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Post by PB on Oct 13, 2020 6:25:56 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 13/10/20Students of aviation will know that today recalls the date of a 'first flight'.. On this day in 1930 the Junkers Ju-52 first took its corrugations into the sky. Ninety years ago today the "Men in Sheds" movement took to the sky.The Warbirds of Great Britain era brought three examples of Spanish built Ju-52s to Blackbushe. Some slipped back into the wolf's clothing....and in 1977 Hitler's dream? A "Luftwaffe" Ju-52 dropped a stick of serving paratroops onto British soil.. An awful insight into what might have been, but on this occasion they were our serving troops who 'jumped' at the opportunity to drop on this once only opportunity. They took so little persuasion! PB
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Post by PB on Oct 14, 2020 8:42:15 GMT
"Photo of the Day 14/10/20While life continues constricted by Government dictates as to our freedom to move around, life on Earth - or rather off it - continues. As we 'speak' the latest Russian Soyuz launch is so far safely transporting two more humans to the ISS. Launches into space no longer quite so news worthy as they increase in numbers and safety, but for the crew the ride is anything but unexciting? Man's progress toward his desire to go faster and higher was marked on today's date in 1947 when Chuck Yeager flew beyond Mach1 in the Bell X-1. The X-1 design grew from the British Miles M.52 research. Sadly the Air Ministry gave the American Bell company access to Mile's work following their agreement to 'exchange research data' on the development of high speed flight. The 'agreement' seemingly reneged on by the Americans, they built the X-1 incorporating Miles technology.
The rest is history.
Talking of history, I was reflecting on my earliest and surviving memories of Blackbushe this morning. What was it in particular that made the Airport so 'special', what actually lingers in the tangible memory?
As a very young person an aeroplane, a large silver thing, was towed across the road. No idea what it was, but the notion that aeroplanes being towed across a road causing traffic holdups was anything but unusual did not enter my mind. Must happen everywhere?
The very fist time is one you never forget. The first time I ran my young fingers over the silver painted fabric covered rudder of a silent Halifax is one that runs through the mind's version of YouTube. This rectangular structure either side of the old bombers tailplane was fascinating. So often one notes eager fingers keen to feel aeroplanes' skin as if they are some kind alien craft. Composites of today offer something of a smoother experience, but there's something about doped canvas that talks of aviation in the raw.
What other mind movies still reveal olde Blackbushe? Why these stick to the memory not sure, but..... a US Army Otter landing on 26 as I was about to cycle home on a chill afternoon still continues its approach over where the car breakers yard is.
Leaning against the Blackbushe main car park fence a Dan-Air Ambassador starting her engines remains a feature in the memory playback zone. Those large propellers slowly rotating until a cough or two are joined by the first signs of blue grey smoke from the exhausts. Eventually all the pots join in and the smoke turns into a veritable cloud temporarily hiding the aircraft's aft end until the prop wash clears the air.
An RAF Valetta, square windows, also on the apron near my observation fence, filled up with RAF types one of whom indicated through his window to someone still on the apron with a Churchillian two fingered salute. Funny what sticks in the mind..
A Skyways York landing on 26. Those two massive main wheels caressed the runway gently in a wheeler attitude just hard enough to result in a couple of gentle dignified separations from the runway until she settled finally and the four Merlins coughed their typical sounds as they too relaxed.
Looking to the west when the wind was from the east what do I see on Mindmovies? A C-54, DC-4, DC-6, something like that on short finals for 08. The front silhouette of four engines, gear down, barn door flaps slowing the show down. Soon after this great machine would be making its way to the apron or maybe the US Navy base on the other side of the Airport? Nothing unusual, just great eye fodder. Approaches from the west, of course, would be seen coming over the huge orange/red lighting gantry that spanned the A30 where the runway centre line intersected the London/Southampton trunk road.
Or from the east, a more 'common' approach..
What else lurks in here? Ahh, the US Navy R4D-6, otherwise known as the US Navy Super Dakota. As they taxied their brakes gave a shrill squeal every time they were touched by whoever was in charge. I can hear them now.
There was a layby formed by parking cars no doubt where the old 01/19 runway crossed the A30. Occasionally we would park there for a bit of airport gazing. Vikings seemed rather frequent users of the runway.. Very rarely did I see any aircraft land on the cross runways. 14/32 was used for parking if the once huge apron was over patronised, the rough 01/19 also used for parking, often with a US Navy monster Super Constellation in dark blue/black colours complete with an exciting assortment of lumps, pods, blisters, and who knows what else for their cold war operations.
The Vikings were ponderous in their departures. They'd rise from the ground and accelerate while the Dunlops retired into their cowlings, proceeding away from the airfield with a rather minimal rate of climb. So much extra time for the onlookers to enjoy the show compared with today's mad dash up and away departures from the airports that still serve London commercially..
The cold war, loads of these, the Neptune was a big player on the Blackbushe stage..
Bristol Freighters made an impression early on. Parked near the road I very wary of these bulbous creations, they'd either burst into life or maybe swallow me up in those big mouths..
Avro York again. One summer's afternoon a Dan-Air York was parked on the apron abeam where the "Airlines of Blackbushe Airport" sign is.. I was aboard my bike abeam perhaps where the Airport gate is today. The York was checking its tonsils. Each engine put through the most notable power checks, or whatever they were doing, but those Merlins were on full song. The music was reaching a crescendo and must have deafened all in the adjacent Terminal Building. How good to hear that song again today...the memory buds are trying but it's an impossible task.
Blackbushe Airport made its first impressions on me when I was four, maybe less... Living in Little Sandhurst the sound of laden aero engines gathering momentum over at Blackbushe was hard to miss. A wonderful deep rumble, my Dad would listen and indicate the change of note as the sounds confirmed the rumbling machine had returned to its element away from the ground.
We moved to Crowthorne, further from Blackbushe, but still associated. The circuit of those pre 1960 days involved a transit over home. How many times must I have rushed out to see a Hermes, York, Viking, DC something or other trundle overhead. The Yorks large wheels dangling their Dunlops always caught my eye, often going through their liberation into the slipstream as they traversed overhead...
Those, if you're still with me dear friend, are some of the images that play in the mists of memory, some of the images that infected your scribe with a disease I have no wish to find a cure for. When Blackbushe gets into your bloodstream there are no antibodies powerful enough to cure you. I've accepted the fact it's quite incurable.
PB
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Post by PB on Oct 15, 2020 8:45:56 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 15/10/20Half way house, October half complete, the door to winter has opened with a fanfare of gloom from the BBC and most other places too..Is THIS going to be the 'winter of discontent' above all others? POTD has no plans other than to start the coming days with some words according to Blackbushe and maybe the odd recollection from thereabouts?
Planted at my trusty desktop as I am now, and most mornings, I just have to glance up... Silent, but she speaks volumes...Two thirds of it silent today, the once vast Blackbushe apron...plus one York, and four Merlins. (and the main car park fence!).Yesterday's POTD content came from the mysterious grey substance, little break away asteroids of memory that remain in orbit around the cerebral region serving of reminders as to how Blackbushe planted its aura firmly in your scribes memory bank. It recalled how the magical movie show sponsored by old Blackbushe continues to run repeats from random moments of one's yoof, the few occasions when something watched in the early teens, or before, sits ready to run while most others have been swept away from the cutting room floor. Further reflection on the subject has thrown up two other exhibits of ancient mind movies, both are pertaining to Handley Page products and both by coincidence pertain to the same geographic location. Recalled from those happiest of days when a passenger in my dear Dad's car as we travelled up the Minley Road from Fleet.
The Minley Road is an uphill winding affair as you drive toward Blackbushe from Fleet. At the summit you take a tight right hander and level out on the Hartford Bridge plateau. (Excellent location for an airfield) As you executed the right hand bend you would see a gate to Blackbushe 'south' and a row of majestic and magnificent white fins through the trees. This was Blackbushe Airport's southern engineering base, the fins belonging to Britavia Hermes aeroplanes resting between duties.From the Minley Road fins such as this reaching above the trees and shrubbery were indicative of something rather wonderful...The Hermes, trooping flights, charters, middle east, far east, USA, one of the big multi engined birds of Blackbushe that left its mark.The other Handley Page contribution to unforgettable history was the Hastings, a staple of RAF Transport Command and often seen at Blackbushe. Approaching where the roundabout is at Blackbushe's east end today from the front seat of my Dad's car a Hastings found its way into my memory movies on final approach to 26. (It was 26 back then..). Just abeam the Ely Hotel the big wheels, RAF markings and everything 'Hastings' she flew into Blackbushe and into the memory bank.. Hastings would also visit Blackbushe for conversion work under Ministry contracts by one of the Blackbushe big names of the time, Airwork..No doubt other remnants of the past float around in the cerebral archive but I think the point is made that some events rubber stamp themselves on you with ink that is totally indelible..
They probably won't wear off now.
PB
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Post by PB on Oct 16, 2020 6:10:23 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 16/10/20Had you been in the area 112 years ago today, 16 October, 1908, and happened to be strolling in Farnborough's Laffan's Plain region you might have been witness to one Samuel William Cody aboard British Army Aeroplane Number One as he ascended into the air and achieved the first powered and sustained flight in British airspace. 1,400 feet later the flight came to an end with a bit of a crunch, but the point was proven - powered flight in British airspace had been achieved! Non radio, no flight planning, no controlled airspace, no nav aids, no conflicting air traffic - just the birds. Been a few changes since then.
Back in the 21st Century Blackbushe is proving to be busy with business flights, club flying, and new shapes and new colour schemes frequenting the apron. The Forum's movement page carries photos and some details from our members, but we'd always be grateful for more so as our followers who don't share in social media online activity may also enjoy seeing Blackbushe's day to day activity.One from yesterday and borrowed from Neil Randell's always amazing coverage of Blackbushe's traffic, G--CDZT, ex BAe Marine aircraft.Despite the obfuscations of local bureaucracy Blackbushe continues to uphold British aviation, and while she may not have her old size in either acres or the aeroplanes she handles, she daily proves her viability as an affordable business/General Aviation centre in the most perfect location. Pandemics do end, aviation will not end, and as Hampshire County Council approach the Government with their begging bowl for more cash it is ever more beyond belief how they continue to squander vast legal fees in some unfathomable court room vendetta to destroy Blackbushe Airport and all she promises for future employment and local revenue. Has any other authority ever thrown such a valuable toy from its basket...?Stay well, stay strong, and wish for better times will come.. PB
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Post by PB on Oct 17, 2020 7:04:54 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 17/10/20POTD makes it through to another weekend, 08.00 and light filters through the windows as we move into a period where light is anything but at the end of the tunnel. Large areas of lockdown, mutiny in Manchester, question marks line every cloud in the autumnal skies. Facts, fiction, or fake at every turn of the social media pages, POTD will continue to strive for facts as Blackbushe, who happily remains open for business, continues her quest for light at the end of the judicial tunnel. Today, historically, indicates the benefits of ascending the legal ladder in order to reach justice. On this day in 1977 the United State's ban on Concorde was lifted by the Supreme Court of the United States following the Port Authority's efforts to maintain the ban. Proof that it pays to seek justice! Next February Blackbushe Airport once again climbs the judicial ladder turning to the Court of Appeal as the airfield approaches the upper rungs of the legal ladder in her efforts to seek 21st Century realism in the face of parties who'd prefer a valuable asset be cast into waste land in pursuit of dictates with roots in the court of King Henry VIII... Hangars at Blackbushe! Short period, but until they became filled with second hand cars as they sadly are today, the new hangars were home to bizz jets, helicopter services, a Beech aircraft agency, and the magic of Spitfires being reborn. We must hope that Blackbushe will not be deprived of such facilities much longer as the County once again employs our money in their quest to disarm the airfield.Politics and aviation. Nothing new. This Aeroflot IL-12 diverted from London Hounslow Airport on 19th December, 1955. Apparently the crew refused to leave the aircraft until Russian Embassy staff arrived. POTD wishes you a safe and happy weekend, and as always, welcomes any discussion on its considerations via the POTD comments section..
PB
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Post by PB on Oct 18, 2020 8:53:50 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 18/10/20IF we were able to jump back 76 years to this time in 1944 and observe events at RAF Hartford Bridge, as THE airfield was still known, an atmosphere of change would be hanging over one and all... We refer to the post D-Day situation. The war was on the move, and so were some of the ingredients that were mixing at Hartford Bridge.. 15th October witnessed the arrival of 35 Dakotas to facilitate moving 137 Wing moving to Vitry en Artois. 342 Lorraine Squadron also departed to Vitry en Artois, an historic day for them at last able to set foot on their homeland. The occasion was marred by tragedy as 342's 'hack' an Airspeed Consul, struck a flagpole while over flying the French forces main camp at what is now Camberley's Old Dean estate, the three crew sadly perished.. Crews spent many happy hours eating and relaxing here when duties permitted.
By 17th October 88 and 226 Squadrons departed for Vitry while 120 personnel of 137MT Section followed by surface means.. Squadron aircraft were seen to make numerous return trips to Hartford Bridge over the following weeks. Supplies for the bar had to be picked up until suitable sourcing was found in France!
RAF Hartford Bridge was somewhat quieter until the 2nd Tactical Air Force arrived from RAF Lasham. Three new squadrons moved in, 107, 305, and 613...the formidable Mosquitoes had arrived!!613 Squadron's crest seen at the DH Aircraft Museum.Life was changing at Hartford Bridge in 1944, seems that in 2020 the virus war is going to continue its trail of destruction as we continue to dance at the end of strings pulled by ministerial dictates. Are we going to face another total lockdown and exacerbate the deflation of a once bold economy? However long we may hide behind lockdown and if the national portcullis is again drawn up the virus will be out there drumming its fingers and just as hungry. In 1944 we tackled the enemy face to face, dangerous, deadly, but in the end the desired result was achieved..the Nazi virus was suitably squashed although its traces still can flare up from time to time. Maybe we have to bite the viral bullet and stop hiding, seeking the herd immunity that will not only protect the population but also the vital economy that slides in the direction we're told awaits the Arctic ice sheets. The answer is out there, but where? Seems that currently it's going to end in tiers...Happily, Blackbushe Airport in 2020 continues to ride the waves of uncertainty...Traffic figures and fuel sales reaching levels we may not have expected when lockdown left this and many other airfields silent and forlorn. It's proving its geographic and accessibility value serving as an NHS flu-vac centre, but its future potential is just right for the picking as and when a substantial recovery from the pandemic is achieved, but for now the viability of the airfield is stretched not just by a viral visitor from the east but also from an infection injected at the hands of local politicians."Nannie Ann", the bright red resident of Blackbushe Airport in the 1950's and 1960 until May of that year when she became the last fixed wing aeroplane to depart the Government owned Blackbushe Airport. The future from then on looked bleak for the Airport and many of her operators. Thankfully, a wind of change rescued a large portion of the airfield, sixty years let us hope that winds of good fortune continue to blow...
PB
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Post by PB on Oct 19, 2020 5:59:51 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 19/10/20A recent family walk over the vast area of Yateley Common as it stretches way to the east of Blackbushe Airport quite failed to allay the ghosts, sounds and shapes that frequent distant memories..Considering the broad expanse of Yateley Common, the vast majority of which has never had any association with Blackbushe Airport, it remains quite extraordinary how much concern is expressed by some as to why a tiny proportion of the sprawling Common may not be de-registered to permit a unique Hampshire asset to prosper for the benefit of many including employment and the local economy..Just 115 acres of Blackbushe that have already served as an airfield for 78 years.
A sad situation financed by our money from the legal coffers of Hampshire County Council. The more extraordinary as the nation's economy crumbles under Covid-19 restrictions and Hampshire go to the Government on bended knee with funding begging bowl to the fore..
Hampshire County Council profess to be supporting businesses and employment adversely affected by Covid-19.. I give you these words from the County's web pages, “It has been widely reported that many businesses, both large and small, have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 lockdown, resulting in some folding, and job losses in others in order to keep their companies going” added Councillor Rob Humby, Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment.
He continued: “By increasing opportunities for learning and training we will be growing the number of people equipped with the skills that employers are looking for to meet local needs. Alongside this, our strategy supports employers to create job related training opportunities. Our ambition is to minimise the negative impact of COVID-19 on our local economy, increase economic prosperity and continue to develop a skilled workforce for Hampshire to 2030 and beyond.” Perhaps they should refocus on Blackbushe and their ambition to spoil the prospects it holds for the area?
Referring to the "Advertiser & Times" report in July of this year, it's the harder to understand the massively costly legal stance Hampshire County Council are taking against Blackbushe Airport... "CONCERNS have been raised over the future of services in Hampshire as millions of pounds may have to be saved over the next few years on top of a £210m coronavirus bill.
Hampshire County Council could have to save as much as £80m by 2023, it has been revealed, writes Maria Zaccaro of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The numbers could rise to £120m by 2024 if the savings programme needs to be extended.
The news comes as the council could face – by 2023 – a £210m bill from the costs, losses and financial pressures related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Of this, £103m is currently unfunded, the council said.
A report published by the authority has revealed that the financial implications of the coronavirus crisis on the county council’s own budgets and financial planning “will be profound”. But civic chiefs said the £80m worth of savings the council could be forced to make by 2023 is not related to the pandemic. The authority said at this stage the figure is an estimate and could change.
But an official report showed that should the council have to find the £80m savings by 2023, it would save £40.6m from adult health and care; £20.5m from children’s services (non-schools); £10.5m from the economy, transport and environment department; £3m from culture, communities and business services; and £4.9m from corporate services".
One small solution would be remove bureaucratic hands from around Blackbushe Airport's throat.
PB
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Post by PB on Oct 20, 2020 6:24:02 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 20/10/20As 2020 began we took air travel as a given thing. None stop to Oz, the Pacific just a hop, the Atlantic a mere puddle. As 2020 ends air travel looks to be on a highway to nowhere, British Airway's new boss suggesting that extinction in his business is ever more likely unless this country gets its finger out and airport Covid testing in. Quoting the press yesterday, Grant Shapps has said, "A ‘test-and-release system’ to cut the quarantine period for international arrivals to the UK should be in place by 1 December.
He said he was “extremely hopeful” that the system, which would require a single coronavirus test to be taken about a week after arrival and paid for privately, would be ready in six weeks’ time, depending on sufficient tests being available through the private sector.
Speaking to the aviation industry Airlines 2050 summit, Shapps said the government travel taskforce he chairs had been “working extensively with health experts and the private testing sector on the practicalities” of such a regime, as well as discussing possible pre-departure test and isolation schemes with partner countries".
The alternative to this country making a significant return to the world air routes is dire considering our national heritage as an island that trades with the world, that needs to trade with the wider world.
Meanwhile, a shaft of light was seen on the horizon yesterday and reported elsewhere on the Blackbushe Forum. The possibility exists for a limited return of FlyBe to British skies! Let us hope!! A link to yesterday's news... blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/14552Today, 20th October has long haul aviation pioneering etched across it.. Way back in 1934 Sir Charles Kingsford Smith starting today he departed Brisbane and arrived in San Francisco on November 3rd...The first eastward crossing of the Pacific. The 3rd November leg Hawaii to San Fran being the first eastward flight on the route.
A few years later, October 20, 1953, a TWA Constellation flew the fist non-stop passenger flight across the United States of America...What was your longest flight? Feel free to tell us on the POTD "Comments" section..........
The way we were... a photo taken of Hampshire skies pre pandemic, pre lockdown, the days when our skies were laced with the trails of freedom, and prosperity, the scene from my front door on a blue sky morning in those far off blue-sky days... Slipping back to before May 1960. An interesting study of a solitary light aeroplane as it taxies across the once vast Blackbushe apron on the God forsaken Blackbushe 'east'. Little did the pilot know how envied he would be in years to come of his enjoying full span Blackbushe. Sadly, every inch of Airport caught in the photo was destroyed by those who had the power to destroy, but it's fascinating thinking how great it would have been to have at least the apron spared and imagining today's business jets still taking the eastern taxiway to the hold.. Or even the old Tower still being in use!Whether t'is harmless to dream is open for consideration! You can always put your thoughts on the Forum's "Comments" section!!!!Beautiful Blackbushe 'east' today...Have a good day - and just imagine if the Parish Council had listened to those who shared a vision for Blackbushe 'east' as well as west..!
PB
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Post by PB on Oct 21, 2020 5:29:25 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 21/10/20On the last day of May, 1960, Blackbushe Airport was closed by the Government and in so doing the airfield famed for playing such a large hand in the formation of Britain's independent airline industry was wiped from our nation's aviation heritage. Tragic for the many personnel who were the life blood of the numerous independent airlines based at Blackbushe, but she had sown many seeds that would courageously grow into an industry able to tackle the state funded BEA and BOAC whilst her runways offered then a much needed and very well located home.
Two of Blackbushe's 'big name' carriers Airwork and Hunting-Clan merged in the July following Blackbushe Airport's closure.. This union provided the 1960 genetic material of a new British airline, British United Airways. BUA became a familiar name in independent airline circles until this day in 1970. On 21st October, 1970, Caledonian Airways took over British United, another independent name vanished from our skies, British Caledonian had arrived. Genetic material originated at Blackbushe in the fifties continued to fly within the British independent gene pool. The heavy boot of British Airways eventually consumed BCal as well as famed independents Dan-Air, and BMI. Hunting-Clan/BlackbusheAirwork/BlackbusheThe gene pool of British independent airlines had deepened greatly during the years of Blackbushe from the end of World War Two until May, 1960. The list of Blackbushe's independent airline names is extensive and often have travelled through the POTD pages. It's tempting to speculate how the independent family tree of British non-state operations would have flourished or folded had Blackbushe's closure not cast a blow on their operations. That we'll never know, sadly many independent names are now history, but the proliferation of orange tails in the sky (until Covid-19) has shown there is still room in the sky for private enterprise.
PB
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Post by PB on Oct 22, 2020 5:44:36 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 22/10/20At RAF Hartford Bridge at this time in 1944 a lull in activity was to be felt. Tomorrow, 23 October, would be a significant day in the airfield's history as the bomber squadrons prepared to moved on and the Mosquitoes prepared to arrive. More on that tomorrow with news of another occasion whereby 23 October would become a significant date in the airfield's history...
For now, some visions enjoyed on the runways of Blackbushe despite the Government closing the place in 1960 and local bodies who have done what they can to turn them into wasteland..An interesting way to fly, accelerating on 26 (yes 26) propelled by what is a glorified motor bike engine and held in the sky by an artistic collection of bracing wires. A wonderful experience although the rate of climb left a little to be hoped for..Farnborough Week on 14/32.... through the sixties, seventies, and eighties, the magical week when visitors arrived in such profusion that we sometimes filled both side of 14/32 with aeroplanes.Showtime on 26..Blackbushe (RAF Hartford Bridge), the new air base on Hartford Bridge's plateau as recorded by the RAF in 1942. Looking at the sparce housing density north of the airfield there is no doubt as to who was here first! The photo is upside down compass wise, everything below the airfield is to the north if that helps orientation!!PB
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