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Post by PB on Jul 24, 2017 6:49:13 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 24/07/17In the latter days of Blackbushe Airport's life as a true 'London' airport, one of her major residents, Airwork, became the UK agent for Cessna. The first of the "non canvas" covered American imports started to arrive in the UK. I clearly recall these unusual new shapes appearing amid the Airwork complex, Cessna 150, 172 and the very sleek new shape in the form of the Cessna 310. G-APUF being the most memorable of the early 310's at Blackbushe in 1959. G-APUF, the 310 demonstrator in the hands of Airwork in 1959. PUF was to be seen at Blackbushe on numerous occasions during the sixties, one aircraft that 'came back' after the closure..Goes to back to my pedal powered days of frequenting Blackbushe, the contrast of these new metal skinned machines and their sleek shapes compared to the older light aircraft that could be seen at the airfield signified a new era in aircraft design.. PB
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Post by PB on Jul 25, 2017 5:21:25 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 25/07/17Looking back on the "75th" stirs a host of reactions, regrettably not all good reactions, but it's good to look back on photos like the one below. My small contribution to Blackbushe past when driven by a desire to recapture a tiny fraction of what might have been seen from the A30 before May 1960.... It's a long road to 1960, but the observer on the A30 might well have seen some of these from the roadside back then..A DC-3 was elsewhere on the airfield, as was an operational Bristol Hercules engine! But so many were missing from the dream of Blackbushe's "golden era"...and the one chance of recapturing something of those days. Viscounts, Bristol 170's, Hermes, Yorks and Vikings were in such short supply. For a very short time perhaps a window to bygone days opened a notch to allow just the smallest of glances back in time with the few aircraft I could harvest? If so my concept of the 75th delivered something from the original idea. If not, somebody else can try next time! PB
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Post by PB on Jul 26, 2017 7:16:40 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 26/07/17Received a very welcome letter from Harold Bamberg yesterday following his recent visit to Blackbushe for the 75th... Harold being the Chairman and Founder of Eagle Airways, the largest Blackbushe based airline before they had to move the operation to Heathrow resulting from Blackbushe's closure. History was made on 1st July when Harold met some of the Hungarian refugee ex-pats he flew to Blackbushe and safety in 1956 due to the Hungarian uprising. Louis (left) meets Harold at Blackbushe...1956 remembered in 2017.Harold pointed out in yesterday's letter that he flew no less than twelve flights for the Red Cross gratis from Budapest, plus additional flights from Linz on the Hungarian/Austrian border. I can say that Louis and all the other Hungarian ex-pats who met Harold at Blackbushe during the 75th were very moved by this unique opportunity. Taking them for a flight in the Catalina later in the day recaptured something of the past for them, except their previous arrivals would have been aboard a Viking most likely! A Viking bearing the word EAGLE... PB
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Post by PB on Jul 27, 2017 9:40:33 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 27/07/17Never say never... British Airways "Check-in" at London's Blackbushe Airport...2017.More images from our ace "75th" photographers Paul and Steve over the coming days..this one was 'thought provoking'! PB Comment from "rj".... blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/7677
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Post by PB on Jul 28, 2017 9:55:15 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 28/07/17Sometimes you have to stop and take stock, and I'm not talking about those crumbly cubes! The recent "75th" not only indicated the rapid passage of time, it confirmed how lucky some of us are to still be here! The event certainly gave rise to private moments thinking of Blackbushe friends no longer here, chaps who would have given everything to share Blackbushe's birthday earlier this month. There is, or should I say were, a number of souls possessed of the Blackbushe 'passion'..namely old enough to have seen and remembered the real thing, and who shared a common "post 1960" wish to see Blackbushe survive as an aviation entity, and also realising its latent potential. To a small degree that wish has been granted, Blackbushe - or part of it - remains an airfield, although her potential remains unrealised. Time has sadly dictated that we have a number missing from the above company. The late David Herrington, sadly missed, but not forgotten. A life long Blackbushe devotee.David lived very close to the airfield during WW2, often telling boyhood stories of clambering up to the airfield boundaries dodging the Military Police to witness Bostons etc going about their business. Numerous evening hours would fly by as he relived memories from those wartime days, plus those of the commercial fifties. His personal life was not always easy, but he was a great friend for many years. On the occasion of the Blackbushe 50th, an event smaller than this year's anniversary, but one I could keep a grip on regards aircraft and the flying display, we began to run out of warbirds. Two Spitfires crashed before the day, but David came to the rescue paying for a replacement Spitfire out of his own pocket. Thus the fly-past went ahead as we unveiled the memorial plaque with Mustang and Spitfire doing the most perfectly timed entry you could wish for! Perhaps there is some distant place from which David and our other late friends are able to look down - maybe to see that some of us are still here, and doing what they can for the old airfield? While we can... PB
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Post by PB on Jul 29, 2017 5:50:47 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 29/07/17One way, or another, the past tends to predominate when it comes to Blackbushe.. the future remains wrapped in a fog of uncertainty as it remains in the hands of political/bureaucratic parties. There is, or rather was, an aeroplane at Blackbushe during the days of Doug Arnold and Warbirds of Great Britain from which the immediate future was very easy to see.. Tha CASA 1-11, fairly basic set up with an excellent view!Neil Williams had flown it from Spain, as he had a number of ex Spanish Air Force aircraft for the W of GB collection. Tragically Neil was killed on a subsequent CASA 1-11 collection flight with his wife, and Steve Parnell, one of the Blackbushe ground crew onboard. Neil (right) and Pete Hoare following delivery of the first 1-11.For those who may not not know, Neil was the unrivaled UK aerobatic champion, a brilliant pilot whose Spitfire displays were beyond doubt the smoothest and most spell binding you could wish for. His book "Aerobatics" is a great read should you wish to follow in his footsteps. His most amazing 'escape' must have come from the Zlin following a main spar fracture. Quick thinking to roll inverted pushed the wing 'upwards' in relation to the ground and kept it in place. A rapid roll in the direction that would force the wing to stay in place just before hitting the ground showed how his mind worked in harmony with the forces of nature...He won the Queens Commendation for Valuable Services in the Air for pulling this one off! A graduate of the Empire test Pilots School the loss of Neil was a massive blow to British aerobatics, and life at Blackbushe. PB
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Post by PB on Jul 30, 2017 5:36:56 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 30/07/17POTD in reflective mood today...soon be a month since the 75th, and on this day 40 years ago, 30th July, we enjoyed sunshine and the first day of 1977's Blackbushe Air Festival. 1944, 16 Squadron MkXI PR Spitfire and pilots, at Blackbushe, then RAF Hartford Bridge.July, 2017, 16 Squadron Mk XI PR Spitfire enjoys Blackbushe air space once more......and a moment from 1977, 40 years ago!! Had the whole airfield to play with back then, not to mention freedom from 2017's bureaucracy, restrictions etc...PB
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Post by PB on Jul 31, 2017 6:41:04 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 31/07/17New aviation ventures tend to get automatic opposition from environmentalists, assorted activists, politicians steering their careers in the most vote lucrative directions, and journalists who sometimes are not without bias.. In 1946 Blackbushe was in itself a new venture having shed her uniform and donned the civvies necessary for life amid the new peace, and aviation optimism. A breath of fresh air came from a small part of Westminster despite the government steering a campaign that strongly supported the state carriers while opposing independent airline growth. The breath of fresh air coming from four well known MP's of the time. They formed Westminster Airways in July 1946. By March of 1947 Westminster were fully housed in one of the large hangars located on Blackbushe 'south', a hangar then shared with Farnborough's Air Accident Investigators. Westminster were initially based at Kenley and Croydon before settling at the new civil Blackbushe. G-AJAY joined Westminster in May, 1947. The following month she undertook a NAAFI charter to Nairobi. "AY" flew with Westminster until 1950 before moving to Spain after Westminster's closure..A lot more detail may be found in Rob Belcher's latest book, "Blackbushe, London's Lost Airport 1942-1960"... Thanks to "Flyboy" for today's photo! PB Comments... blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/7700
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Post by PB on Aug 1, 2017 5:53:38 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 01/08/17August, a new month and surely it cannot be anything like the one just past - so far as Blackbushe is concerned? Talking of the month just gone, Pete Vickery, our volunteer supremo at the 75th who had all trembling in fear as he cracked his whip and forced all the volunteer slaves into a frenzy of activity ended up cracking more than his whip. In a test of the firmness of Blackbushe's terrain he elected to fall off the back of a truck and cracked his wrist.. All Pete's slaves will be delighted to know that the splint is now removed and wrist action is being restored, although painful at the moment.. Pete recently sent me a copy of his Boarding Pass for Bangladesh Biman's last DC-10 flight, BG008, from Birmingham to Blackbushe. Way back in 2014, I was surprised that our Forum movement reporters missed such a large aeroplane at Blackbushe.. Birminghan to Blackbushe by DC-10. Will it catch on?Last time I flew this route was in a Comanche 180, but some people just have to go better... Actually, the DC-10 was on a local "farewell to the type flight" and the res system could not cope with printing a ticket where departure and arrivals involved the same airport. Blackbushe just happened to be the next airport on the list alphabetically.. so a pseudo destination was employed. Hard to believe so many old types have come and gone, being ex Swissair and Northwest, the "Ten" played quite a role in one's working life! PB
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Post by PB on Aug 2, 2017 9:11:45 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 02/08/17Everyone's got an authority looking over their shoulder, and not necessarily a bad thing.. The German Civil Aviation Authority's Miles Marathon in reflective mood abeam the Blackbushe Terminal, could be 1956,57,58 or 1959..The German CAA flew a pure British design, something 'rather unlikely' today...The Marathon did not live up to her name career wise, but I still recall the three finned, four engine machine flying over my school with her not unpleasant sound. RAE Farnborough ran their Marathon on the shuttles that were a part of daily Farnborough life many decades ago.. crossing the bit of Berkshire where I once lived, these and all the Blackbushe airline traffic ensured local sky was always full of interest! PB
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