Bridge - from time to time to bring something of a picture as to how the airfield was involved and played key roles in D-Day's execution both before and during the day.... To bring you the most authentic account from 1944 I will refer to the late Stuart Marshall's "The Wartime Years", records compiled by meetings and conversations with airfield personnel and aircrew.Looking like an aircraft that had been involved in wartime operations, a BEA Viking shows what a tough old bird she was following an attempted sabotage!Another drift back to that day in 2008 when G-APSA came home for an hour or so. Therein a million memories lie!!..and a wander back to the fifties when the likes of G-APSA lived at and flew from Blackbushe, in the company of Eagle's ground based equipment. Be nice to have one of those parked up at Blackbushe today.That's Sunday's walk into the past!
PB
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