PHOTO of the DAY...

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
18/08/24

Sometimes POTD slips off schedule, today being an example, but life does sometimes offer diversions as happened today..




The Handley Page Jetstream, a British hopeful for the world's regional airlines..



The Jetstream 1 first flew on this day 18 August in 1967. A very efficient steamlined design, pressurised permitting higher and faster flight than unpressurised competitors it seemed like a British success story in the making. Engine performance caused some early disappointments leading to the Turbomeca engines being replaced by American Garrett powerplants. Development costs far exceeded the figure budgeted by Handley Page, some £10 million over the originally budgeted figure. Handley Page went bankrupt by the time they were building the Jetstream 2, the type being saved by Scottish Aviation who formed 'Jetstream Aircraft' based at Sywell under CEO Bill Bright producing the Jetstream 200. The RAF ordered 26 Jetstreams that would be known as the Jetstream T.1...

The type was seen at Blackbushe from time to time, Farnborough Week once again proving to be the source of most visits. The memory now is vague, but for some while a Jetstream fuselage in green primer was stored at Blackbushe. If anyone remembers it would be handy to know more...


PB

[PB]

Photo of the Day"
19/08/24

More like "Photo of the Afternoon", life somewhat chaotic today dealing with health issues, scammers, and a necessary solitary walk around my favourite airfield's wilderness to restore my sense of humour...

A brisk walk pumps oxygen round the system to reach whatever parts it can, the muscles remember the pleasure of being used, the lungs celebrate with their liberal delivery of fresh air. Where better than Blackbushe for some exercise before descending on the Pathfinder Cafe? On one side of the fence an aviation sanctuary where an ever more busy airfield benefits from its all round popularity while on the eastern side of the fence snakes,rabbits, and doggy doo dah find sanctuary amid the remains of the Airport's six decades of overgrowth.

An advantage of age at this stage is that whilst walking on the old airfield clear memories exist of how it looked when viewed through the eyes of a 1960s teenager from thirteen and upwards... Such memories are precious, but also deeply saddening recalling the past of large aircraft using the old taxiways, the large main apron, and the sound of heavies taxiing past you or leaving their sounds that will forever reverberate in the memory as they applied the necessary power for flight.

The great thing is that Blackbushe Airport today looks very business like, an appearance that will greatly increase once the eternal planning situation at last reaches a positive conclusion.




The Blackbushe Heritage Trust's Viking continues to progress toward the day when complete and immaculate she will stand proudly by the old Terminal to tell all about the type's close association with Blackbushe and how important such aircraft were when it comes to telling the story of Vikings, Blackbushe, and our proud aviation heritage..




Silent gestures to yesteryear. Evidence of the once complex lighting system that shone for many an airline captain as the heavies trundled to or from the main apron, this ancient light marking the end of runway 14 where it joined the southern taxiway a little way east of the Terminal. How many pilots would have also observed this fitting as they passed by?




More silent recall today. The end of the main runway's surviving structure, it provides a popular observation point for the folk who wish to watch the aeroplanes of today's Blackbushe. I had the pleasure of cycling the full length of that and all the runways during school hols shortly after the airfield was closed, before barriers were put up, with warning notices from the Council that it was illegal to cause damage, or remove anything from the site... They can talk!


But, whatever happens in the future, I will walk that walk as long as I'm able and forever remember..

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
20/08/24


Time is proving to be that strange element that is both long and short at the same time...thirteen years ago today the Red Arrows suffered a loss at Bournemouth. Still at Bournemouth a happier tale as it was on this day in 1963, sixty-one years ago today, that the BAC1-11 first took to the sky...

Today, I guess, there'll be many who know nothing or knew nothing of this British passenger jet? It finally vanished from our skies in 2019. The 1-11 started as a 30 seat design by Hunting but grew into an 80 seater following their merger into BAC. Competition came from the DC-9 and 737 but the 1-11 served with numerous British, European and US airlines. The move for quieter skies proved the end for the 1-11 as Airbus and Boeing provided more acceptable decibel outputs with A320s and later 737s. Some 244 1-11s were built in this country and a further nine were license built in Romania. On the drawing boards when Blackbushe was 'alive' as a major commercial airport, the type would never enjoy the wonderfully flat runway at Blackbushe, but as it was the 1-11s operational demands, at max weight, for runway length (2200m) were greater than offered by Blackbushe.. 7200 feet vv the 6000 available.




Blackbushe's runway enjoyed numerous big jet movements in her early days, but obviously at weights suited to the length available.



How amazing it would be to see the Comet crew training at Blackbushe again, often on circuit training, the procedure was not always popular with the residents of the area...

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
21/08/24

Another busy day at the ranch, amazing how much stuff is there is to clear when you chop down a tree!! Fun times ahead, but still time to visit THE aerodrome and see how the Blackbushe Heritage Trust's stall is doing adjacent to the Pathfinder today.. open between 11.0 and 14.00! You just never know what bargains await, and playing Spin the Wheel you never know what you mighty win...




Nine brilliantly polished BAe Hawks arrive at Blackbushe for their salute fly-past during the Airport's 75th Anniversary weekend in 2017. Why that photo today? 21st August, 1974 marks the date of the Hawk's first flight - fifty years ago today. The flight lasted 53 minutes, reached an altitude of 20,000ft and was flown by Duncan Simpson, Chief Test Pilot at HS Aircraft.



Long before the Red Arrows could be imagined back in 1908 on today's date, the Antoinette II achieved the first circle flown by a monoplane at Issy-les-Moulineaux, France... The procedure too 1 minute and 36 seconds.

Another advance in aviation's story is reported to have occured on this day in 1923. Today we take navigation courtesy of electronic aids as par for the course, but t'was not always the case! Back in '23 it is reported the first electronic beacons appeared at airfields in the USA.




Another classic British aircraft, the DH Rapide. The Scillonia Airways example G-AHAG provided pleasure flights throughout the 75th, and happily she continues to provide that service at airshows around the country.










Looking back to the 75th reminds of how a number of aircraft types were scooped up for the weekend, types that had some bearing on the Airport's great history...



Memories, the foodstuff of life and aviation...

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
22/08/24

Claggy grey skies, wind, rain, soon be August Bank Holiday?

Lunch at the Pathfinder yesterday plus family.. Weather good, well it was Blackbushe, but once again the airfield showed what a very popular place it has become. Car park near full, Pathfinder busy busy busy, aeroplanes every way you looked, the transformation from the airfield with half a dozen residents in the sixties showing all the signs of the devastation that had befallen the previously fully equipped major London airport was too obvious to miss! But, you had to be of a certain age to appreciate the fact...




Early sixties, Farnborough Week. Grass cut, US Navy hangar looking magnificent, the council owned 'east-end' starting to shows signs of 'wilding'...




The only 'plane on the airfield!! August 1962, school holidays. Spending what time I could at the airfield helping care-taker Gordon Wilmer, and talking "Blackbushe", this Messenger arrived on a very humid damp and thundery day. The only aeroplane at Blackbushe, but what a joy seeing it here. Perhaps a 'messenger' for future times at Blackbushe??

Passing motorists would see that the once proud Airport still had some aviation trickling through her veins..

Today is another grey August day, Blackbushe looks so different to that day in 1962, and we hope now that some proper development of new hangars etc may not be too far off... But, I look back on that far off day as a token of the way we were as the airfield battled for survival under the auspices of AVM 'Pathfinder' Bennett. One was overjoyed to spend the day with an aeroplane on the ground! Magic!

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
23/08/24


With September getting closer some dates for the diary...

The first being the autumn Blackbushe Airport Consultative Meeting. Held at the Pathfinder starting at 7pm on 17 September. Open to all to attend, you'll learn about the latest news and plans for the Airport, meet local council members and have the opportunity to ask questions. Blackbushe is a valuable link in the local community, it's always rewarding when those who value the airfield show up and show their support. www.blackbusheairport.co.uk/consultative-committee

Another date to note is 21 September, the occasion of the 2024 Twilight Runway Challenge.... raising money for local good causes!! www.twilightchallenge.co.uk/




Another date to remember! The Bob Dylan concert at Blackbushe in 1978..




An altogether different gathering, the Blackbushe personnel (RAF Hartford Bridge) are assembled to be told about the imminent D Day invasion.



Through war and peace 'our' famous airfield has been an asset to the nation, the locality, and many thousands who have enjoyed working, flying, and socialising on its treasured acres.

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
24/08/24

Bank Holiday Weekend... Whoopee, it's raining. Hopefully improved for tomorrow's flying at Blackbushe...

The papers are again full of fun stuff like fuel price hikes while pensioners lose their Winter Fuel Allowance. Small fry to some, but life saving for others... Another 'eye catcher' this morning related to the craze of posting selfies on social media, apparently people do it because of a fear of dying? The more grinning mug shots are spread around the greater you cement yourself into an environment where you'll go on 'for ever'... Well, it must mean I've no fear of dying having as yet not inflicted (unless by mistake) any form of media with selfies, I mean such images would not be a pretty sight - why would I inflict such horrors on anyone?

As August progresses toward September it's the time of year when many look back to, remember, and give thanks to the RAF crews who took part in what we now call 'The Battle of Britain'. It was on August 20th, 1940, that Prime Minister Winston Churchill uttered the immortal words and acknowledged the free world's enormous gratitude to British & Allied aircrew: "Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few."

On today's date, 24 August 1940, a formation of German bombers became lost and so dumped their bombs on the residents of south London. In these days of 'Health & Safety' concerns it is impossible to imagine living in London during those days when Hitler thought he'd 'got us'... Eighty-four years after the Battle of Britain we rightly still celebrate the efforts and success of the RAF in forcing Hitler to cancel his invasion of Great Britain - had the Nazis managed to cross the Channel Dad's Army lay in wait... However, a miracle prevailed and the German barges and invasion craft were not employed.

What still remains evocative, and for many moist eyes, is the sight and sound of Spitfires and Hurricanes in flight - or on the ground. Outnumbered, our young pilots flew time and time again into the hearts of German bomber formations until the invaders could take no more and Hitler changed his tactics. Our nation was saved.

Tomorrow, as in a number of Sundays this year, the Spitfire will be at Blackbushe. This one being a two seat variant whereby some lucky people will be tasting flight in the world's most evocative fighter aeroplane.




Spitfire. 16 Squadron example at Blackbushe - 16 Squadron being the vital PR Squadron based here before D-Day.




Hurricane. Very much a major player in the Battle of Britain, this example from Biggin Hill for Blackbushe's 75th.




The chance to experience the joy of flight and 'do a hundred things you have not dreamed of'



Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air ....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.


The immortal priceless words written by John Gillespie Magee Jr in 1941 - himself a Spitfire pilot.

I'll leave you with those thoughts that surely conjure up the essence of flight in one of the most majestic - and deadly - aeroplanes when air combat was still akin to jousting...

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
25/08/24

It's a funny thing. Our personal space is of such importance to us, property, garden, in the car.. yet we are bounded by infinite space. A relatively small patch of land such as Blackbushe, a mere few hundred acres to some of us is a space of infinite hope, memories, and challenges. POTD only mentions the 'space' thing having noted some facts yesterday that have nothing to do with Blackbushe or aviation... I find them intriguing!

Our galaxy, the whirl of stars we see as the 'Milky Way' is quite large, it takes up a lot of space, or does it? It is estimated that our single galaxy holds some 40 billion stars and is so vast it would take 100,000 light years to span its breadth - travelling at 186,000 miles per second.... Quite a journey. It is estimated that there are at least two trillion galaxies beyond which we will never see as the universe is expanding faster than the speed of light... These facts coming from the great Brian Cox, one assumes they're accurate, POTD is just not equipped to challenge them!!

Back to earth again again after that detour, it was on this day in 2012 that Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the Moon, died at the age of 82.

In 1976, on today's date, British Airways Concorde G-BOAD, made her first flight from Filton. Now she rests indefinitely in the USA at the USS Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York. Unbelievably it was in March, 1969, that Concorde first flew..where did 55 years go since that day when crouched before a black and white TV we watched live coverage of the moment..




Another aircraft of outstanding beauty, probably the most famous aeroplane ever produced, the Spitfire and today she will be singing her priceless song from the runway at Blackbushe!!



The Spitfire has a long term association with Blackbushe. From wartime when Spitfire squadrons were based here, the type has appeared at most of our air shows, and during the Doug Arnold era numerous Spitfires were restored, rebuilt, and worked on until they became priceless, living machines once again...


PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
26/08/24

First, a correction to yesterday's "POTD". Rectified at the speed of light a gross typo occurred which confirms that too much haste makes less speed. The speed of light was referred to as 186,000mph which as anyone slightly interested in such things is a total typo. The true speed correction reads 186,000 miles per second, my thanks to Rocky 14 for pointing out the finger trouble. I know it's not Blackbushe related, but at POTD we keep an open mind on travel regardless of the speed! The emphasis was aimed at the fact that light takes 100,000 years to span our galaxy at such amazing speed...

Anyway, moving back to more earthly matters, yesterday was a great day for flying in Spitfires. Warm, sunny, the wind blowing down the runway, and fabulous clouds to play amongst! Yesterday was another Spitfire flying day at Blackbushe, and what an amazing place Blackbushe was for the day. Not only the Spitfire making numerous sorties, a car rally where the most exotic of cars assembled, the Blackbushe Heritage Trust's Viking open for guided tours and the Trust's shop open also. And, of course, the Pathfinder doing roaring trade as always.




Another Spitfire customer ready for the ride of a lifetime, the ground crew see them off after the full pre-flight briefing and being settled into their new environment...




Blue skies are calling..




Flying as a passenger in the Spitfire. You've got the full pilot perspective, even the gun button on the control column, but there are no loaded guns!



Yesterday proved, once again, that Blackbushe is a true asset to the area and local community. Thank heavens for the tenacity of AVM Bennett, Doug Arnold, BCA, and the present owners of the Airport, all of who have had to fight 'authority' whose vision was unable to see the benefits stored up in this wonderful airfield.

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
27/08/24

The pure joy of seeing a Spitfire operating from Blackbushe on Sunday was priceless, and she'll be back again in September and October for repeat performances. The Spitfire represented a nation where defence was eventually taken seriously as the threat to our safety and security became apparent in 1939 when WW2 started. In the year that war broke out this country was woefully under armed or prepared for battle. The Navy were depleted, they lacked aircraft carriers and destroyers while many of their ships lacked defence against air attack although our Navy was slightly larger than that of the German Navy. Soldiers, we had almost 900,000, France had five million while the Germans had 13 million men ready for war. In the air we by fortune had new fighter aircraft. The Spitfire, thank God, had been a private venture project thanks to "RJ" and Supermarine. Eventually adopted by the Air Ministry. The Hurricane too had been a Sydney Camm private venture aircraft eventually adopted by the Air Ministry. 600 were ordered in 1936.

Most of us will have enjoyed "Dad's Army" on TV, life in the Homeguard as the nation's more elderly population prepared for invasion... you may recall they were faced with shortages and had to say "bang bang" when 'firing' whatever weaponry they had..broom handles or whatever. Today's headlines indicate that our Army in 2024 will have to resort to saying "bang, bang" when 'firing' their weaponry during training to save money to cover recent pay rises 'elsewhere' approved by our new government and also cover pay rises for our troops.

Talking of military action, perhaps another step back to 1944, and life at RAF Hartford Bridge in August of that year. D-Day was now almost three months into history but war still fully occupied our airfield.. On this day 27 August a 226 Squadron Mitchell was shot down. The pilot, Tom Harvey, was forced to crash land in a field that had been used by the 6th Airborne to land their troop-carrying gliders. When the crew emerged from the bent aircraft they were taken by Jeep to No1 Beach Headquarters to report in. Crew member Jack Chinell said he would never forget the Staff Sgt in the Mess who poured a full glass of scotch for him and his navigator. "We downed them in two gulps and they never even fizzed us.. We polished off the entire bottle with a little help from the Staff Sgt! That night we slept on the ground but I couldn't sleep much and woke up to the sound of an aerial dog-fight going between a Spitfire and Focke Wolf 190 going on overhead and remember the spent shell casings raining down, some hitting out tent. We returned home next day by DC3 transport".

Meanwhile, at RAF Hartford Bridge the Station Commander held talks with Sqn Ldr Frame, the Command Catering Officer, to discuss expanding the catering staff in view of large numbers of additional staff anticipated...




Farnborough Air Show early fifties, the mighty Brabazon while a Short Sealand executes a fly-past.





Grumman Albatross, Blackbushe Air Day this year, whose departing moments very much reflected the Sealand at Farnborough except the Albatross had both engines turning!



PB