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Post by PB on Oct 30, 2017 6:32:30 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
30/10/1706.00hrs and a long haul mission awaits..maybe lighter in the mornings, but hasn't stopped the car looking like it's been in the freezer all night. Before defrosting and rushing off, another picture of the past. Back to the seventies when the entire airfield (except the council run east end) was kept neat, grass cut and no trees allowed to spoil the views.  A couple of our resident B-25s while engaged in some war movie work..Ironic, I was desperate for a B-25 to attend the 75th back in July to represent something of RAF Hartford Bridge days. T'was not to be for 'various reasons'... The above photo reminds how trim the airfield looked while it was kept mowed. PB
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Post by PB on Oct 31, 2017 9:33:34 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
31/10/17Halloween. Tonight. An inexact science where certain unpleasant elements find themselves released and able to run amok in the neighbourhood. I refer not to evil spirits but the masked "Trick or Treaters" who will be knocking on a front door near you...tonight! Paranormal, supernatural, mumbo jumbo, who knows? What I do know is that whenever I walk the acres of Blackbushe, or any airfield of historic note, one's scant knowledge of the past leads to thoughts as to the many souls who flew from those old runways. What were their thoughts, emotions, objectives as they 'opened the taps'? Blackbushe is no exception, wartime exploits, early airlines, the crescendo of those multi engines whose sound once reverberated through every inch of the airfield. No doubt, old airfields are a great place to 'feel' the spirit of the past..Blackbushe is no exception.  Spitfire, Mosquito, Mustang, Boston, Stirling, Halifax, Liberator, York, DC3/4/6/7, Comet, Connie, Britannia, Globemaster, Hermes, Neptune, Viking, and so many more.. all played their song here.Whatever Halloween has in store, the great spirit of Blackbushe is still to be found, and sadly missed. The disused runways are today the domain of occasional dogwalkers, the idle skate boarder, or even those who seek a healthy walk; they are all that is left of users of these vast tarmac areas. Empty runways with just the trees and plant life that continues to do all they can to decay these tokens of what was once known as "The Happy Airport", an airfield with a very good spirit. PB
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Post by PB on Nov 1, 2017 9:50:02 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
01/11/17November has made its intro, the time of chill mists and Remembrance Day, a day like so many others that seems to come around faster each year.. As POTD alluded to yesterday, Blackbushe's runways harbour many memories, memories that most of us will have been unlikely to witness as they occured in far off wartime days. The Mosquito played a large wartime role from the then RAF Hartford Bridge, Doug Arnold's Warbirds of Great Britain Mossie being the last example to play the twin Merlin's melody from here.  Warbirds of GB's Mosquito reflects what must have been a common sight on wartime Blackbushe..Below rather badly snapped photos of some of the Mosquito Squadron crests belonging to RAF Hartford Bridge's/Blackbushe squadrons.... taken at the London Colney DH Museum in Herts..    Let's hope that the BBMF eventually add the unique Mosquito's shape and sound to their fleet..? PB
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Post by PB on Nov 2, 2017 8:30:54 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
02/11/17A fog shrouded November morning. The time of year when flights to Heathrow diverted to Blackbushe.. Tends not to happy so often nowadays!  Editoral Dept's favourite fog diversion photo...Possibly the same time as the M1 opened..first section opened on this day, November 2nd 1959. Interesting times, Gatwick was being built on West Sussex soil, and not too long after Dr Beeching closed a large percentage of the British railway network...and Blackbushe was closed in 1960. All these years later, and Blackbushe stands on a cliff edge depending on whether a few acres of ancient common can be deregistered to enable some limited development. Meanwhile surrounding woodlands are destroyed wholesale in the name of gravel extraction, and vast areas of our green and pleasant Hampshire are gobbled up as developers win their appeals to build houses on what has been quite a nice area to live. Perhaps foggy days won't be such a bad idea in the future? PB
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Post by PB on Nov 3, 2017 7:43:18 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
03/11/17Love it, or hate it, but a popular BBC TV production that takes over the Saturday night viewers will be doing a "Strictly Come Flying" piece as one of the remaining "Strictly" contestants gets to grips with the art of rotation.. Tomorrow night, very recently recorded and "in the can" at Blackbushe. Spent some time at the airfield yesterday catching up on 'things', pondering over the future and its many possible aspects so far as Blackbushe is concerned, while naturally letting the memory feast on what it can of the fifties when the airfield presented a scene so different from that of today. Military aviation played a large part on pre 1960 Blackbushe, none more than the United States of America's military arm...  United State's Air Force United State's Army United State's Navy...In 'those days' such were quite everyday events, memories that yesterday made the remaining Blackbushe apron seem forlorn and lonesome. How that will change if/when the bureaucrats get their fingers out and let Blackbushe live.... IF. PB COMMENTS: blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/8094blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/8095blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/8095blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/8097blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/8098blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/8101
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Post by PB on Nov 4, 2017 10:35:02 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
04/11/17Running behind schedule again... lengthy queue at the Docs surgery for the annual flu jab. Time for a moments reflection on long gone days before flu jabs were part of life. The early fifties, and a view of Blackbushe still in her rather post-war state..  Early fifties, a rugged and rudimentary airfield with the narrower A30, and a roadside where the trusty bike and I spent many happy hours soaking up the atmosphere.. Blackbushe 1954. Farnborough Week, aircraft everywhere.. Note how big the apron used to be vv today. Freight shed west of the still incomplete Terminal, no car proper car park at the time.The magical Vigo Lane that was used as a deciding factor as to where to chop off Blackbushe "east" can be seen as a feint track coming into the extreme right of the photo above - just below the main runway. Project the line across the apron and through the Terminal - everything, including a high percentage of the apron, to the east of the line was destroyed by local opponents to aviation, especially Blackbushe.. Funny, but Vigo Lane then moved and now conveniently uses what was a perimeter road of the Airport, it no longer crosses the airfield! Blackbushe east remains a pretty unsightly place, achieved at great local expense - they indeed got what they paid for. That's it, I've had my grouse... PB
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Post by PB on Nov 5, 2017 8:46:01 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
05/11/11It's that time of year, either broom sticks fly through the air commanded by frightful ladies of the night, or unguided ballistics clatter down on your roof complete with smouldering embers...while the sky lights up in all directions in celebration of some guy called Guy who failed to remove Parliament at the stroke of a match - or whatever they used in 1605. All great fun, we even had firework parties at Blackbushe not so long ago..Imagine in risk averse 2017!! Night flying in the sixties was always fun at EGLK, usually on Wednesday evenings providing the met was suitable. Goose neck flares gave a very mild impression of FIDO, Reg was in the Tower, and various flare operatives out there in the dark to encourage the waiting wicks down both sides of the 4,000ft runway.. With the current fiery "Fifth of November" nocturnal activity taking place, a momentary glance back to cold winter nights in mid airfield with camera lens open as assorted Piper products defied gravity in the inky black.. and it was inky black once you ascended into the firmament. So many more street lights and communities today... Only one aeroplane got dinged in the night, a PA-28 with a lady at the helm..a remarkable sound akin to a buzz saw cutting through a concrete block as the hapless Cherokee's propeller chewed its way into runway 26. The propeller never flew again, but 26 came out of it perfectly well, only very slightly autographed. Still not 100% sure of the attitude the aeroplane attained to facilitate the manouvere but for a nose wheel equipped flying machine - it must have been 'interesting'...  Finals to 26 by night (obviously). A Heathrow departure snuck into the lower left quadrant... I can still feel the cold creeping through the bones! Blackbushe had no BCA then, no lights, it really was pitch black at night. Great fun being consumed by the darkest night as aeroplanes orbitted, great to see Blackbushe come alive at night once more..PB
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Post by PB on Nov 6, 2017 8:13:07 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
06/11/17Indications that winter is upon us include the heavy mortar attack last night as Firework fever reached its peak, and the morning's contrast of ice covered cars, summer suddenly feels far away. So another winter, the POTD editorial team remain devoted to their duty under the flickering candle in hopes that the weekend's flu-jab will ensure service continues until warmer days return..meanwhile, a photo!!  Irish Air Charter Comanche EI-AKV attends Blackbushe for Farnborough 1959. Light aircraft always played a part in Blackbushe's past, not only since it was saved by AVM Bennett in the early sixties.. Shell Aviation's Gemini G-AKDD traverses an empty apron in 1959.. Beech 95 D-GENA, another Farnborough 1959 visitor. Photo shows some of the long lost Blackbushe "north" infrastructure. Airwork's hangar to the left, to the right by the A30 the orange and white fence can be seen indicating the approach to runway 32. Great days... PB
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Post by PB on Nov 7, 2017 7:54:58 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
07/11/1775 years ago, the first week of November 1942, RAF Hartford Bridge was officially opened...and unusually decided to have a name change a very few years later. RAF Blackbushe was that new name. 75 years during which our nation was at war and defeated those who wished us harm, the British airline industry grew up, and aviation technology has turned the aeroplane into a device where we fly and are assisted to fly by means of the mysterious silicon chip. RAF Hartford Bridge witnessed so many of our wartime aircrews take on the most appalling duties with true heroism, many paid the ultimate price. Hopefully their efforts will not be forgotten, I am still keen to see a permament memorial erected to that effect, and that will be part of ongoing dialogue with the present airfield owners. The post war independent airline industry must have offered a vote of thanks to Blackbushe and the post war government for deciding to develop her as an airport for London, for it was here that numerous independent carriers first saw the light of day. Despite government support for their state airlines BOAC and BEA, Blackbushe became the perfect spawning ground for numerous independent airlines. People such as Bamberg, Bennett, and Laker have much to be thanked for, although they could never perhaps envisaged quite the mass of orange tails that fill UK skies today! As we move toward Remembrance Day it is more fitting than ever that we recall the heroes of Hartford Bridge while remaing grateful that despite the adversity toward the airfield from some quarters, Blackbushe remains operational and if 'common' sense prevails will have a long and successful future as an airport for the community, and all who fly from her..  July 2017, the temperatures today confirm why we celebrated Blackbushe's big birthday in July...HAPPY BIRTHDAY Blackbushe!..amd many of 'em! PB Controller's comment... blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/8117
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Post by PB on Nov 8, 2017 10:19:29 GMT
"Photo of the Day"
08/11/17Aerodromes can be windy places...  Autumn gales long ago, wind speeds of significant strength may be expected. You don't always need a pilot to bend an otherwise serviceable aeroplane, Mother nature is quite good at it!  What you need are hangars! Doug Arnold's first hangar materialses, hangars..the things that airfields really should have enough of....and Blackbushe really needs more of. (Even some...)Let's hope the planning authorities are not too windy to give the go ahead.... PB
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