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Post by PB on Jan 22, 2021 7:17:43 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
22/01/21The evenings are progressively becoming lighter, vaccinations are finding muscles willing to take then onboard, perhaps this seemingly eternal block on what a year ago was classed as "normal" might have an ending? The proverbial tunnel with a light at the end might just be edging into sight? From Blackbushe Airport's point of view we might be just over a month to her day in the Court of Appeal!! The end of the very long tunnel through which she has fought off the flames of alien bureaucracy or maybe just another step in the long fight for ultimate justice? For Blackbushe and all who depend on her and hold hopes for the future she needs to unlock, another crucial moment in her story approaches, another moment when the ruling County Council will plough untold quantities of OUR money into their quest to eliminate Blackbushe - one of the most outstanding assets within their remit.. The Blackbushe enigma rumbles on.
Positive Covid news comes from the ZOE COVID Symptom Study data discussed recently on POTD. Rates of new cases have fallen to around half the peak seen on New Year's Day although hospital admissions remain at an all time high. Data given suggests this should begin to fall in the next two weeks with the R rate below 1. Our Hart district currently shows 692 active cases, down 341 from last week. The chances of bumping into one of the many Covid carriers remains very high, the greatest caution remains necessary wherever we go.Matters aviation must not be overlooked. Today's date, 22nd January, was one of great significance to the British aircraft industry and one confirming the United Kingdom as an aviation force to be reckoned with.. The magnificent de Havilland Comet 1 became the first turbojet-powered civil airliner to be awarded a certificate of airworthiness. Comet 1 G-ALYS lead the world into pure jet passenger transport. On 2nd May, 1952, she proudly entered service with BOAC. Future events would, however, mar the initial glory but the Comet and her later marks would fly the flag for many years. [/IMG][/URL] Comet 1 G-ALYU crew training at Blackbushe Airport. She flew crew numerous training sorties at Blackbushe between September 1951 to August 1953 eventually ending up at RAE Farnborough as the famous water tank Comet whose wings projected from the large tank built to test the aircraft's airframe for fatigue failure. All marks of the Comet flew from Blackbushe during her civil days, largely on crew training.Two points of interest regarding the Airport's infrastucture. First, the nissen hut to the extreme left of the photo would in the early 1960s become G-AMZO's hangar, while the nissen hut visible just aft of the port main undercarriage tyres was used by the AVM to store future equipment and shelter for his hard working team who worked their socks off to get the airfield serviceable after the Government's destruction.PB
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Post by PB on Jan 23, 2021 7:57:03 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
23/01/21According to the calendar it must be Saturday, the days seemingly carry something of a similarity with one another! Not many aviation anniversaries attached to 23rd January, The tri engined de Havilland Drover made its first flight in Australia on this in 1948, and in 1897 Ernst Zindel was born... Ernst became an engineer an was famed by designing the tri engined Ju-52. The Drover and the Ju-52 not only had three engines in common, both types were also owned by Doug Arnold's Warbirds of Great Britain and based at Blackbushe for a period. Herein ends today's Blackbsuhe fact file..
More recent news that may be of interest belongs to the latest active Covid cases in the Hart district within which Blackbushe resides. Current active cases stand at 642, down by 265 from last week. Data received from "C-19 from ZOE" the Covid symptom study where the virus is monitored and statistics are provided directly to the NHS via King's College, London. ZOE is the largest community monitoring community in the world with over 4.5 million daily contributors. If "POTD" ever did anything of value it would be to encourage more to download the the ZOE App and join this living body of ready data provision. It's value increases daily as member numbers increase.. and I would urge you to please participate. covid.joinzoe.com/ download the App from Google Play or the App Store.
23rd January..a glance back through old Father Time's records of Blackbushe on THIS day during her years as a London Airport of considerable status.1947 G-AJAZ DC-3 Westminster Airways
1955 G-AIJE Vickers Viking Ministry of Supply. Joined Blackbushe based Independent Airlines
1955 G-ALDX Britavia trooping flight departed for Singapore
1958 4x-FAK Israeli Air Force C-47
1958 G-APDW Viscount Eagle Airways training flight
1958 DC-3 ST-AAK Sudan Airways
1959 1521 Royal Canadian Air Force Beech 3TM
1959 CF-MCK DC-6 Maritime Central Airways. Delivered to Eagle Airways to become G-APSA
1959 Avro York, Persian Air Services
1959 G-ANRS Viscount, Hunting-Clan training flight
1959 VT-DIC DC-4 Indian Airlines
1960 G-APNA Britannia, British & Commwealth training flight
1960 VR-BBH Viscount Eagle Airways Bermuda delivery
Some echoes from a distant but glorious past......... A Hermes moment from within the Britavia hangar. Tragically destroyed with every other Blackbushe building except the Terminal. Had the Terminal also been pulled down the Airport's life blood that flows today would have had little chance of survival.. The Eagle's nest. Another magnificent Blackbushe hangar reduced to rubble. The Lancaster operated by Eagle on behalf of the MoS was a familiar player on the Blackbushe stage, she too was scrapped when her hours were up. G-APSA on her very last visit to her old home in 2008. Eagle circuit training. The magificent sounds that belonged to Blackbushe...Imagine, I wonder if you can?
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one....Back tomorrow with extracts from another age..
PB
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Post by PB on Jan 24, 2021 7:54:39 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
24/01/21Another cool day in prospect with the weather persons predicting snow for the Blackbushe area.. Temp at 07.00 just a tad above freezing, I wonder how it compares to the temperatures experienced by Oskar Bider the Swiss pilot who flew his Bleriot XI monoplane over the Pyrenees on this day in 1913 reaching just under 11,500ft in the process? Snow in the fifties.. Sun in the fifties..Future images of Blackbushe no doubt circulate around our minds. A gate guard reflecting the airfield's proud past would, of course, be welcome. We tried to grab DC-6 G-APSA, but unfortunately the campaign did not reach the hoped for conclusion. Out in Austria there lurks one lonely Viking who to the best of my knowledge is slowly going 'off colour'.. Transport costs to the UK would be £53K alone before any restoration commenced. She will probably end up in bits and melted down to become baked bean tins or the suchlike. Were I to win the big one on the Lottery....
The Hart district continues to show a fall in active Covid cases, latest numbers show they continue to fall..
Have you had a Covid vaccination yet? It would be good to know how many of our qualifying members have been on the receiving end..
PB
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Post by PB on Jan 25, 2021 7:33:02 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
25/01/21It's that time of day again... 06.30 has just become history, -3C the other side of the window combined with yesterday's snow/thaw/freeze no doubt providing surfaces similar to walking/driving on Teflon. How many times in winters past has the need to unfreeze the block of ice that used to be my car demanded Arctic tenacity with subsequent travel somewhat akin to driving on the Cresta Run? Today the silver four wheeled ice box can rest in its frozen splendour..
Todeay's 'header photo' courtesy of the Blackbushe drone indicates yesterday's rapid transition to sub Polar. We're light years away from the winter of 1962/63. Boxing Day, 1962, I clearly recall saying to my Dad that small fine snow flakes were floating past the window. From then on it snowed and snowed some more.
I can't recall how long it snowed for, but it got deeper and deeper. Communities were cut off for weeks, RAF Whirlwinds dropped supplies, the snow and the cold seemed endless. The thaw eventually came in March, 1963.  Blackbushe turned white yesterday... Snow in the fifties.. Blackbushe, January 1963. "Engine health" required we give the sleeping engines a run periodically, to wake up the oil, or perhaps to wake up the lucky soul who had to hand swing the props having shouted "Contact" to his partner sitting in the cockpit. Far less dangerous than it looked, especially when the weather was sunny and the ground was dry. The same start up drill standing on ice swinging an ice cold prop was somewhat more demanding on the adrenalin, the exchange betwixt you and cockpit person had to be on the ball...no slip ups. Today's production of "POTD" suggests that we ran the engines without serious mishap. Must say it was more fun when my turn in the cockpit, you had a nice view of the prop swinger's arms. Good name for a pub perhaps? Warmer times. Farnborough Week at Blackbushe, the welcome sight of passengers disembarking onto Blackbushe's historic apron, once an everyday event but by this time a rare treat. Crossair brought a group of enthusiasts where Blackbushe was the most convenient for getting to Farnborough. The SAAB 340 appears today because it was on this day in 1983 the type made its first flight.  Another "Farnborough Week" trophy..and another SAAB 340. Deutshe BA takes on Blackbushe fuel while parked on the cross runway. Mind how you go....
PB
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Post by PB on Jan 26, 2021 7:10:57 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
26/01/2126th January 1945. RAF Blackbushe was engaged in World War Two and bad weather, while a few miles to the north over at the Miles works at Woodley in Berkshire test pilot Tommy Rose was ready to take the new Miles Aerovan for its maiden flight. An innovative light transport aeroplane capable of lifting its own weight it was the product of Miles forward thinking and producing an effective design that would have broad appeal for light passenger and freight duties. Sadly, the men from the Ministry were not impressed as Miles design was frowned on for being developed without 'authorisation'. Private enterprise to support the war effort was not appreciated by the State and work was suspended on Ministerial orders. Production was forced to be placed on hold until the war was over.
The return of peace permitted Aerovan work to resume but sadly Miles were unable to match the huge demand from civilian operators for the design, reportedly because of the Air Ministry's enforced clamp on development during the war. Miles went bankrupt in 1947, the Aerovan never reached big numbers in production and the UK lost an innovative design with global market potential. 48 were built, the Aerovan appeared in no less than six versions during its short production life.
 Blackbushe, September 1951. G-AKHF, of F.G. Miles. G-AIDJ, ready to depart for Lebanon and her new owners Arab Training Company. Blackbushe was a favourite location for manufacturers' export flights for clearing all the necessary 'paperwork' prior to leaving UK soil.Numerous Aerovans would be seen at Blackbushe during the forties and fifties including those of home based Air Contractors and Silver City who added the type to their fleets.
On September 14th, 1946, the "Battle of Britain" Air Display was held at Blackbushe. Some 5,000 spectators attended despite inclement weather raising a donation of £150 to the RAF Benevolent Fund. Air Contractors provided pleasure flights using their Miles Aerovan adding a further £25 to the RAF Benevolent Fund.
Miles Aircraft were not alone in battles with bureaucracy..31 years later some of us were putting in place pleasure flights from Blackbushe's 1977 Air Festival using a Handley Page Dart Herald raising money to support the fight to keep Blackbushe open. The Herald also originating from the same Woodley aerodrome, the home of Miles, from whence the Aerovan was conceived.
PB
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Post by PB on Jan 27, 2021 7:51:01 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
27/01/21Positively tropical, 06.00 indicating +7C from the trusty weather station 'flying' above the roof tiles of 'POTD Towers'... any pleasure from enhanced outdoor comfort is sobered by news of the pandemic's ruthless rampage through the British Isles. BBC News coverage has rammed it home and must alone be driving up the nation's mental health problems, but we are at a point where burying one's head in the nearest convenient sandpit will have little value. From the latest figures to hand our Hart District is currently indicating 645 active Covid cases, a reduction of 177 from last week.
Meanwhile on a spiritually more reassuring note a wander round the garden yesterday revealed numerous winter flowering species showing off their colours, while rhodos and other spring flowering shrubs are laden with ever swelling buds full of potential for enjoyment in a few weeks time. By then the UK's vulnerable will have been vaccinated, and the Covid surge should be on the retreat. The damage is going to take years to be anywhere near repaired, the vapour trail criss crossed skies of southern England will be a welcome sight but doubtless will be tragically slow in regaining their ability to paint our morning skies?
So far as today's date is concerned one or two points of note... Back in 2002 on this day, 27 January, the Boeing 737 became the first jet airliner to amass 100 million flight hours. The media probably won't report that aspect of the 737's records?
27 January also managed a number of first flights.. 1936 Lockheed Lightning. 1959 Convair 880. 1963 IAI Westwind. 1966 Fairchild FH-227.A few memories from the 1960's at Blackbushe. To me some of the most treasured years where strongest friendships grew, the spirit of Blackbushe arose from the destruction committed by Government and Yateley Parish Council, and my lifelong love of the skies, aeroplanes and a need for adventure came together at this place called Blackbushe.. Three Counties Aero Club days... Derek Johnson CFI and MD of Three Counties Aero Club at work. En route to RNAS Culdrose via Comanche 250 G-ARIN. 7,000ft on top all the way July, 1964. Magic. True blood. The Blackbushe Aviation Group, a dedicated body of aviation enthusiasts who had a room in the Terminal during AVM Bennett's tenure. They carried the carried the spirit of old Blackbushe melded with the post 1960 spirit of renaissance.. All hands to the fore assisting at the Daily Telegraph Air Show in the late 1960's. Your POTD scribe had a tendency to pop up now and again during those far off days, probably thinking of material for 'POTD' half a century later? Probably not....... Simply "Reg".. Dear Reg Gregory who spent many a subsequent year in the Tower. Shortly after he joined Dart Aircraft, the AVM's company formed to administer Blackbushe. Reg joined as our Aircraft Ground Handler having retired from a similar position at the RAE Farnborough. Bedecked in blinding white overalls Reg attends to one of our rare visitors allowing me to snap the moment. At the time I was the Airport Operations Department, Reg looked after fuelling and aeroplane handling, Bill Freeman was Airport Manager and Miss Goddard was the Airport Secretary. I recall she had a fun Goggomobil. A small, very small, car manufactured in Bavaria. The AVM would visit quite often, and then the wartime spirit of 'get the job done' came to the fore...Heaven help those who crossed the man! I worked at Blackbushe for the AVM for three years. The malevolent action of local bureaucracy and associated partners cast their net over hoped for development of Blackbushe and personally I had little choice but to move on to a career with more positive outlooks. But Blackbushe would NEVER be far away from my heart!! Visitors such as Charrington's Piaggio P166 brought good cheer to those long cold and often silent days at Blackbushe in the early 1960's. ..or this one.. But, when this arrived on one grey 1960's morning, tears of joy!! That well recalled brief screech as heavy tyre loads met Blackbushe tarmac once again manifested itself as the mighty Dakota came back to Blackbushe!! A few years later, the impossible continued to happen at Blackbushe.. ..we even had the choice of six runway headings!! Landing on 'zero one' was always fun!! I had my chance to bring new shapes to the Blackbushe traffic pattern in the 1970's. There's no doubt Blackbushe has more than served my old love of the skies, aeroplanes and a quest for adventure!!
For that I am and will be eternally grateful... PB
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Post by PB on Jan 28, 2021 7:04:10 GMT
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Post by PB on Jan 29, 2021 7:29:02 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
29/01/21It seems that variable weather conditions are not just confined to recent fluctuations. Time travellers amongst us able to return to this day - 29th January - in the year 1945 and finding themselves at RAF Blackbushe would have been struck by severe weather conditions of freezing rain, sleet and heavy snow. Base personnel had already found the 'Blackbushe spirit' resulting in no less than 15 RAF Halifaxes looking for somewhere to land. Aircraft of 427 Squadron based at RAF Leeming. thanks to Blackbushe's base staff who worked long and arduous hours keeping the runways and taxiways clear of snow and ice as far as they could. Flags were used to mark the runway edges and the airfield remained open for the entire month of January, 1945. Base personnel also organised sports and social facilities to the benefit of all who perchanced to find themselves at Blackbushe at this time.
Further to the arrival of 427 Squadron's Halifaxes shortly after a USAAF Liberator of the 492nd Bomb Group and a further Halifax from RAF Lisset found refuge in our runways.
Nevertheless, resident 418 Mosquito Squadron were again in action despite the conditions. They managed to get airborne and attack enemy strong points in the Cologne area clearing the area prior to the advances of the US 9th Army into Cologne itself. Blackbushe continued to play vital and strategic roles in our courageous march toward freedom. Mosquito in the mist. Peace time as Warbirds of Great Britain exercise Blackbushe's last resident Mosquito. The sight and sound of these beautiful aeroplanes operating in unimaginable weather conditions we can but imagine, no less than the pure courage of crews who repeatedly departed in weather that today would probably still be left to the birds. If they were flying..Today we fight another war. This time against an unseen enemy proving to be a formidable opponent. The UK's campaign to arm us with the necessary shield via a needle is progressing at an extraordinary pace, my appointment with the jab being confirmed for next week at a centre not far from Blackbushe. Looking at this morning's Covid figures for Hart district there are 458 active cases, down 234 from last week. This data from C-19 by ZOE, a body very well worth signing up to and feeding Covid data into the national stats. Self reporting your conditions daily regardless of whether you feel well, or not, and your vaccine status will continue to provide essential understanding of the pandemic's progress. Could not be easier and a chance to contribute.. covid.joinzoe.com/ Sun filled skies and their beckoning call to venture amid their tumult will return, it's going to take a little longer but collectively we're going in the right direction.PB
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Post by PB on Jan 30, 2021 7:24:35 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
30/01/21Looks like a wet and woolly Saturday as further dampening of the spirits is poured from above..No doubt it's "good for the garden" once (if) the garden resurfaces from an abundance of standing water? A weekend of compulsory self isolation prior to a hospital visit on Monday I note that Hart's Covid cases today are recorded as 571 'active' cases down by 71 from last week, the graph has taken a slight turn in the wrong direction, but with all the vaccines with us and on the horizon there comes great assurance that the UK is heading to beat the bug by the latter part of 2021.. All we need is to beat the other bug, namely Hampshire County Council and bureaucracies' six decades of delay and dismay over the unforgivable treatment of the Blackbushe Airport issue. February is very close, it could be a decisive month for Blackbushe... Blackbushe has gone through many changes from war to peace and subsequent bureaucratic bombardment. A scene above where a Luftwaffe bomber slinks in behind a waiting Spitfire at Blackbushe? Not quite, a peacetime scene in the 1970s during the Warbirds of Great Britain era when various aircraft of WW2 would be seen in the circuit. No German bombers touched Blackbushe during WW2, the closest they got was to drop a bomb behind the Ely Hotel a mile to the east... During the war Blackbushe was one of those RAF airfields where bombers and fighters shared the facilities, in the seventies the theme continued with some variations! Neil Williams, a beautiful day, and the sinister shape of dark history. Imported from the Spanish Air Force these CASA 111 aircraft had not flown with the Luftwaffe.  Reg Slack, one of Doug's men, waves in the arrival of another 111, note the shape of the engine cowlings, Rolls Royce Merlin shaped, not the round cowlings of Luftwaffe Jumo engines..  The dynamic duo..and ace warbird ferry pilots! Peter Hoare (Left) and Neil Williams. Neil was to be lost in the most tragic accident flying yet another 111 from Spain to Blackbushe. A shining light in British aviation was forever extinguished on that dreadful day. PB
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Post by PB on Jan 31, 2021 7:26:04 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
31/01/21Not without disappointment this time tomorrow we will have bade farewell to January 2021. February beckons with an expression of hope on her face as Blackbushe once again comes before the judiciary and her day in the Court of Appeal. Excitement is inevitable at the prospect of seeing the bureaucratic doomsayers finally defeated but having ridden the chariots of hope before one has to be prepared to hit stony ground once more in the six decade marathon for justice at Blackbushe Airport. February also brings personal need of the NHS and its amazing services and a birthday of frightening significance. Father Time's hourglass seemingly passing sand through its chambers at an ever increasing speed. But that's all in February...
Of interest withing the Hart District today's active Covid cases are estimated to be 600, down just 28 from last week. The curve has turned around and is climbing slightly..
In history, 31 January wrote some pages.. 1958 Explorer 1 is launched - the USA's first successful satellite, 1977 the Citation II made its first flight, 1986 and Boeing completed their purchase of de Havilland Canada, 1992 TWA filed for bankruptcy, and on this day in 2021 Blackbushe Airport sails on through just another day of her approximately 22,000 days of fighting off the bureaucrats who have a stop at nothing wish to turn the airfield into even more useless wasteland.  In the beginning... In the fifties, she'd fought valiantly in war, now Blackbushe served the people and the needs of commercial aviation.. Air transport continued to evolve.. The view from the Terminal 1961, somewhere around 22,000 days ago. It can never be denied that the Airport is blessed with true grit and determination to triumph over the adversity of blighted bureaucracy... Bureaucracies 'ultimate solution' for Blackbushe Airport? Unbridled bureaucracy gets to work on what shortly before had been London's second airport...Just reasons for feeling perhaps just a tad annoyed???Happily justice has been seen to prevail over the EU's dastardly bid to grab our vaccines..what a great advert for BREXIT!!
Rule Britannia!!.. or at least Blackbushe?
PB
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