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Post by PB on Apr 29, 2023 6:07:51 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 29/04/23She's coming home! The Blackbushe Heritage Trust's Viking took a great step forward yesterday and should be in Dover later today. However, an 'escort' vehicle is needed for the stage Dover to Blackbushe, and as no escort is available until Tuesday next week the aircraft will not arrive Blackbushe until perhaps midday on Tuesday.
From a personal point of view having been dragged in by Blackbushe's magnetism from Day One when AVM Bennett purchased the Airport this comes after six decades of hoping for Blackbushe's future. Back in those distant 1960s days when I was a mere schoolboy many amazing and long lasting friendships were established amid the small but dedicated team who shared the battle for Blackbushe, were instrumental in setting up the Blackbushe Aero Club. This was the time when everyone was totally familiar with the Blackbushe Airport that had been desecrated by political bulldozers, and thoughts and images of a Blackbushe covered in Vikings and the many other transports of delight that were 'air travel' of the time.. The big regret with the Viking's arrival next week is that too many of the team who provided the backbone of support for the AVM and Blackbushe, those 'lived' memories of past days and fought for the Airport's future based on their knowledge of Blackbushe's capability have been taken from us. I shall be thinking of them when "Vagabond" returns to Blackbushe soil, knowing how overjoyed they would have been to see this so familiar shape re-appear on the airfield where it truly belongs - and to see the airfield not only surviving but also having a very promising future - a future with a Viking and a museum that will pay homage to great days gone by....
Looks like today is going to be the warmest day of the year so far, +7C at 06.30 is an improvement over past months! Having had an armful of a new Covid vaccine yesterday, when you get to a certain vintage you take what's going, I can say that no after effects have been experienced - as yet! Should someone approach you with a loaded needle it's called Vidprevtyn Beta.
Sliding back into history again, today is notable for a couple of firsts at British Airways. On this day in 1988 the Airbus A320 first entered service with British Airways. BA acquired British Caledonian Airways in 1988 and inherited an order for ten A320s placed by BCal who had provided Airbus with the launch order for the type. The first scheduled A320 service was from Gatwick to Geneva on this day in 1988.
In 1964 it is reported that BOAC launched their regular VC10 service to Lagos today.. The passing years. "Vagabond" in her early life with BEA.With only a year's passage since the Blackbushe Heritage Trust was formed as a body to perhaps rescue a lonely Viking out in Austria, much has happened. Amazing support from fund raising activity and especially British Airways without whose help we would not be where we are today. A year ago a formidable challenge presented in the costs of transporting an old aeroplane across Europe, the technical challenges of taking it apart, and forming a Trust with whom would lie the overall challenge. Next week the aeroplane will be here, but that's when things start to get really serious in restoring her ready for show. Blackbushe Airport have provided a hangar upon which certain persons have lavished copious quantities of green paint, in some cases the personnel looking pretty green too..
The entire process of the last year has been extraordinary and mere "Thanks" can never be enough...
Enjoy the weekend..
PB
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Post by PB on Apr 30, 2023 6:07:50 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 30/04/23April 2023 heads toward its conclusion, the month that will long be remembered as the month that the Blackbushe Heritage Trust's ambition to return a Viking to Blackbushe took a giant step forward. As of now her components are on three transporters and all back in the UK following the BHT's diligent team who travelled to Austria to break down this brave old aeroplane called "Vagabond"... Holding their stations until Tuesday when an escort vehicle will be available to guide the transport carrying the fuselage, the largest load, to its final Blackbushe destination. All three vehicles will arrive together, sometime after midday on Tuesday, 2nd May....
For a graphic record of the operation so far you can do no better than dive into the Blackbushe Heritage Trust's website www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/ and when there click on the yellow block labelled "Follow the Journey". Who says, 'wonders never cease', because in this case what seemed a more than challenging project is becoming a very solid reality..and Blackbushe WILL have a Viking living on her tarmac although there's a lot of work to come before she's ready to show her finished lines to the world. This is where YOU might wish to get involved, the coming months will offer a broad variety of volunteer opportunities requiring a mix of skills, patience, and team spirit. The Pathfinder Cafe will not be far away either for necessary refuelling....
We must never forget the massive help received from so many already. British Airways with some £25,000, and amazing raffle prizes such as Flight Simulator sessions at LHR.... Blackbushe Airport must be saluted for their total co-operation not to mention provision of a hangar and workspace! Pat Marchant and his company, RPM, who have master minded the technical/engineering aspects of getting the project to where it is today.... Unending gratitude to all who have generously donated varying sums of money, the volunteers who have already given so much time either by promotions at air events or at Blackbushe, not to mention painting the hangar, and in some cases themselves, in the subtle shade of green that the Viking hangar now sports.
Now, it's just over a month to this year's Air Day, more aeroplanes (Spitfire, Hurricane and other warbirds, Anson, Lockheed Electra, and many others..), classic car display, and many more eating opportunities than last year, if you have not got your tickets by now you'd best be quick as they are going fast and the numbers are strictly limited. What are you waiting for?? See you there!! www.blackbusheairday.com/tickets This week, above all weeks, will be the one remembered for the day a Viking returned to Blackbushe...A step back six decades, the awakening of old memories still clung to by some of us old enough to remember or happily still able to remember, I just wish those for whom Blackbushe was so important in life and gave so much in friendship and knowledge were able to join us this week. They will be very much in my mind on Tuesday afternoon....
PB
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Post by PB on May 1, 2023 7:03:28 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 01/05/23May Day.... not a distress call, just a Bank Holiday half way through the Spring Equinox. The weather looks good, tomorrow our Viking arrives at Blackbushe, and Photo of the Day has just enjoyed her 630,000th visit! When, for whatever reason, I thought a daily photo using this online computerised magic thing would be a way of spreading a bit of Blackbushe 'feeling' and might by some stretch of the imagination perhaps reach a couple of hundred hits it's rather nice to see I was wrong! Hopefully the daily process has spread some of the Blackbushe 'emotions' that lurk in my heart, and not only my heart but that of dear Stuart Marshall with whom I shared the idea of using the web as somewhere to capture something of the Blackbushe story. Stuart's contributions live on in the Forum's pages outlining much detail of the aircraft that served Blackbushe in her golden commercial days.
The Blackbushe Heritage Trust's Viking arrives tomorrow. Stuart would have been overjoyed at the spectacle and success of the Trust's ambition in such an historic 'Blackbushe aeroplane' coming home.....as would so many others who share this love for Blackbushe, her history, and all she stands for, but sadly will miss this and the future development of Blackbushe.
Out of interest, I've just scanned through Blackbushe movements of May, 1960. The last month of Blackbushe Airport before she was killed by the Government. An amazing numer of RAF movements, Hastings, Ansons, Meteor, Beverleys, Varsities, Valettas, stacks of US Navy movements, US Army, numerous French Air Force, Belgian Air Force, BEA crew training Viscount and Vanguards, Bristow helicopters final movement on 31 May when Bristow's Widgeon G-APTE was the very last Blackbushe movement. Or so it was thought! Of course, the month was liberally bestowed with Viking, Hermes, Ambassador, Dakota etc movement from the airlines who were so well established at old Blackbushe. The Paine family Proctor G-AHNA was the last fixed wing movement. A few years later she came back again!! Dear old Blackbushe, she was busy to the end...HNA "Nannnie Ann" resting in her Blackbushe days down near the Airwork hangars on Blackbushe 'east'. Blackbushe's "last" fixed wing movement.Some recall of later days. Neil Williams exercises Doug Arnold's Spitfire during one of our warbird 'flying days', rather impromptu gatherings where rare aeroplanes came together and Neil displayed the Spitfire in his own so smooth style. A free day out for the public in the car park..but all on a very small scale.Early seventies, a Blackbushe Saturday when two Air Anglia Dakotas arrived with a football crowd. No idea who was playing who, but two Daks on the apron was a win!! The onlooker second from the right is the late Mike Smith.A seventies view of Blackbushe 'east' where once the Blackbushe apron reached out to four times the size it is today and the establishing scrub and trees still permitted unobstructed views to the eastern skyline. The US Navy hangar continued to tell the story of bygone Blackbushe days, and Blackbushe was home to a mass of piston twins when the air taxi business thrived on Aztecs, Senecas and Navajos. These were all Blackbushe based, but the VLJs came along and the piston powered aeroplanes went west. Literally, many returned to the USA as the market changed. That's enough, enjoy the Bank Holiday.
PB
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Post by PB on May 2, 2023 6:00:23 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 02/05/23At 09.00 this morning a Viking airliner leaves its resting place near Dover where it has spent the weekend, a departure that some couple of hours later will witness the return of a Vickers Viking airliner to Blackbushe Airport for the first time in over six decades!! The massive transporter will carry the aircraft through the Airport gates prior to a ceremonial journey around the old airfield during which the Airport Fire Service will welcome her home with a traditional arch of water. Thereafter she will be placed at the new hangar where many months of work await, work that will require much support and volunteer activity as the rebuild programme is put into effect. The beginning of the journey that ends today...And so it is that the Viking G-AGRW who commenced her commercial life flying for British European Airways has been saved very largely thanks to the massive help and support from British Airways, the airline formed by the amalgamation of British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and now known as British Airways (BA).
Both BOAC and BEA were regular users of Blackbushe in her commercial heyday through crew training and fog diversions from London Airport - as Heathrow was then known.
It was on this day in 1952 that BOAC introduced the Comet on the London-Johannesburg route, flown by G-ALYP, this was the first routine jet airliner service..Here's BOAC Comet LYU on one of the many Comet crew training details at Blackbushe. This was in either 1952 or '53.A first from British European Airways, also on this day, but in 1966, was when they launched the first jet service between London Heathrow and Glasgow using the powerful Comet 4B.Now, on 2nd May, 2023, this aeroplane who long ago carried the BEA logo returns to the safety of an airport she was once familiar with, Blackbushe. Thanks to British Airways and the many who have contributed generously to make this day possible, and Blackbushe Airport who have done so much already toward her accommodation and future security. It's not over, this may be the 'end of the beginning', but now is the beginning of many months of diligent work where fund raising will be a priority, hard and probably tedious work, but work that will always have the end goal in sight - the return of an immaculate Viking to the turf where so many other Vikings once thrived as they brought post war commercial aviation into the fore and their various airline operators established affordable air travel, package deals and the like that have matured into the huge air transport industry that our nation now supports.
Long live the Viking. Today is a great step toward that goal..
PB
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Post by PB on May 3, 2023 6:58:35 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 03/05/23Who says miracles can't happen? Yesterday was living proof as a door to yesteryear at Blackbushe swung open and one of her much loved relatives, a somewhat weathered Vickers Viking, serenely entered the gates at the conclusion of an epic road journey from Austria. Living proof of an afterlife, Viking G-AGRW returned to Blackbushe Airport, just 23,339 days since she last flew from her old Blackbushe home in June, 1959 dressed in Hunting-Clan's decor. She first touched down at Blackbushe on 19/03/47 wearing her BEA colours...
Some said it was impossible, but so far so good... The fact that "RW" has come home to Blackbushe proof enough that dreams can become reality. It was just over a year ago that the Blackbushe Heritage Trust was established centered on the notion that an aged Viking was dying on a distant airfield in Austria, and if she was not rescued soon a priceless link to our aviation heritage would be lost for all time. Vikings are now very few in number, saving this one would see her brought back to Blackbushe for the sake of our aviation heritage and in particular the deep and historic link Viking operations hold with Blackbushe. With determination, brilliant volunteer support, generous donations, and the incredible support of British Airways, May 2nd witnessed what can be done. The next phase of hard work awaits..
The impossible showed itself to be possible yesterday as the vast transporter upon whose back she was carried entered the gates of Blackbushe. A profoundly moving moment, for me seeing that shape once again after so many years of absence took me straight back to being the young lad on his bike by the A30 or at the east end of the then much larger Terminal, the years just dissolved for a moment. The memories had focus once again.
Television interviews and a live interview on Radio Berkshire from the Blackbushe car-park sealed the day. I was lucky enough to have the chance to spread the word to perhaps even more than read "POTD"?Rather like waiting for the bride, or a bunch of expectant fathers pacing the maternity unit, our wait was finally over, "Vagabond", G-AGRW was about to be delivered, she was home again..The convoy necessary to bring a Viking home performed a ceremonial tour of Blackbushe before settling for the unloading.If one moment from yesterday caused an emotional crisis for those of us of a certain vintage it was this. The shape and size of a Viking on Blackbushe's main runway once more fully ignited latent memories of that shape carrying "Eagle", or one of the many other home based Viking operators as their Bristol Hercules engines pulled them into the sky. Strange, but these moments had an almost religious feel to them, life after death - precious memories were given an outing!Ceremonial moments captured by John Varndell's classic photography, the Viking's return included a salute from the Airport Fire Service. Welcome home...A beaming Pat Marchant of RPM..Forming part of the ceremonial convoy, Pat's company, their skill and dedication, have made all this possible. The wings had their own transport...The third transporter carried things like engines and undercarriage..Daylight between aeroplane and terra firma. She now rests on her tummy until reassembly makes her look truly Viking like..Looking exhausted, tongue hanging out, Old Vagabond seems to be saying "I need a drink". This was the locker for Diplomatic Mail, it could ONLY be opened from inside the aircraft...Back onboard. Vital flying surfaces, tailplane, elevators, fin, rudder, all travelled inside the Viking for her journey home. They were more used to travelling in the open air...
So ended an historic day, a page of aviation history opening for all to see - in due course..
Again massive thanks to all who have helped make this possible... Our volunteers, British Airways 'Better World', Blackbushe Airport, Prestige Signs, RPM, 3T, and the BBC for their coverage of yesterday's events.
Thank you all.
PB
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Post by PB on May 4, 2023 6:44:05 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 04/05/23Now that "Vagabond" has arrived in what will be her recuperation centre for some while the time has come for collecting our thoughts and planning the work that lies ahead over the coming months/years...
First, and foremost, at this time it must be understood that no access to the aeroplane may be made other than by approved personnel, or in the company of authorised persons. This is not due to any high handed officialdom or jobsworthyness, but due to the fact that the aircraft is - as the photo below confirms - supported by straps and therefore potentially unstable. Until the securing framework is in place this request must be adhered to completely, we don't want accidents to befall the aircraft or you!! If over five tons of Viking land on your foot...ouch. Thank you!!The patient is in good care now, recuperation will not be rapid, but her complexion will be far more healthy when she rolls out as a whole Viking in due course..Focusing totally on our Viking this morning, the future depends on two elements. Volunteers and money. As you know we've had fantastic support from British Airways and the many who have given sums of money large and small, it all adds up! Proof of that is the fact that an elderly lady has arrived from Austria to start her new life at Blackbushe! There can never be enough thanks to all who have made the journey possible thus far. HOWEVER....we ain't there yet, not by a long way.
The need for teams of volunteers is uppermost, people who can spare some time and who can offer a variety of skills necessary to get the job done. The Blackbushe Heritage Trust already has a small body of volunteers but we would appreciate far more team members who are able to offer time and enthusiasm. Working on an airfield is always interesting, and as Blackbushe gets busier our team players will have the airfield 'buzz' plus the team spirit, camaraderie, and satisfaction of working on an historic venture that will serve for the edification of all involved. To that end our next Volunteers meeting will be held at Blackbushe Airport on 23rd May starting at 7pm. Venue, the Pathfinder Cafe!! We look forward to welcoming you for an informal gathering whereby we will be able to harvest the team that will have the satisfaction of taking part in what is now a real piece of British aviation history and heritage..Just drop in for a chat even, you'll be very welcome!!As we said just now, the 'cash flow' needs to be upheld!! The Trust will be attending various fund raising events, another avenue for volunteer participation as we visit some air shows with the road-show!
Fund raising is so important. If every person who visited "POTD" had given £1 a time we'd have well over half a million quid in the bank right now... Nope, not going to charge for the daily "POTD", but this year's Raffle Tickets are for sale in the Pathfinder. Every ticket sold is a plus for the Viking project.. Raffle prizes include the massive chance to fly British Airways state of the art flight simulators at Heathrow. Fully instructed!!!! Also we are offering no less than three light aircraft flights from Blackbushe, and other prizes including generous vouchers for use when dining in the Pathfinder..
OR... you can donate online, and please spread the word amid friends and family. You may donate here.. just pop over to the website and donate as a token of appreciation of the Trust's work where together we can make this thing happen!! >>>> www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/donateThat magic moment of the week. The end of one journey, the beginning of another!!Donate, come and join us...whatever, you'll be so welcome, and play a part in aviation history for generations to come...
PB
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Post by PB on May 5, 2023 7:00:53 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 05/05/23This week will long be remembered... The week the Viking returned to Blackbushe, the week the King is crowned. Easily recalled from boyhood memory comes that day in 1953, now separated by a lifetime, when I sat with my Mum, Dad and grand parents watching the day unfold on the TV that my father had built. A cathode ray tube and a screen far smaller than today's cinematic wafer thin home machines where colour is taken for granted, a quantum leap from the valves that glowed from withing the machines of 1953 - silicon chips were a miracle in waiting. A lifetime later, tomorrow my wife and I will watch the proceedings and no doubt like many others of similar vintage reflect on the passed chasm of time that has escaped since last we watched the Crown being placed the heirs head...
Back then I had no idea what I'd do with my life, when you're seven you don't really think about being 'grown-up'. Now I know, a lifetime where aviation has played a leading hand, a wonderful family, tragedies, seen much of the world in global gyrations, and between all that found endless solace from the aerodrome known as Blackbushe..
This week seeing the Viking's arrival and feeling the stir of positive feeling toward Blackbushe and her new resident was of great reward. After six decades one felt a degree of security about Blackbushe, gone are the days when local politicians and certain local individuals did all they could to overturn plans for Blackbushe's continued life serving aviation, there is no question that Blackbushe is and remains an airport!! She's got both feet on the ground and her future is looking quite assured. So many feet of importance have risen skywards from Blackbushe's runways...HM the Queen and Prince Phillip departing on a Viking of the Queens Flight.A wet day in the early sixties, the Queens Flight dropped in in the form of a Whirlwind..Much water under the bridge since that day!One Royal helicopter and the very wide-open early 1960s Blackbushe Airport. Deserted of aeroplanes, the airfield had a feeling of size before its acres north of the main runway were set free...A regular Royal. The Royal helicopter still lands at Blackbushe in the line of duty, sometimes to take on fuel. For some while she was Blackbushe based, BCA taking over all the hangars for their used cars saw another chapter in the Blackbushe book of bad days, this prestigious resident had to find a new home with a roof for her head.Don't forget your Raffle Tickets supporting the Blackbushe Heritage Trust's funding for the Viking. Great prizes, flights in an aeroplane from Blackbushe, flight simulator sessions in British Airway's state of the art equipment at Heathrow, and numerous others. Tickets at the Pathfinder, please ask when you're there..
Also don't forget the Trust's "Volunteers Evening"..23rd May 7pm at the Pathfinder Cafe!! Free to attend, the time has come to harness the tide of enthusiasm that flows toward our Viking. Come and be a part of what is already an historic venture!! Hear what we have to say, meet the team, get involved....
PB
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Post by PB on May 6, 2023 6:42:43 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 06/05/23It's now 25,540 days since a Coronation took place in the United Kingdom and Queen Elizabeth II took her place upon the throne. According to my friend in the mirror there have been a few changes since then! The Queen enjoyed a long reign, the new King crowned today will perhaps not spend quite so long in that exalted seat - the post does not exclude you from the allotted span..
Had you been passing Blackbushe during June of 1953 the aircraft present would be very different from the types that proliferate on the Airport's remaining acres today. Except, maybe, for one example..the new resident who moved in this week, the Vickers Viking! A page of history will be unfurled for all to see when the Blackbushe Heritage Trust's Viking is eventually rolled out and placed on display. However, back in June 1953 Dakotas and Vikings were about in numbers, BOAC were in and out with the DH Comet and Lockheed Constellations crew training, and smaller craft were such as Airspeed Consul and DH Dragonfly confirming Blackbushe's thorough mix of aircraft types. They were right royal days so far as Blackbushe operations were concerned!A taste of '53. Enjoying Blackbushe's once expansive main apron, one of numerous ex RAF Dakotas that arrived in 1953 for conversion by Aviation Servicing before starting life in civvy street.A taste of Blackbushe fuel..June 1953, the month of the last Coronation..Let's hope we get weather like that for June 3rd this year - the Blackbushe Air Day!!A scene reflective of Blackbushe days back in 1953 when this country last witnessed a Coronation...PB
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Post by PB on May 7, 2023 7:20:31 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 07/05/23"Follow that" might be a suitable expression to follow yesterday's display of Britishness, the popularity of the Monarchy, and lil' old GB sitting here on its island can still show the world how to put on a show.. Steeped in ancient traditions we could have been witnessing events from long turned pages of history, only the wonders of 21st Century technology brought a very British day not to the people of the UK but the whole world.. We showed 'em! We are all entitled to our views and in this country we are free to express them providing they are expressed in a peaceful manner.. Royalty fever swept across the land seemingly diminishing the move that supports creating a new republican state, the current candidates for the next President of the United States reflect the considerations associated with voting for a national 'leader'.
I was seven last time I sat before a TV all day to watch a Coronation. I watched surrounded by my family of which I am now the only survivor. If you watched events yesterday with your family, treasure the memories 'cos they'll last a long time. Back in 1953 the country was still recovering from the effects of WW2 when the Coronation took place. TV coverage was minimal compared to today's saturation coverage, the Coronation stood out like a beacon in an austere world and from what I recall the Coronation might have had an even more profound effect on the Nation's celebratory mode.. Today we are soaked in news, media, social media, where all the world events are thrust before us night and day, the 2023 Coronation had to find its place amid the regular maelstrom of world events - and lets face it, it did a brilliant job!
Life goes on, feet on the ground, events at Blackbushe now coming sharply into focus..
The Blackbushe Heritage Trust's Viking will be calling for your help and participation in getting her ready for show. Please note our next Volunteers' Meeting is being held at the Pathfinder on 23rd May, do come along and meet the Team and see if there's a chance to join in with the project that will place an historic aeroplane on an historic airfield where history dictates she belongs... 23rd May, 7pm, looking forward to seeing you then..
Don't forget to buy some raffle tickets at the Pathfinder! Fabulous prizes, the draw will be on 3rd June during the fabulous Blackbushe Air Day. If you don't have your Raffle tickets or your Air Day tickets, now is the time to get 'em! Check out the Air Day latest here >> www.blackbusheairday.com/
For a graphic account of the Blackbushe heritage Trust's recovery and return of a Viking to Blackbushe, try this>>> www.blackbusheheritagetrust.com/ and click on "Follow the Journey".
Blackbushe Airport 1953.Blackbushe Airport 2023.PB
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Post by PB on May 8, 2023 8:02:13 GMT
"Photo of the Day" 08/05/23A Bank Holiday to celebrate the Coronation.
If anyone's thinking of a spot of cross country flying today, May 8th, marks the anniversary of Jean Mountbatten's flight to Australia. She set a new women's speed record on the route of 14 days and 22 hours flying a DH60...8th-23rd May, 1934. The joys of long haul flight! Should you be indulging in something a little more local, here's a sight to behold. War time air base, London's second airport, closed and largely destroyed, saved and re-opened, today one of the south's busiest GA airfields, and very much an airport for tomorrow!! It's where an airfield should be, long live Blackbushe Airport!!Thanks to Mike Biddulph for the view!
PB
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