PHOTO of the DAY...

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
19/07/24

Another beautiful summer's day, how many more can there be left?




Here's another perfect day, Blackbushe Air Day 2023, the sun beamed down on us and aeroplanes were plentiful. Pete Teichman's PR MkXI Spitfire of 16 Squadron.



16 Squadron were, of course, closely affiliated to the airfield during the war, their unarmed Spitfires performing long and bold photo recce missions over enemy held territories in preparation for D Day. This Spitfire is unique in being a true 16 Squadron veteran, although it joined the Squadron after they had moved into Europe following the advancement that came as a result of D Day.

From the editorial seat (getting well worn) thanks to all who follow POTD, the numbers continue to increase to around 400 per day. Small fry in the ocean of aviation journalism but a door for anyone who shares the passion for Blackbushe to enter! Hopefully the editorial health will hang together for a bit longer?

Enjoy the sunshine!

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
20/07/24


Today's "POTD" will be brief, it's 20th July - a special day ...

In 1951 the Hunter made its first flight.

In 1969 Neil Armstrong first walked on the Moon

In 1974 Turkey invaded Cyprus

...AND my wonderful wife and I were married on this day in 1974... our Golden Anniversary!

50 Golden years, celebration time!!




Another 50th and some old timers..Blackbushe's 50th.


PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
21/07/24

Many thanks to the kind "POTD" readers who sent their kind good wishes yesterday - t'was a grand day!

Today totally off schedule, but on the basis of 'better late than never' the daily photo is coming... I read today that the third runway for Heathrow is currently under discussion to match the new Government's quest for growth. More extended legal encounters where the barristers will win once again! Talking of our new Government, you know, the one that suggested private jets should be banned from UK skies, they seem to have no qualms in using private jets to suit their own means as witnessed by new Foreign Secretary Lammy for his visit to Israel last week, or PM and ministers using their own Airbus aircraft to attend to NATO matters in the USA. Business jets are invaluable tools for serious business people, it's good to see the Government's appreciation of the fact!
It's also good to see that the number of business aircraft using Blackbushe continues to build-up...




This photo courtesy of Kevin Gafney conveys the international flavour of Blackbushe's recent business movements!



Finally, the new Blackbushe runway lighting system has now completed the installation process, it just awaits delivery of the control system that will be available in the next few weeks. A system compliant with modern regulation and enhanced taxiway and runway exit lighting, the new system does not change the fundamental use of the Airport's night flying operations/times, but in future it will facilitate PCL, Pilot Controlled Lighting, where pilots control the lighting remotely... The £1.5 million spent on the new lighting must show confidence in the future of Blackbushe and the long awaited opportunity to build some new hangars.

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
22/07/24

First day of Farnborough '24 and it's not raining. FR24 indicating a PC-12 inbound Blackbushe from Brussels, not quite the torrent of visitors that poured in during that 1970s to 1980s period, but times have changed, certainly the Farnborough Air Show has changed into a technology lead STEM recruitment exercise with less emphasis on display flying, closing on Friday with no public weekend action. There's no doubt it will be an eye opening mind boggling event where the world of aviation and its technology meet face to face.

Meanwhile our newly elected leaders in the UK have indicated that Heathrow's third runway is once again up for discussion providing Ed Milliband doesn't stand in the way.... It would be encouraging if General Aviation and its airfields were given proper recognition for what they offer in terms of GDP, employment, and 'growth'..

Talking of aviation achievements today's date offers a few, for example...

In 1942, on 22 July, the first P-38 F Lightning fighters of the U. S. Army Air Forces’ 14th Fighter Group departed Presque Isle, Maine, for the United Kingdom via Iceland. They become the first fighters to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1943, a Lancaster converted for use as a transport aircraft inaugurated the Canadian Government’s Trans Atlantic Air Service, operated by Trans-Canada Air Lines. It sets a non-stop speed record for a flight from Dorval Airport, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Prestwick, Scotland, of 12 hours 26 minutes.

While in 1983, Dick Smith achieved the first solo circumnavigation of the globe in a helicopter. The 35,258 mile journey was flown in stages using a Bell Jetranger III named Australian Explorer.




A glance back to the fifties and the very solid original Control Tower located on what is now the overgrown and disused east end of Blackbushe. Not a trace was left behind...




Farnborough may have its Air Show this week, but it was only last month Blackbushe had its Air Day...



..and on that, POTD is done for another day!

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
23/07/24

Today marks our Forum reaching its 767,707th visit.

Day two of Farnborough Week. Great to see a couple of F-15s and an F-35 over the house (very briefly!) otherwise just sounds from behind the trees that saw a very frustrated me rushing for the front door - just as I did years ago, many years ago. Seems that this aviation 'condition' is one that is quite incurable, and frankly one I'd not wish to be cured.. A few years ago the days would have been spent at Blackbushe parking aeroplanes on the cross runway with Dave Hill and Roger Russell - purely for love, who'd need paying for such enjoyment? In the Doug Arnold era he'd come across in his latest Roller to inspect the line-up and after a few words would drive back to the Terminal - I'm sure he was rubbing his hands as he drove off, lots of landing fees secure!











Visitors such as this added to the 'big' Airport feel..helped by their sounds and the fragrance of their fuel!!



Running late again today, seems that since the 'op' my clock-system has taken a bit of a bashing! ZZzzzzz

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
24/07/24

It may still be some way off, but Farnborough this year produces the evidence that 'tomorrows' air transport is developing. Sustainable fuel, quieter airline candidates while the shorter haul side of eVTOL development shows much promise for future networks of such craft linking cities whilst being environmentally harmless and great neighbours. US eVTOL developer Joby have brought a full scale aircraft to Farnborough allowing inspection of the cabin and an idea of what the future holds. Four passengers cruising at 100mph, range 100 miles and claimed to be 100 times quieter than helicopters.. British based Vertical Aerospace has started ground testing of its latest eVTOL design, the VX4. Four passengers, 150mph cruise.

The future use of Blackbushe will include private, club, and business flying - but as POTD has suggested on a number of occasions, the Airport is well located to provide a facility for future eVTOL passenger/freight operations. One must assume that eVTOL will grow as the technology involved matures?




A press cutting from some months ago...



Heavier than air aviation has only been around for just over 100 years, we've been very lucky to witness some of its past and present while holding visions of how it may change in the coming decades. From Blackbushe's point of view we are in the same place, lucky to have seen - or read - about her illustrious past, enjoying the present day while contemplating how her story will unfold in the coming years... 'Modern' technology will almost certainly be a part of her story but how is something we can but conjecture about. eVTOL port maybe?

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
25/07/24

"POTD" enjoyed some 500 visits yesterday, not a lot in the terms of journalism but confirmation that there is a strong tide of interest and enthusiasm for an 82 year old airfield that is situate in the most perfect place for a GA airfield in the 21st Century.

I managed to grab a few minutes watching the Farnborough Air Show yesterday between the trees but more medical appointments ruled that would be short lived. I caught the RDAF F16 opening the show and could stay long enough for the first F-15 to launch. Something quite indescribable about the sheer power, sound, and the fact that a human is riding those ear shattering flame throwers through the most extraordinary variety of positive and negative 'G' forces in such a short time. In the Chipmunk one could pull some facial distortions pulling 'G' during aerobatics, but what these guys can tolerate it would be fun to find out. Not much chance now, imagine from runway to the real 'mile high' in just seconds!!

Years ago I would toddle off with Derek Johnson, CFI and founder of Three Counties Aero Club in dear old G-AMXL, the Club's Chipmunk, for aerobatic sessions before the aeroplane was put to bed on a Sunday evening. Admit I had qualms before the first session as to being inverted, spinning, and tasting 'G' coming in all directions. But, what could be better than sitting in the front seat as the world rotates over you head, spins, rolls, and generally goes where it does not on most days! I think seven consecutive loops was the limit before running out of sufficient altitude flying in another Chipmunk with another aviator.. The kick in the back from an F-15s power plants as you commence the take-off roll must be so different to the gentle nudge of the Chipmunk reaching take-off thrust?

Have to say I have been incredibly lucky thanks to Blackbushe for so many bizarre or unusual flying experiences. I guess Farnborough Week accounts for two. In 1962 flying in the right hand seat Of EKCO's Avro Anson on a radar calibration sortie while the RAF's Black Arrows Hunter aerobatic team were also up there in the haze.. For a 17 year old it was quite the experience! Moving to the eighties another flight that still registers with the memory buds is than in the left hand seat of Aztec G-FOTO with the late and legendary Arthur Gibson famed for his air to air work with the Red Arrows. On the last day of Farnborough '86 Arthur was preparing for another air to air with the Red Arrows in the Aztec. Flown by the late John Watts Arthur invited me to join him on the sortie. I was sat in the captain's seat, left hand side, and off we toddled from Blackbushe. Climb to 6000ft, not an inch below, where we circled overhead Farnborough while the Reds flew below us giving the most amazing views of their activity and realisation of just how fast the BAe Hawk could rise from near ground level to almost 6000ft and back down again. My photos were pretty crap, Arthur was in the back seat where a hatch opened up permitting unobstructed views for Arthur's far more superior lens! Sadly we lost Arthur some years later, and dear John was lost in a Tornado accident a year or so later. Memories of Blackbushe days are usually golden, but there are some very dark ones too...

Herewith, my feeble efforts!






















































Thanks to my Blackbushe days the above experience came about!


Oh well, memories that are ever lasting - today it's back to Frimley Park Hospital 'for lunch'...


PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
26/07/24

Last day of Farnborough, and it's only Friday... Rather an odd statement after so many years of the public flocking in on both weekend days. Really does mean that the area to the south-west of London has no 'public' weekend flying displays, some fly-ins at Popham and the annual Blackbushe Air Day seemingly the rare occasions when the public can come up-close with aeroplanes on their days off? Talking of Blackbushe, we once filled the cross runway, the apron and the grass with 'Farnborough visitors', but those days have seemingly evaporated as travel requirements have changed - and Farnborough have been accepting visiting aircraft - unlike a few years ago when visitors to the Farnborough Air Show were not accepted.

Airfields, the threats to them and their retention is something on the mind of anyone who cares about British General Aviation and its well being. Herewith is a link to the latest GAAC update on the status of British airfields... gaac.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/AERODROMES-UPDATE-Q2-2024-1.pdf

So far as Blackbushe is concerned a date is awaited for an Inquiry into the latest land exchange proposal which hopefully will be the last rung in the ladder the Airport has been climbing for over six decades..




Farnborough wasn't the only airfield south-west of London to claim heavy metal during their air shows. The Vulcan made a breathtaking display at Blackbushe during one of the Barnstormers Air Shows back in the early seventies..



Sadly, display flying at Blackbushe has been curtailed by rules and regulations imposed by those whose job is to impose regulations upon us. Air display safety in the UK has been exceptionally good over the years since the war, but it just took one accident in our modern world of risk aversion to put the lid on things. If it's population density close to an airfield that draws the curtains on display flying I can't help wondering how Farnborough can have high performance aerobatics considering the high density of its local population? Blackbushe is in the wilderness by comparison! As it is, since the north side of Blackbushe was allowed to go wild we've lost the space that historically made big air events a possibility.

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
27/07/24

So it wasn't only the Blackbushe Air Day that felt the effects of rain...one had to feel sorry for the team behind the Olympic opening ceremonial evening, but spirits it would seem were not dampened. Let's hope its a safe event from which we feel the touch of gold.

Yesterday saw the conclusion of another significant event, Farnborough 2024. From my point it was an odd week with more time looking at the inside of Frimley Park Hospital than at aeroplanes in action.. I did manage a brief hour one afternoon timed to catch the F-16 and the F-15 displays from Morrison's Southwood car park. Trees have grown so tall it's no longer a useful vantage point. However, I did watch the live stream yesterday and caught some of the flavour of the event and managed to catch a little of the Farnborough atmosphere. Always feels a little sad at the end of the week when it's all over and the shapes that have been a part of the scene for a week return home and take their resounding afterburner sounds with them - will they come back, will I still be around?

Meanwhile, life at Blackbushe remains very positive. We await the date for the Planning Inspectorate's next Inquiry which necessarily delays any developments until then - and its conclusions, but all being well will open the door to those new hangars being built... and we have a bright autumn and winter ahead as the new high-tech airport lighting system will be in action for all to see.

Also at Blackbushe, our steps back into history and heritage with the Blackbushe Heritage Trust continue to show us the Viking's restoration programme under way. The Tech Team are doing wonders, it is amazing how much work is going on behind the scenes as well as on the hangar floor toward that magnificent day when a Vickers Viking is once again rolled out onto Blackbushe tarmac.

Come the autumn the Trust's winter talk programme will begin, do keep your eyes open for more details, they've proven a great success in the past. I think with Farnborough ending one tends to feel winter's approach, but that's a throw back to the days when Farnborough was in September and by the end of the week nights were indeed drawing in.. We've still got the summer ahead??? Have we not?




Farnborough Week at Blackbushe some years ago when we filled up with visitors. The black clouds were synonymous with future prospects of Blackbushe filling with visitors in the future. No fault of Blackbushe - the market changed its clothes.




..and one last look at the classic years of Blackbushe/Farnborough. The famed chestnut paling on the side of the A30 where runway 01/01 used to cross the road, a regular Portuguese Air Force C-54 6601 visited Blackbushe during Farnborough from 1956 to 1959. Imagine! To those of us lucky enough to have been around to witness those days it was just another day as the Airport filled with aeroplanes each of which would have been a treasure today.



There we are, another Farnborough finished, hopefully I'll be around more next time - assuming I'm around at all!

Have a great weekend!

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
28/07/24

Another week begins, this morning beginning with an abundant outbreak of rooks in the back garden. Big fellas, with big voices that surely have a touch of the pre-historic in the rasping screech they indulge in while telling their mates to give them some space. It's 06.30, early today thanks to the rook racket that even the soundest sleeper would surely hear?




Going back to the seventies, some will remember the arrival of five B-25s that became part of the Blackbushe scene for quite a while. Seems like yesterday, but some forty years ago...proved exciting birds to fly in!



Looking further back in time it was on this day in 1945 that a B-25 crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in New York. Happened in fog, caused over US$1 million in damages and claimed the three crew plus a further eleven on the ground.

Happier recall of today's date in history, t'was on this day in 1950 that the first turbo prop passenger service was flown! A British European Airways Viscount having the honour of performing the flight. 14 passengers were flown from Northolt to Paris Le Bourget.




BEA Viscounts were no strangers to Blackbushe. Fog diversions and crew training making them a regular sight.



Another fact from today's date.... Those of us who were very young in the fifties may recall the sight of USAF B-47s from RAF Greenham Common? I attended school near Reading at the time and it was not unusual to see a B-47 pass overhead with a small drag chute extended behind it. Deliberate or unintentional I know not, but it was a strange sight seeing such a large aeroplane flying around with a chute behind it... Anyway, it was this day in 1958 that two B-47 Stratojets joined the world of record Atlantic crossings. Property of the U.S. Air Force's 305th Bombardment Wing they set two speed records, one flew from RCAF Goose Bay, Labrador, to RAF Fairford, in 4 hours 14 minutes and the other from Limestone Air Force Base, Maine, to RAF Fairford in 4 hours 45 minutes.


OK, so if speed is your thing then another date from 28th July, this time in 1976 as Speed Records were achieved. USAF Capt Eldon W Joersz, flew at 2193.16 mph over a straight course, and USAF Maj Adolphus H Bledsoe, 2092.29 mph over a closed circuit, both in Lockheed SR-71As at Beale AFB CA. Some aeroplane!


Have a nice Sunday...
PB