PHOTO of the DAY...

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
04/11/24

November - very much the season of mists, poor visibility leading to the need for something that would make flying at least safer, and also possible.

While research into blind flying and automatic landings would go on for many years and airfields such as Blackbushe offered wonders such as FIDO where mists and fog would surrender to the blow-torch effect and burn a corridor through the prevailing clag it was not entirely comfortable landing amid thousands of feet of blazing petroleum and also prohibitively expensive. Today it would no doubt been seen as environmentally unacceptable?

After many years of research it was on this day in November, 1964, that a British European Trident flown by Captain Eric Poole landed at Heathrow with visibility of just 130 feet, 40 meters, marking the first use of a blind landing system to land a commercial flight in conditions that would previously have been "no-go" so far as landing was concerned..




Yes, Blackbushe can have its foggy moments, but generally Blackbushe is one of the most fog free airfields you're going to find. Located on a plateau it has a flying start compared to some other airfields built in a lower lying environment.




Proof, were it needed, flights diverted from Heathrow due to its fog found welcome refuge at far less foggy Blackbushe...




07/11/59, the classic Gordon Wilmer image of fog diversions lined up at Blackbushe including one of Swissair's rare movements with DC-6 HB-IBC. November 1959, the Airport had just six months to live before being scrapped by the government of the day.




Amazingly, for 64 years Blackbushe has clung to life as an airport despite the hurdles placed in her way! We live in hope that the last hurdle will be crossed before too long?

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
05/11/24

Firework night, no matter whether you're on the UK side of the Atlantic or the USA fireworks are gonna fly tonight!

"POTD" waits, as do we all, as to the outcome of Trump's effort to retake the White House..




November nights were good for FIDO's fireworks at Blackbushe!!


PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
06/11/24

Last night was 'firework night', but from my vantage point where normally the sky would once be crossed with rockets and sparkly things, the ears receiving minor explosions from all directions, last night the sky was filled with low cloud and silence. So much for the free show on bonfire night, just a slight aroma of smoke hung in the air. Somebody must have been marking he occasion. I guess the large quantity of exploding shells flung into the sky from parts of the neighbourhood on Saturday night was it. Happy memories still exist of firework nights with friends and family, especially when I was about four and an errant spark found the box of as yet unlit fireworks. Some things can leave long lasting impressions!!

The burning question today is what impression did Blackbushe Airport make on the Planning Inspector when he visited the airfield last week to assess and decide on the proposed Land Exchange that will, if approved, permit Blackbushe Airport to build her new infrastructure..

What we do now is once again - wait. Await the Planning Inspector's decision and its consequences. There's nothing more to be said at this stage, best thing for those who are interested would be to view the update on the Blackbushe Airport website... It's here>>> www.blackbusheairport.co.uk/landexchange. Scroll down to the end for the current state of play.




There she is, a prime new build GA centre in waiting. Imagine modern hangars and a new modern Terminal and Control Tower alongside the main A30 road!!


The waiting goes on, after sixty years it's about time the fireworks of hope and optimism were launched!!

But, what a fun sixty years we've had amid our hopes for the future and daily appreciation that Blackbushe Airport, unlike the council owned portion, was spared the final acts of destruction!

Stay tuned..

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
07/11/24

One wonders where we're heading. Trump on one side, Putin on the other, and Starmer in the middle..the future is looked to with interest!!

Meanwhile at Blackbushe the future is looked toward with interest and positive hope that the Planning Inspectorate will look upon the Airport's plans with approving eyes. Casting thoughts into the future where will General Aviation head? Will technology change the scene significantly? Will "climate" issues become a threat to today's i.c. powered aircraft if - and when - electric or hydrogen power clear their hurdles providing a new source of thrust? Technology has moved swiftly forward with the advent of VTOL craft powered by electricity, various airlines having placed orders or statements of interest in equipping with eVTOL craft for short haul operations.

By their nature these craft will not require long runways nor will they produce much in the way of decibels. Now, can you visualise a time when Blackbushe has completed her new infrastructure with the look of a 21st Century airport, new Terminal, hangars and associated facilities. Yes? As eVTOL aircraft progress to passenger and freight operations I can visualise Blackbushe with her excellent catchment, environmental and access opportunities becoming a centre for eVTOL operations in maybe not too many years? There's no doubt the suitable equipment will become available, technology is like that, look at GA aircraft today carrying such sophisticated nav equipment, light years ahead of the sixties when trainee pilots folded up their maps to show their planned route with chinagraph lines indicating the planned journey ahead..

A recent AvWeb 'flash' stirred my imagination regarding the future traffic that airfields like Blackbushe might be handling, read on....


"Beta Technologies announced yesterday that air medical aircraft operator Metro Aviation has placed a deposit-backed order (deposit amount not specified) for up to 20 of Beta’s developmental ALIA vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Currently operating 170 aircraft as part of 42 separate air medical programs over 27 states, Metro said it plans to incorporate the ALIA aircraft into its existing network “to ultimately carry out both inter-hospital and scene transports.”

Metro VP and co-owner Todd Stanberry said, “Yes, we believe Beta has the superior product in the [electronic] VTOL space, and they are taking the right approach to entering the market. We are aligned with Beta in so many ways, from people, to safety, to quality.”

Beta founder and CEO Kyle Clark said, “We originally designed ALIA with organ and tissue transport in mind, so we are excited to complement that mission with Metro and its family of healthcare providers across the country. Electric aviation brings reliability at a lower cost, which makes it a strong value proposition for urgent transport like hospital transfers and emergency response.”




Credit BETA technologies. Perhaps an example of the shapes that will be seen in the skies and airfields such as Blackbushe in the future?




..or from Airbus?



Blackbushe with her natural benefits might become the place where you'd jump on the eVTOL rather than the 07.15 from Farnborough to Waterloo? Just thinking...

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
08/11/24

06.00 eyes glued to the "POTD" keyboard. The way my days have started for the past nine years... only been a very few days off, it's an odd way to have started approx 3,500 mornings focused on one subject. How long this continues I'm not sure as health issues and birthdays hold their secrets, but I think it's fair to say that these mornings indicate a significant degree of devotion to the past, present, and future of Blackbushe Airport?

Started when I was very young passing the Airport in the car and seeing this endless stretch of road with aeroplanes liberally parked on either side. My Father would later take me to watch the action as airliners came and went, each with their magnificent sounds.. Aviation grabbed my soul and my life's journey started to make sense, it had to be with a focus on flight and flying machines. Wonderful school holidays with bike on the side of the A30 soaking up the atmosphere, Vikings, DC-4s, etc etc military and civil types, or in the main Airport car park at the east end of the Terminal Building where again close-up views of aircraft, their crews, and associated ground activity provided a stage better than any theatre!

The loss of the Airport in May 1960 was an enormous blow to the thousands for whom Blackbushe was their work and their lives. For those who stood on the side and watched it too was a tragic loss.

That loss opened up a whole new and unexpected way of life at Blackbushe. AVM "Pathfinder" Bennett's purchase of a significant and valuable portion of the old airfield proved a gateway to the future... I soon met the great man whilst I was cycling the still unused runways, not long after after I met Gordon Wilmer who was Bennett's Airport caretaker and a great friendship evolved. School hols working with Gordon on whatever airfield repairs were going on, occasionally an aircraft would land!! I joined the new Blackbushe Aero Club as a Founder Member and found myself on one of the Committees, and often after school I would pop up to the airfield on the trusty bike, 14 mile round trip, then go home for home-work. And so it went on, flying - free flying lessons in exchange for cleaning Three Counties Aero Club's Austers, friends - amazing friends, doing whatever to help, writing letters to Flight magazine and the local press, to eventually running air shows in the seventies, varied other events for years after, and somehow becoming Public Relations Officer for the Blackbushe Airport Users' Association.

Here we are, life has reached its autumn days and hopefully the NHS will extend them a while longer. Who knows? Meanwhile, the Blackbushe obsession goes on, the annual Air Day and the Blackbushe Heritage Trust provide fuel to keep me in circulation while the Pathfinder Cafe - named after the AVM who I met on that sunny afternoon in 1962 - provides wonderful meals, snacks, and drinks!

Now after six decades we're perhaps very close to that long longed for day when Blackbushe Airport can finally rebuild, a new infrastructure and a new life as one of the country's most outstanding airfields. Six devoted decades rewarded?

Six decades blessed by the friendships that have evolved, without you it could never have been the same..





A fragment of memory, 1962, a very deserted airfield on one of those Sundays when an aviator descended in our midst and a real aeroplane sat before us! A fragment of memory never forgotten..



PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
09/11/24

It's the time of the year when the weather has to decide which way it's going. Seems a bit undecided at the moment! Yesterday's trip to Blackbushe revealed once again an aerodrome in the doldrums. Nothing stirred apart from a brightly coloured PC-12 going about its business, training aeroplanes sat silent and resigned to the grey clag that has beset the country for days, the windsock hung limp and lifeless, but the Pathfinder Cafe was bursting with life, happy people, and its wonderful hard working crew!! The new runway lights blazed like a string of glistening diamonds awaiting along side the strangely silent runway. Not even a red kite circled overhead seeking some unsuspecting morsel.




Blackbushe's glistening diamonds await... Come a long way since we hand lit goose necks alongside the runway for winter Wednesday nights!!



One wonders if Ed Milliband's eyes have of late swiveled enough to note the dead-calm that has beset our land for days? Not only has there been no wind to drive his 'net-zero' £80 billion windmills-for-all scheme for days, his plans to decimate our agricultural land with solar 'farms' would have had no sun to tickle their energy generating cells. The obsession to 'go green' could result in a lot of dark nights, red faces and similarly coloured bank accounts. Captain Trump is going to "drill, drill, drill" for his future energy, while we seal up our rich energy supplies and necessarily import fuel from other sources. We could have gone nuclear, but....you couldn't make it up!!

Anyway, where were we? Yes, some important dates for your diary in support of the Blackbushe Heritage Trust.

On Sunday Nov 17th, Blackbushe Heritage Trust will be at the Heathrow Aircraft Enthusiasts Fair at Kempton Park Racecourse. A mecca for aviation enthusiasts, an opportunity for the Trust to generate funds and interest, the BHT stand manned by our ever faithful volunteers.

Please put this date in your diary now!! Thursday 21st November. Dave Payne's second talk and show from the wonders and romance of propeller driven days. Dave has spent a huge amount of time preparing his unique collection of prop-driven memories, the evening will be totally spell-binding. Don't miss it, tickets are just £10, free tea and coffee. Wallow in nostalgia at the Pathfinder Cafe
at the next Blackbushe Heritage Trust evening talk, Dave Payne's "Propliners - Take 2", Thursday 21st November...take-off 7pm. All funds go direct to the Blackbushe Heritage Trust's funds employed in the restoration of an aeroplane that knew Blackbushe well in earlier times - the Viking G-AGRW.

See you there!
PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
10/11/24

On this dull, still Remembrance Sunday the nation reflects on the cost of wars gone by. It's only eight decades since the world was embroiled in global conflict, today the flames of war are still burning. Back in the very early fifties I clearly recall as a four year old sitting in the back of the car as we drove through Liverpool. Every so often amid the rows of houses/shops/apartments there would be a very blackened and empty space between buildings. "Bomb damage" was the reason given, to a very young and inexperienced mind it seemed quite normal for bomb damage to be a part of life. The reality of what these empty spaces represented meant would sink in in due course... Today that mind is a little more experienced, but the fact that we can continue to inflict barbaric damage on fellow humans - whatever their race or creed - on our majestically beautiful planet is beyond belief. Humanity would seem to be no less than miraculous from its origins of creation, today we remember those who have given their lives so as we may live in peace, their sacrifices beyond all measures of value.

Looking back to 1944, and the November following D-Day RAF Hartford Bridge continued her quest for peace as her squadrons took the struggle deeper into Europe, from early in the month Mosquitoes of 305 Squadron pressed home their first attacks on targets inside Germany. The words of Mosquito pilot Eric Atkins sum up the feelings of our Mosquito crews.6th November, 1944, "Another night mission in the West Ruhr, Krefield and Dusseldorf region. The weather was appalling, severe gales with winds up to 60mph and increasing. We noted the huge seas breaking over piers and harbour walls. The cloud hung desperately to us, and we to it, as the Mosquito seemed to be picked up by a giant invisible hand and then flung down again. I struggled with the control column as the giro compass needle danced in the panel in front of me. Over the target at Krefield we had to put up with flak and searchlights as well as the awful weather and I felt like turning round and going home. Then I remembered in August 1939 I had been the guest of the Hitler Youth (an exchange boy scout visit) at their Krefield Headquarters. They had been extremely sarcastic to me. 'What can you do?' asked one of their officials. 'We've signed a pact with Russia and shared Poland up between us' - that was the first we had heard of it! At that time I couldn't do anything, but now....I pressed home our attack, but we really should have called it a day then and pressed home our attack on some vaguely seen lights. On the basis that hitting anything in Germany had to be a good thing for the war effort we let the bombs go accompanied by a good burst of cannon fire. They replied in no small measure, but I think they were aiming blind as we were - there was more guess and hope than science in our attacks. The journey home was really bad with the gales". 305 Squadron lost two Mosquitoes on that night.




The last of the Mosquitoes emerges from the mists of time... Warbirds of Great Britain's beautiful resident G-MOSI. Another world from 1944 and the days of conflict, but a stirring reminder of those who had gone before.




Today we can but be thankful for those who made such perilous exploits from the runway we see everyday at Blackbushe.

Our gratitude cannot be overstated.

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
11/11/24

Remembrance Day, 11th November, 2024.



Royal Air Force Hartford Bridge, one of the many...


At the going down of the sun, and in the morning..
We will remember them...

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
12/11/24


Yesterday produced a goodly gathering of people who stood before the Blackbushe Terminal Building to share the 11.00 two minute silence, the annual tribute to those who gave or were willing to give their lives in the name of peace.

Many lost their lives serving from Blackbushe, then RAF Hartford Bridge, in the last global conflict. The authorities of the sixties, government and local, saw fit to destroy Blackbushe without so much as a thought for the airfield's history and the sacrifices made by those who flew from here in anger. Hopefully a memorial will be made possible once the Airport's modernisation is complete, from previous discussions there are quite a few who would happily make financial contributions, this would preserve such an important aspect of its past and insure the heroes of WW2 may rest in peace knowing they will never be forgotten as a measure of the airfield belonged to them.

The history of Blackbushe is perhaps one of the most intriguing and varied of British airfields. Certainly the past sixty years have been an adventure! An indication of the changes were made clear yesterday when Rob Belcher produced his latest list of Blackbushe's home based aircraft. Compared with memories of the early sixties the number of home based aircraft is quite astonishing. When new hangars are built one ponders over how those numbers will grow?

Here's Rob's list...

2-SIRI Cirrus SR22
G-AGRW Vickers Viking
G-ATEF Cessna 150E
G-AVSF Piper PA-28-180
G-BBRC Fuji FA.200-180
G-BCIR Piper PA-28-151
G-BDFW Commander 112
G-BICW Piper PA-28-161
G-BIJV Cessna F152
G-BLVI Slingsby T67
G-BMWR Commander 112
G-BMYG Cessna 152
G-BOJI Piper PA-28RT-201
G-BOMU Piper PA-28-181
G-BOWY Piper PA-28RT-201
G-BPBM Piper PA-28-161
G-BSCN SOCATA TB-20
G-BSCZ Cessna 152
G-BSZW Cessna 152
G-BTMA Cessna 172N
G-CBBC SA Bulldog
G-CBMZ Eurostar EV-97
G-CBZR Piper PA-28R-201
G-CEJD Piper PA-28-161
G-CICG Ikarus C42
G-CKYJ Piper PA-28RT-201
G-CLAC Piper PA-28-161
G-CMFF Piper PA-28-161
G-CMGU Grob109
G-CMKI Cessna 152
G-CMKJ Piper pA-28-161
G-DSKY Diamond DA42
G-ELCH Commander 114B
G-FDDB Piper PA-32RT-300
G-FELC Cirrus SR22
G-FPSA Piper PA-28-161
G-HWPK Sling 4
G-HYPE Sling 4
G-ICAN Zenair CH 750
G-IDID SA Bulldog
G-ILHR Cirrus SR22
G-JEOL Slingsby T-67M
G-JJAN Piper PA-28-181
G-LKAM Sonaca 200
G-LKDM Sonaca 200
G-LKSM Sonaca 200
G-LKVA Tecnam P2010
G-LSZA Diamond DA 42 NG
G-OCCN Diamond DA40
G-OCLV Robinson R44
G-OMJA Piper PA-28-181
G-PDSI Cessna 172N
G-PHTG Socata TB-10
G-RAAM Piper PA-28-161
G-RCMP Piper PA-28RT-201
G-RECW Piper PA-28-181
G-SAMC Ikarus C42
G-SIGN Piper PA-39-160
G-SPTT Diamond DA40
G-TESG Diamond DA42
G-UCAN Tecnam P2002
G-WOWS Cirrus SR22T
G-YEBO Cirrus SR22
G-YORE CZAW Sportcruiser
N114AT Rockwell RC-114B
N131CD Cirrus SR20
N1407J Commander 112
N147LK Cirrus SR22
N20TB SOCATA TB-20
N622RC Cirrus SR22
N624CS Cirrus SR22T
N78GG Beech F33A
N799DS DA40 Diamond Star
N83VK Piper PA-32-300
N9432B Cessna 175





The scene typical of days around 1962/63. A Hornet Moth, G-AMZO, had the luxury of a refurbished nissen hut located where BCA are today, otherwise the only means of saving the resident aircraft was lengths of rope and concrete blocks to tie them to. Believe me, it felt so good to have this many aircraft back on Blackbushe, the contents of the above list would have been a dream beyond our wildest hopes - or imagination!




Priceless debris left behind by demolition contractors had its value... Not pretty, but usually effective.




Snug as a bug in a rug, G-AMZO folded her wings and enjoyed the luxury of a dry nissen hut hangar. Len Webb owned 'ZO, being a builder he was well positioned to refurbish this bit of Blackbushe's past..





Not so snug. Home based Jackaroo felt the full force of a winter gale and, having jumped her moorings, had no choice other than to go where the wind directed. Unfortunately the Parish Council's destruction of their owned Blackbushe's eastern end was not the most beautiful aspect of this bit of Hampshire, the concrete rocks were a trap for any aeroplane making an involuntary crossing the lines onto 'council country'... G-APAL was repaired and continued her flying career, a fine aeroplane she was too..Flying four-up in a "Tiger Moth" was an interesting experience!




Great thanks to Rob for his list of present day residents. It was great having an hour or so to talk over the past and the future with him yesterday in Blackbushe's Pathfinder Cafe. He will be badly missed once he has moved to the wide open spaces of Lincolnshire, but it's quite certain we'll be seeing him still. I recall his first memories of Blackbushe are from attending the 1977 Blackbushe Air Festival with his Dad. Another great reason for putting an air show together back then!!


PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
13/11/24


13th November. Gloomy time of year... still the news always has some cheery bits. Or does it? The Archbishop has relinquished his post at the top of the church, nasty fall, and president Starmer has dictated our little island will be the global pace setter in the reduction of pollutants. No doubt his mate, Ed, will be salivating at the thought of turning our green and pleasant land into a giant mirror as the nation turns into a solar farm interlaced with pylons and jolly windmills. Seems a hell of a price to pay by the occupants of what will not be so green and pleasant a land that only produces around 1% of global 'emissions'. Sitting here the benefits of central heating are circulating around 'POTD Towers', best enjoy it while I can..

Moving swiftly on to memories of four engined military aircraft with four propellers providing the cut and thrust through the air, today is a day that all Halifax lovers will be marking.. On 13th November 1940 another multi-engined bomber joined the Royal Air Force. The Handley Page Halifax joined the Air Force assigned to 35 Squadron. Arthur Harris described the Halifax as inferior to the Lancaster due to its lesser bomb carrying ability, but air crews did not necessarily agree so far as operating the aircraft was concerned. 6,178 Haliaxes were built, 1,833 were lost during wartime ops, numbers beyond imagination in this day and age. 82,773 operations flown and 224,207 tons of bombs were dropped.

Dark days indeed. However, following the advent of peace some RAF aircraft survived the blow-torch and took up civil/commercial duties.

After the war a French Air Force Halifax visited Blackbushe in September, 1951. From June 1949 until the end of 1951 SANA operated Halifax F-BESE from Blackbushe on cargo sorties, sadly curtailed after catching fire at Blackbushe in late 1951. She was scrapped here in December of that year.

1949 witnessed Westminster Airways Halifax G-AHDM at Blackbushe having returned from the Berlin Airlift. Became another victim of the dreaded blow-torch being scrapped here in November, 1950. Westminster also operated Halifax G-AHDV from Blackbushe in 1950. Westminster's Halifax G-AJNW was also witnessed operating from Blackbushe during 1950, she too was withdrawn from use in November, 1950.

What price a Halifax today?? A halifax at Blackbushe - if only the future value of those airframes had been appreciated.







F-BESE in her better days at Blackbushe.



The first time I touched an aeroplane was at Blackbushe. A Halifax was parked on the south side of the A30, its tail pointed at the road. I touched its silver doped rudder, touching an aeroplane was akin to some kind of metaphorical charge running through me. I had touched one of those noisy beautiful flying machines! A perfectly legit visit with my Dad. The aircraft was opposite the Britavia hangar at the east end of the airfield, while Westminster Airways operated their Halifax aircraft they occupied the very large hangar on Blackbushe south's extreme west end. The hangar that would become known as Eagle's hangar in times to come.

Times roll on, will 2025 be the year when Blackbushe enjoys the feeling of new hangars being built on her soil?

PB