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Post by PB on Aug 17, 2016 5:50:28 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
17/08/16Old habits die hard. Six in the morning and the pull of the pictures has dragged me back to the POTD vaults. Partly to blame are all those who made up today's squadron of squawking Canada geese on their early morning flight to the day's feeding grounds. Too early for Farnborough to pick up their squawks but definitely an air space infringement had the boys in feathers been operating an hour or so later! Would a goose give a radar return, it would certainly leave an impression on your leading edge.. Talking of unusual shapes in the airspace, Farnborough and Blackbushe have had their share over the past umpteen decades. Below is one of the past's unusual shapes sitting at Blackbushe...  17 August, 1958. Note the date, exactly 58 years ago to the day!! D-EFUP, Rhien RW3-P75 alongside one of Morton's Doves during its long ago tour of the UK.The RW3 was a powered sailplane with a hard working pusher prop, the following description from Air Pictorial, August, 1958... " FISCHER RW-1. In Western Germany, the past few years have produced a number of original light and ultra-light prototypes. Those which have reached the flight trials stage include the Heini Dittmar HD-153 Motor-Move (developed from the HD-53 Segel-Move sailplane), the Fritz Raab-designed and Puetzer-built Moraa and the Scheibe SF-23 Sperling two-seaters, plus the powered-gliders, the Burglengenfeld-built Me 06 Motor-Segler and the DKW pusher-powered, high-wing FIBO 2a. The last-mentioned is a 1951 design, with tandem main wheels.
The Fischer RW-3 is thus the second post-war German light aircraft to employ pusher power. The RW-3 is essentially a powered glider of mixed wood and metal construction, with fabric covering. Three versions are envisaged, the prototype A-1, for development as a motorised sailplane; the A-2 as a club primary trainer and the A-3 as a shorter span, advanced and aerobatic trainer.
Salient features : Of pleasant overall aspect. the RW-3 possesses several uncommon design features. The cantilever mid-wing is swept forward to improve low-speed characteristics, while the Tee-shaped tail assembly acts as the mounting for the propeller which is driven by the engine sited in the rear fuselage . The main wheels are retracted manually as is the semi-retractable nose wheel. First prototype wrecked in June, second is now flying." I note the chocks with interest.. No, I'm not a chock collector or have any particular interest with them unless they are in front of the wheels when swinging a prop to fire up some ancient craft. But, after AVM Bennett purchased the airfield we found some meaty chocks in the Terminal that were subsequently used on our rare larger visitors. They've long gone, but just wonder if the POTD shows our old chocks being used in anger when Blackbushe was truly "Blackbushe"..? Time to go.. chocks away! PB
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Post by PB on Aug 18, 2016 5:50:51 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
18/08/16Almost 6am, absolutely no intention of doing this POTD thing so early, but the call of the vaults was hard to ignore. Maybe nature intervened with a gentle tap on the shoulder, a strange place for a tap I know, but one cannot ignore such calls wherever they may come from. Talking of nature, summer would seem to be hiding behind her grey veils this morning while an extraordinary calm has spread across the view from my office...literally zero air movement, not a leaf moving. Unusual. While the light air movement beyond my window might appear unusual, light aircraft have never been unusual at Blackbushe... The vaults have produced a couple of examples of light aircraft at BB in the fifties where the little guys were welcomed as much as the big guys.  The first Cessna 310 in the UK arrives at Blackbushe following arrival from Dublin.In 1959 Blackbushe based Airwork Services became the first UK sales agents for Cessna. Airwork's Chief Test Pilot, Joe Tysko who lived in Yateley, became their Cessna Sales Manager, a superb character whom many of us got to know in the years following Blackbushe's closure. Airwork had been forced out of Blackbushe, but Joe living close ensured the links were not totally severed as he often arrived with the latest from Cessna during the early sixties at a Blackbushe now no longer recognisable as the dedlightful airport it had been prior to May 1960. The late fifties witnessed the latest Cessna type arriving at Blackbushe..Cessna 150 G-APXY until April 1960, Cessna 172 G-APYA, Cessna 210 N7307E, and the much loved 310 G-APUF. I say 'much loved' because PUF was quite often seen at Blackbushe in the early sixties bringing with her the great sounds of a modern twin and the smooth aerodynamic shapes being fashioned by the aircraft designers in the USA.  G-APUF taxies on the main Blackbushe apron in 1959, the year she first set foot on her new base.. Forced out in May 1960 as the government destroyed Blackbushe, "PUF" returned many times once the Airport had been "re-opened". Seen here in the early sixties on surviving Blackbushe.All of the "Blackbushe" Cessna's were the first of the type on the British register. Tragically, we lost Joe in a dreadful accident in Sweden when the 210 he was flying developed icing problems in January 1965. Blackbushe lost a good friend, and another link with the "real" Blackbushe and one of her major operators was gone. A very sad day. The Airwork story at Blackbushe is a long one, perhaps POTD will venture toward it another day... PB comments... blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/5279
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Post by PB on Aug 19, 2016 5:54:29 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
19/08/16Yesterday provided the opportunity of a long overdue meeting with Flyboy/Stuart. A meeting that covered many areas, but in particular conversation that can only come from those who 'remember' the long gone days of pre 1960, conversation where respect for our soon to be 75 years old airfield is unflinching! Happily, the majority of our forum members/users are of a similar disposition of support, if not age...the forum hopefully continues to reflect our collective positive spirit? Stuart very kindly presented me with a superb collection of Blackbushe memorabilia, largely from those precious pre 1960 days when Blackbushe held high office in the UK's airport structure. An example from this collection may be found below. As many of you will know, Blackbushe's resident operators carried out many trooping flights around the world, being so close to the heart of the British Army the Airport provided the ideal solution. Today's long haul carriers provide screens or seat back IFE where you are able to get a constant display of your position, altitude, speed and your route is graphically displayed. Not so in the more rugged days of pondering piston powered long haul flights. Information as to your whereabouts might come from the Captain as he traversed the single aisle exchanging pleasantries with his passengers, or maybe an information sheet that was passed down the aeroplane such as this....  Advice to passengers aboard Airwork Hermes, G-ALDA - WZ838 - 23rd August, 1953. Fayid to Malta. Almost 63 years ago...G-ALDA. very much part of the Blackbushe scene in the fifties.. She was originally delivered to BOAC in 1951 carrying the name "Hecuba". The Hermes did not score well with BOAC and the type was withdrawn at an early stage being placed in storage at Handley Page's Radlett base. However, following conversion to Mk.4 status with more powerful Bristol Hercules engines G-ALDA was one of four Hermes leased to Blackbushe based Airwork Ltd.. Thus her life began working for the Ministry of Defence on troop transport contracts to Kenya and the Suez Canal. It was necessary for aircraft conducting work for the military to be assigned RAF serial number's, hence G-ALDA was also WZ838. Airwork purchased the aircraft outright on December 31, 1956. In October 1959, "DA" was sold to Falcon Airways, and then sold to Air Safaris in October, 1960. This dear old bird was then used for both scheduled and charter services. Air Safaris ceased operations in 1962 but the resolute "DA" was repossessed by a credit company toward the end of 1961. She was subsequently leased to Skyways Ltd. until January 1962 after which she was finally withdrawn from use and stored at Southend Airport. Like all heroic old soldiers, she finally took her leave of us being unceremoniously scrapped in 1965.  G-ALDA at home at Blackbushe. Literally a real trooper..it was aircraft like this that helped seal Blackbushe in the hearts of many! Maybe not all the troops involved would agree?PB
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Post by PB on Aug 20, 2016 6:16:28 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
20/08/16Wild, wet and windy. It must be Saturday, the kind of weather any event organiser dreads..one feels for the guys running this weekend's Bournemouth Air Festival, we've been lucky at Blackbushe with the various events we've come up with over the years. Looking back, the Blackbushe 50th was a two day event, the Saturday was a magnification of the monsoons yielding just one Beech from the US Navy and two RAF Tucano aircraft from Cranwell, the Sunday, however, was just magnificent - yielding the biggest fly-in Blackbushe has ever seen plus mini airshow! It's always a chance you take running an outdoor event with aeroplanes, next year we're hopefully taking that gamble once more. Taking the chance of creating some more magnificent moments for the one and only 75th Diamond Anniversary of Blackbushe Airport. But that's another story...and bridges lie ahead that await to be crossed. Some of the biggest are already behind me... POTD's duty is to the past, the future we deal with elsewhere when one's crystal ball shows a clearer picture, but maybe some interesting images are beginning to form?? Onwards to the past...The Hermes took my interest yesterday and subsequent research on forums such as pprune indicate how this beautiful aeroplane was somewhat less beautiful to its operators, especially BOAC, Airwork's first four Hermes were new aircraft that were destined for BOAC, but BOAC did not want them and they were diverted to Airwork at Blackbushe. These were the first modern four engined pressurised airliners to enter service with a British independent airline, another notch on the bed post of Blackbushe's historical past. I believe a certain British independent airlines still flies today with aeroplane's matching four engines and a pressurised hull, they might look a bit different, perhaps they go somewhat faster, and they do make a funny sound. Not surprising without any propellers? It was back in '52 that Airwork acquired their first Hermes from BOAC, the final delivery in 1954 being blocked by BOAC engineering unions who feared that the growing independents would take some of their work. Happily the dispute was resolved, but these were very tough days for the British independents hated by certain unions, BEA, BOAC and the British government of the time. The orange tails that dominate UK airspace today might come as a bit of a shock to those who did much to thwart private enterprise taking a rightful share of our airways and the opportunity presented by freedom of the skies. Airwork's Hermes were used for trooping flights and were fitted with 68 rearward facing seats. A problem arose with the routes to Suez and Nairobi. The Hermes engines required 115 octane fuel but such luxury was not to be had at what then were remote destinations. Max octane available being 100. The engines were thus derated to burn 100 octane until such time as the higher octane fuel was available 'down the routes'...The Hermes were then returned to 115 octane capability and thus became the Hermes 4A.  State owned BOAC Argonaut and Airwork Hermes share Blackbushe. I wonder what they said to each other?  State owned aeroplane on state owned Blackbushe..Enough of the past. It's nearly 07.00, time to pick-up the crystal ball and continue to try and clear those still misty visions of 2017.. Mystic Meg's phone number anybody? PB
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Post by PB on Aug 21, 2016 4:24:28 GMT
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Post by PB on Aug 22, 2016 6:16:48 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
22/08/16On this rain sodden August morning we'll move back in time by probably some three decades in the very best Doctor Who style. At this time POTD technology is unable to transport us on a similar journey into the future - which on reflection is probably just as well? If you go back in time to yesterday's POTD the last photo was of a rather damp Tiger Moth sitting alone on the huge expanse of tarmac that once was the main apron at Blackbushe Airport. As students of POTD will have gathered, the Airport was not without attack from alien forces who were hell bent on zapping Blackbushe off the aeronautical charts - and everything else - their ulterior motives known best to themselves. The east end of Blackbushe was hot in the sights of the alien zapping machinery, it was not in the parcel of land that AVM Bennett purchased in his bid to save what he could of London's second airport. Despite the offers of money into local coffers and land exchanges from the AVM, and subsequent Blackbushe owners Douglas Arnold and British Car Auctions the local powers refused to do a deal. As we know only too well, the zappers zapped all the runways and apron on the old east end. It's difficult to indicate how much apron we lost, but perhaps my old photo below will help?  If you draw a line from the caravan jutting out from the Terminal through the white aeroplane and then directly to the frame of the picture, everything to the east was destroyed....that's runway 14/32 at the bottom, or rather it was. The year would have been around 1962/3... Give time and nature the upper hand.... colour photography had caught on, while the precious east end of Blackbushe and Sherwood Forest now had much in common. The 80's..Despite being offered many thousands of pounds for just the apron and the east end of the Terminal the local council refused to budge. They lost the cash, an awful lot of cash that one would think very beneficial toward local facilities, we lost most of the apron and half the Terminal, nobody gained anything....except the rabbits and a place where dogs could defecate at will.. and still do!!!! Obviously when the summer sun beats down on us the risk of forest fire increases dramatically, as proven regularly on Yateley Common, including Blackbushe east!  "Yateley Common" feels the heat of a summer's day...My recent meeting with "Flyboy", Stuart that is, included conversation from his days as Airport Manager regarding the risk to aircraft parked on the apron in the event of fire and Blackbushe east "going up"... Stuart gave me the following photos.  Back "then", most home based aircraft were parked on the main apron, or should I say - the bit we were left with. An example of Blackbushe east "going up"...A wild fire rages across the old airport moving toward the apron and its host of aeronautical residents.. Only one thing to do, get out of the way, move all your pieces toward the west..QUICK!!My thanks to Stuart for these views. Today aircraft are more spread about on the airfield with less on the apron and the 'back fence'. Nonetheless, the Common is ever more tangled, it is too easy to imagine the result if today's untamed scrub decided to "go up"... Had it been different the local council could have been much richer, the doggy community would still have had a vast doo doo drop zone, and Blackbushe would have a much needed apron to be proud of. Sadly, the picture of what we are left with, and what we could have had is too clear.  PB Comment... blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/5337
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Post by PB on Aug 23, 2016 7:26:37 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
23/08/16"Flymembers" recent report with regard to the Blackbushe based Avro Lancaster "Petera thanks for the photo of Lancaster NX739. My late father flew this aircraft with Harold Watkins ( Chief Pilot Eagle Airways) on the 8th November 1956 on a photographic mission" came nicely coincident with a saddening newspaper report Stuart gave me last week.. when 739 said "Goodbye" to her Blackbushe home and life as a Lancaster. From April 1954 (press says 1952) until 19 January, 1957, Lancaster NX739 was a regular sight at Blackbushe as Eagle operated her on behalf of the Ministry of Supply.  Lancaster NX739 during her highly visible life at Blackbushe.. Press reports on the sad farewell as 739 departed for the breakers yard. Unthinkable today that such a precious aircraft could be so treated, did the men from the ministry have no soul??Since then we've had just one airworthy Lancaster at Blackbushe when Neil Williams brought G-ASXX to a sixties air show, oh and DA had one in bits for a future project that was never to be. Will we see another? PB
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Post by PB on Aug 24, 2016 6:48:12 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
24/08/16Feeling the heat? Yesterday - and today maybe even higher - we had temperatures in the region of +30C, the kind of temperatures more associated with the Med and flying off to places like Cyprus where they are no strangers to such pleasant warmth. Now, were it a cold January morning the prospect of a flight to Cyprus would seem that much more appealing - in January 1956 that opportunity arose as 1,200 British troops said "farewell" to the chill of winter and departed Blackbushe heading for Cyprus. EasyJet it wasn't. Today, if you stand in the Blackbushe car park and survey the airfield you see plenty of light aeroplanes, very active flying schools, and business jets on an airfield just a fraction of what it used to be in size and scope. The car auctioning business now occupies the northwest corner, and a lot of vegetation occupies pretty much everything north of the main runway. Of course, that old nut, the Blackbushe east end continues to resemble some remote outback wilderness. That's the picture today. Imagine then, if you will, this picture. Look toward the car auctioning complex and picture an RAF maritime Shackleton parked over there instead of a lot of pre-owned motors. Not one Shackleton, but many many Shackletons... In fact enough Shackletons to reach end to end from the car auction site right round the northern taxiway until you reach the end of runway 19. That is a lot of RAF hardware! Oh yes, and then you park another batch of RAF Hastings transport aircraft wherever you have room, the Blackbushe grass areas are tough enough to take the weight when you run out of tarmac! Stand in the car park today and imagine the scene that once would have been before you, and that's without the resident airlines, and the Blackbushe based US Navy.... Stuart recently handed me the document below that explains the situation plus a photo. Sadly the photo is very grainy, but hopefully it imparts something of the vision?  Stuart's words describing what he saw on the day.."I was amazed to see Blackbushe covered in these and Hastings too, 28 Shackletons and 16 Hastings!". Troops limber up before long flights cramped in the confined space of the Shackleton..(That's a home based Avro York in the background) All those RR Griffon powered contra-rotating props made a joyous noise from outside, but for a long cramped flight maybe a little less joyous for those inside? The boys wave "goodbye" to Blighty as caught by the press at Blackbushe back in '56. This, for those who may not be aware, is a Shackleton better known as the "Shagbat" in the Air Force but why I do not know... this one came alone, unlike the 1956 exodus... For those who have never seen a Hastings...here's one at Blackbushe back in the fifties.So, another page of Blackbushe history revealed on the Blackbushe forum! Thanks for stopping by! PB
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Post by PB on Aug 25, 2016 5:00:58 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
25/08/16During our conversation recently, the Mayor of Yateley made it very clear to me that he considers his community fortunate to be one of the rare communities to have its own airport. The value of such an asset used to its potential in terms of prospective employment and financial stability goes without argument. This valued and realistic mind set compared like chalk and cheese to that emitting from a vocal and vociferous group in the Blackbushe area way back in the sixties when annihilation of the Airport was a prime objective. Blackbushe survived the attempts to remove it from the map, but nonetheless a serious degree of damage/vandalism was inflicted at local behest. Under the heat of an August sun this week's walk on the wilder side explored some of the damage...  End of the runway. Local coffers financed the mighty task of digging up Blackbushe's 'east end' including one of the flattest and most level runways in the UK...This area recently cleared of trees and scrub for safety but at the Airport's expense. The surviving runway may be seen just right of centre.. This is where the main runway ended until 1962 when locally financed destruction ended the runway. The southern taxiway. The straight that took aircraft to the main apron most of which was also demolished....... Dogs leave their contributions on the desolate common, here's a bit that's left from FIDO.. What's this? No idea but located in the area of Airwork's complex...
 Very old taxiway base with rough tarmac surface that's been waiting rather a long while for a passing aeroplane..Wary of snakes on the old Blackbushe east in very hot weather I returned to the contrasts of today's operational bit of Blackbushe. Throughout my walk the sound of aero engines was not far away, heartening but a far throw from the sound of the big piston engines of the fifties. PB
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Post by PB on Aug 26, 2016 6:19:51 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
26/08/16 Do you believe in ghosts? After sixty years some of us are still haunted by the spirit of Blackbushe!! Happily one small bit still remains - the Terminal has in part survived the frenzy of destruction instigated by government and local bureaucracies.. Ghosts of the past, days when the Vikings invaded and outnumbered all others... sadly long gone, but that Terminal still lives on! Well, part of it does.. More than a few of these stood before the old Terminal.. The Blackbushe Airport Terminal Building, 2016..this week in fact.. Some years now since the Council created this empty space where once stood the Terminal's eastern extremity.. Shame it wasn't built a bit more to the west and not partly on land claimed by the council after the 1960 closure!!! An aging Blackbushe scene. BCA to the extreme left, a sprawling empty Sunday market zone midweek, entire airfield neatly mowed, Terminal Building still full length, (shows how much was to be lost by the County Council's decision to destroy their end), Cabair and Manhattan Air on the apron, and European Flyers building where Blackbushe Aviation now operate and the Bushe Cafe proves to be a huge daily pull to passing trade. European Flyers centre. Before restoration as the Bushe Cafe, and Blackbushe Aviation. These buildings were fully restored by the Airport to today's very acceptable condition. Claimed by the Bureaucrats and destroyed by them despite generous cash offers and land exchanges, the local purse did this .. Could have had £50,000 for use by the Council as they wished, plus five acres of land but the offers were declined and the photo below was the result. Our bit and their bit part company.. the best use of local government funds?? BCA spent a fortune restoring their remaining part of the Terminal and building a new control tower. Long ago aviation was part of the BCA mind set
 But the mind set changed with BCA's revised corporate and capital structure... They became very much non-aviation people. Flogged the aircraft, and eventually sold off the Airport. Blackbushe this week. Summer sun, the current BCA complex is easy to see, gravel extraction has not touched any of old Blackbushe, just scraped round the edges, the airfield looks good.. At nearly 75 she lives on with new owners, looks forward to her birthday celebrations in 2017...and who knows what else?? Her condition is far from terminal!!PB Link to comment.. blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/5356
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