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Post by PB on Feb 13, 2015 6:26:05 GMT
Please free to upload your memories or photographs from the commercial airlines and US Navy era spanning 1946 - 1960 into this thread.
Thank you!!
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Post by a30yoyo on Feb 13, 2015 13:51:44 GMT
Peter, presumably you wish to keep the other 'Ministry period' thread for your own photos/memory stream? Can it be locked? Reposting Here's a particularly handsome example of what's going through ebay currently ...and is that a Bretagne behind the Dak? Early Neptunes had guns in the nose ..if you read Wooster's AJ Savage webpage a few US Navy P2V were RATO carrier launchable with atomic bombs.. 122461 Blackbushe 1955
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Post by PB on Feb 13, 2015 14:50:56 GMT
Thanks a30yoyo..The forum is still evolving. You've landed in the right place.
PB
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Jeff
Full Member
Posts: 152
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Post by Jeff on Feb 15, 2015 21:23:30 GMT
As previously discussed in another thread.......Silver City, Blackbushe or Lydd?
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Post by PB on Feb 15, 2015 21:52:55 GMT
Hi Jeff..
Well, having poured over the photo for every possible forensic clue. The car ramp is property of Channel Air Bridge and Channel Air Bridge operated Southend-Calais.
Channel Air Bridge was a private British independent airline specialising in cross-Channel vehicle-cum-passenger ferry services. Freddie Laker started Channel Air Bridge as a sister airline of Air Charter on a provisional basis in 1954. Operations commenced in 1955. In 1958, Channel Air bridge took over Air Charter's vehicle ferry services. In 1959, both Channel Air Bridge and its sister airline Air Charter became part of the Airwork group. In 1960, Airwork joined with Hunting-Clan to form British United Airways. In 1962, BUA reorganised its vehicle ferry operations by merging Channel Air Bridge with Silver City Airways. This resulted in the creation of British United Air Ferries in 1963. Interesting how many enterprises going back to the dawn of post-war commercial flying had their feet on the ground at Blackbushe - the springboard to such as laker and BCal in due course. Funny how so many were eventually swallowed by the state giant...anyway, going back to your question!!
If not taken at Southend, it must be Lydd assuming the shot was taken in the UK? What I can say with confidence is that the photo was not taken at Blackbushe. The tarmac pavements and edging are not of the type I recall at Blackbushe, and I have no recall of Channel Air Bridge ramps being here either. If anybody disagrees, now is the time for them to speak!!
Best wishes Peter
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Jeff
Full Member
Posts: 152
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Post by Jeff on Feb 15, 2015 22:03:29 GMT
thanks Peter, I did wonder about the ramp but assumed that they were all one design type due aircraft type and they got swapped around between airports one way or another as equipment often does after maintenance etc.
Jeff
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Post by a30yoyo on Feb 16, 2015 16:20:36 GMT
Extracting Silver City relevant texts from earlier posts (Feb 14, 2015 at 11:45pm QuotelikePost Options Post by PB on Feb 14, 2015 at 11:45pm) Hi Jeff Thanks for the question, and to expand on Stuart's reply, the answer to whether Silver City operated Bristol Freighters out of Blackbushe is an emphatic "yes".... The bulbous nosed beasts were a regular part of Blackbushe's daily diet.In 1948 they participated in the Berlin Air Lift, and charter operations were their staple diet during their years at Blackbushe. The Freighter lended itself to freight work being somewhat different in shape to most aeroplanes of the time with its gaping doors where most would have had a slender nose cone. Car charters, horse charters, rocket charters to Australia - (the rockets were cargo not Freighter propulsion units) It took ten days to get to Woomera!.., Scheduled car ferry services were operated to the continent, in fact the first car carrying schedules were conducted from Blackbushe using the Bristol Freighter.In 1954 a scheduled service was operated Blackbushe - Zurich, but it did not run for a long period. The profusion of horse race courses within convenient reach of Blackbushe lead to horse charters being regular events.. Ascot, Epsom, Sandown, Kempton Park - evidence of how well Blackbushe is situated to serve not just horses!!! Horses, cars, people, rockets, all consumed by the Silver City Freighter during the heady days when Blackbushe was their home base. Silver City, like numerous other independent airlines, came to maturity at Blackbushe. plus yesterday at 11:03am QuoteEditlikePost Options Post by a30yoyo on yesterday at 11:03am Silver City timetables here...not all the years show the full contents www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/silver.htmBlackbushe use mentioned here (p2) www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1954/1954%20-%201950.htmlReading Silver City's story three objectives in building Ferryfield were surely to get hard runways, to get as near to the Continent as possible and to avoid Ministry landing charges PB Wasn't there a Silver City Freighter in that mid-fifties movie still identified as Blackbushe?
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Post by rj on Feb 18, 2015 19:27:28 GMT
Well here we go for my first batch. For those that don't know I am far too young to have taken any of these photos. I have been acquiring photos from the 'good old days' for years, mostly from ebay today. Several of the older spotters have allowed me to copy their photos in the past so the odd one of those may end up here. to start we have the good old US of A,yew haw! from the USAF we have C-54 0-5516 VC-54G from SHAPE HQ in Paris seen here 9/9/1957 on the northside being looked after by the USN. This aircraft remailed with the USAF until the late 60's ending up at Davis Monthan for scraping Another VC-54 this time 44-9075 from JUSG Madrid (who?) again this was melted down in Arizona, see here on a typical wet 'Farnborough week' day 3/9/58 on to the US Navy and R5D 87757 a very early visitor on 10/9/53 from VR-24, this unit visited three times a week on a Port Lyautey-Madrid-Paris Blackbushe (crew change)-Frankfurt-Naples run up until the final day of airport operations in 1960. Again this ended up in Arizona R5D 39148 also seen 10/9/53, this was a 1941 vintage former USAF C-54 which survived until 1973, guess where! the latter two photos were printed on some nasty paper that reflects the light badly hence poor scans... Rob
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Post by rj on Feb 18, 2015 20:19:36 GMT
there's more..........brand new from ebay 17226 R4D-5 with the FT tail code of the resident FASRON200 although this machine was mostly based with the Paris-Orly detachment. the 'beauty' that was the North American AJ2 Savage.Designed as a carrier borne nuclear bomber. It was never a success and many ended up as tankers. A couple of times a year a squadron would pit up at Blackbushe with the crews hot footing in into London for some R&R. here we have 134064/NH-7 seen 7/9/55 from VAH-7 who's shore base was Sandford, Florida and presumably off a carrier? another of the beauties 134050 taken on the same day 122461 Lockheed P2V-2 from FASRON 107 in Iceland strange that a FASRON squadron had an operational aircraft. taken 6/9/55, this was a very early Neptune and many only served a few years before being replaced by the -5 variant, they built 80 -2.
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Post by PB on Feb 18, 2015 20:44:32 GMT
Much appreciated Rob, real added value to our forum!!
PB
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