PHOTO of the DAY...

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
17/09/24

Morning, looks like another classic early autumn day, 'Battle of Britain' weather... On that subject today is highly notable, the Battle of Britain had raged in our late summer skies to the extent that on 17 September, 1940, Hitler postponed the invasion of Britain - he called it 'Operation Sea Lion'. His troop carrying barges were all ready on the other side of the English Channel their use dependent on the dictator's ability to ground the Royal Air Force. He failed, the invasion fleet was withdrawn, Great Britain was spared although World War Two would rage on until 2nd September, 1945, and the Nazi 'ideal' was defeated.

Another battle has gone on far longer, and that is the battle for Blackbushe! Closed in 1960, a large area of it was then purchased by AVM 'Pathfinder' Bennett and from that point his plans were subjected to hostility from certain quarters. Six decades later the Airport has lost the fanatical anti-aviation noises that stirred and has proven itself to be a good neighbour and a great local asset, not to mention the outstanding asset we know it has been, and will be, to General Aviation, thew local economy, and local employment.

As mentioned before, TONIGHT the Blackbushe Airport Consultative Committee meets at the Airport. Only twice a year, this is YOUR chance to attend this public meeting to learn and her the latest from the Airport Management and local councillors. Starts at 19.00 hours in the Airport's Pathfinder Cafe. Why not pop down and listen, there will be a 'questions from the public' session too should you wish to ask...




A reminder of pre 1960 Blackbushe, some fog diversions from Heathrow..




A much more recent image of Blackbushe in action! Yes, she was closed in 1960 but throughout the subsequent six decades flying has continued, albeit smaller participants than those of the pre 1960 years, but the value and potential value of Blackbushe has never diminished!



Tonight you can hear the latest from Blackbushe as described above, looking forward to seeing you!

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
18/09/24

03.30, rather earlier than usual but the joys of topical chemo are making sleep quite impossible so what better than think about "POTD". Will it induce sleep, that's the burning question....

You will remember recent reminders of last night's Blackbushe Airport Consultative Committee meeting? Well, it was the usually informative gathering the minutes of which will appear on the Blackbushe website in due course. The public gallery was occupied by the five 'regulars' but disappointingly nobody else turned up which considering the interest and support that exists for the Airport was quite surprising. The minutes of last night's meeting will appear on the Blackbushe Airport website in the near future.

The view from the Pathfinder last evening afforded another Blackbushe sunset as the sky transitioned through its palette of colours until consumed by darkness, another benefit of being the airfield built on a plateau!!



A previous sunset as the Heritage Trust's Viking awaited the night!


03.45. still a lot of night left.. Talking of amazing views, it was on this day in 1977 that Voyager 1 took the first photograph of the Earth and Moon together.. Last night's Moon was particularly bright - as seen from Mother Earth!

See you anon..

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
19/09/24

'Final call' for Blackbushe Heritage Trust's first of the "winter talks" scheduled for tonight at 19.00 hrs.

Please proceed to the Pathfinder Cafe where a warm welcome awaits before departing into 'A Brief History of Britain's Nuclear Deterrent' by Amanda Wickwar. You do not want to miss this opportunity to learn about our route into the nuclear world, tickets still available at the Pathfinder, only £10 and every penny goes directly into the Heritage Trust's funds necessary for the restoration of our Viking airliner. The project is progressing well leading to the day when a Viking once more takes to the Blackbushe apron to tell all the amazing story of the aircraft's history and the type's deep association with Blackbushe Airport.

Hopefully see you at the 'boarding gate' tonight!




Dear old 'KC' - so many memories...You could not have missed the current Forum header photo of three Auster 6 aircraft adorning the Blackbushe apron back in 1963? G-ASNB, G-ARGB, and G-ARKC. Here's KC, she was in the background in the header photo. All operating under the flag of Blackbushe's then brand new flying club, Three Counties Aero Club under the auspices of Derek and Elsie Johnson who did the most amazing job of rearing the Club into a superb multi aircraft, super social centre where some of us spent vast amounts of time in the midst of the Club. The premises eventually became the home of European Flyers and later a cafe. Today the building is home to the most excellent Pathfinder Cafe and is one of the most popular eating places in the area! There is nowhere better than the Pathfinder for excellent food while so closely overlooking the taxiway as aircraft pass by for all to see.



G-ASNB was more based at Lasham on glider towing duties, but G-ARGB withe her green tail and G-ARKC with her day glo red tail were the workhorses of the Club. It seems only yesterday that I would arrive at the airfield on Saturday morning ready to give these white aircraft a wash and clean-up in return for free flying lessons. White canvas showed every mark, especially where engine oil and exhaust had discoloured the canvas and proved somewhat stubborn to remove. I had the pleasure of taxiing the aircraft to/from the cleaning area and clearly recall the fun of coordinating heel brakes and rudder to reach where I wanted to be while a stubborn cross wind had its own ideas!

I cannot think of anyway better of spending teenage weekends than mixing with aeroplanes and the people who flew them...

Tonight I shall be back in that very building where so many memories are relentless in their ambition to stir the emotions. Tonight in the company of today's 'Blackbushe people' but also the many who were 'Three Counties' people long ago but no longer with us.

That's life.

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
20/09/24




Nuclear reaction, timed to perfection...



Last night's sunset showed two things. First, Blackbushe is the most amazing location for mind blowing sunsets, second the largest nuclear device in the solar system showed its might as a prelude to the evening's talk on Britain's nuclear deterrent. The talk given by Amanda Wickwar, a nuclear scientist, was the first of the Blackbushe Heritage Trust's 'winter talks' and the most superb talk it was too. British genius was very much behind the advent of nuclear weaponry, the energy released during a nuclear 'event' totally mind blowing, and there's no doubt that all who attended last night's talk left with a modified view on nuclear science...

The sunset was a perfect introduction to our nuclear evening...







POTD will be back tomorrow, all being well...

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
21/09/24

At 15.00hrs local time, Blackbushe Airport closes to all flight operations. The annual Twilight Runway Challenge takes place today, an occasion whereby the use of Blackbushe leads to large sums of money being raised in support of local good causes.. The weather will hopefully cooperate and the thunderstorms hold back until much later whether you're participating or just coming to cheer on the runners and riders - participants can run, walk, cycle, skate board, you name it and all ages may enter..it's a great evening and another chance for Blackbushe Airport to show her worth to the local community.

Yesterday the Blackbushe Heritage Trust welcomed Benno Beran and his wife Melitta to Blackbushe. Benno founded the Austrian Aviation Museum at Bad Voslau, Austria, and played a significant part in the recovery of the Trust's Viking that is now being refurbished in its Blackbushe hangar. They were delighted to see "RW" once again and see the progress that's been made since her return to Blackbushe last year.




Benno, left, is presented with a token of our gratitude by Trustee Pat Marchant, the Viking as she will appear when once again wearing colours of an earlier age..




Our tour of the Blackbushe facilities included a climb to the Control Tower. Timed to perfection, a thunderstorm crossed the Airport enabling a great view of lightning and the precipitation that accompanied it! Compared to the days when I would regularly spend time in the old wooden Control Tower, the Blackbushe scene has improved very considerably. Just look at the number of home based aircraft!!




I cannot help but recall one Sunday in the early sixties when we held a fly-in. By lunch time we had no less than eight aircraft on the apron - mainly visitors - and that was a sight to behold. Dear old Blackbushe, by then a vast and deserted airfield showing the world, well passers-by on the A30, that flying and Blackbushe were not finished. The sight from the Blackbushe Control Tower yesterday was one that we never dreamed might happen sixty years ago!!




Sixty two years ago, big difference, feels like yesterday, and hopefully much more to come!!




Looking in the opposite direction at what is called the "Yateley Country Park" one cannot help but notice how short the Terminal has become and how the old Blackbushe 'east' has vanished under nature's contribution.




Step back to 1963 and notice the difference sixty-one years can make... The County Council elected to demolish two thirds of the Terminal, and nature has stepped in wherever it can..



I found a fascinating method of tracking lightning yesterday and easily followed 'our' storm as it flashed its way across country.. map.blitzortung.org/#2.12/34.3/11.48 Hope it works for you, seemingly global lightning almost as it happens...




Ever had that feeling someone's watching you? Cumulus build-up to the north of Blackbushe soon after yesterday's storm moved off to the west..




Here's to better weather this evening??

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
22/09/24

Blackbushe Airport's 'good weather' record excelled last evening!! On the occasion of the 2024 Twilight Runway Challenge the skies went from the morning's showers to a perfect late summer evening where clouds just vanished, the sun beamed across the event, and the temperature was perfect too! Some 1,000 participants of a great variety of ages wearing very varied outfits from the serious runners to various fancy dress outfits to hoola hooping girls who travelled the course while performing the necessary bodily moves to keep their hoops gyrating. Extraordinary, as a track marshal out on the airfield one had a very good outlook on the proceedings! Around 800 cars arrived for the evening, the Airport's parking plans worked to perfection! Once again Blackbushe proved what a great asset she is to the local community, the atmosphere was amazing with music, a variety of exhibitor stands, and excellent post-race refreshments provided by the Pathfinder and her dedicated crew. It was also good to see the disused runway 14/32 once again in action as it provided a valuable sector for the Runway Challenge..The fantastic new runway lights added their own contribution to the evening!




Before the start, the many hundreds of competitors assemble under clear blue skies and warm sunshine..




When it was all over appetites were satisfied by the Pathfinder's delicious burgers, baps, excellent chips and another chance for Blackbushe to demonstrate her exemplary ability to provide fabulous skyscapes and powerful sunsets.



The years certainly go round fast, 2025 is not far away - another Air Day in the offing where hopefully the weather will follow the example set today.

PB

[PB]

This weekend marks the 44th year since my dearest friend Roger Russell lost his life in the Biggin Hill Invader accident.



Happier times at Blackbushe, you could not have had anyone more devoted to aviation and Blackbushe than Roger.


It's hard to fathom how so many years have slipped by since we said "Cheerio" at Blackbushe on that Sunday morning. We greatly shared our interest in aviation and perhaps I had a little influence toward his appreciation of Blackbushe.. I was his first passenger after he gained his PPL. He was like a brother to me, in fact I met Roger's younger brother a couple of years ago who confirmed that Roger used to speak of me as a 'brother' too.

Life is an unpredictable thing, and events on that Sunday could not have been predicted. We were going to Biggin Hill's Battle of Britain airshow in one of the then resident B25s but technical issues aborted our takeoff plans. Looking at the time I departed to a lunch invitation and we agreed to meet up the following Thursday.

The phone call I received from Roger's mum that evening will for ever linger in my mind. He did get to Biggin Hill.




Roger now rests peacefully at the Heathlands Cemetery close to Blackbushe and the place he loved so much in life.

Rest well old chum, you're never far from my thoughts and those of your many friends at Blackbushe

P

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
23/09/24

In 1942 a few hundred acres of the Hartford Bridge Flats were converted into a military air base. A few objected, but the airfield like many others had the task of defending our nation from attack and taking our war effort to where the dark clouds of nazism threatened the free world. Today we may but imagine the camaraderie that existed during those distant wartime days as RAF Hartford Bridge found its teeth. Air crews knew the danger they faced on a regular basis, they knew that their safe return to the airfield may well have been saddened by the loss of fellow squadron members who did not return. On the ground personnel involved in technical and engineering to keep the aircraft flying, administration personnel keeping the show together, air traffic staff who witnessed everything from the long wiped out Control Tower, all shared the spirit and emotions of an airfield at war, spirit and emotions very much attached to the airfield we know as Blackbushe.

Then came peace and the airfield's transition from RAF Blackbushe to Blackbushe Airport. Once again a new camaraderie flourished and developed at the airfield that had exchanged military strategy for commercial enterprise and the valiant endeavours of the numerous fledgling airlines who saw the benefits of Blackbushe and whose courage and determination lead to Blackbushe becoming London's second airport where some 3,000 personnel were employed giving life to the airfield, the airfield that became known amid these lucky people as 'the Happy Airport'... Speaks for itself. The spirit of Blackbushe was alive and well.

May 1960. The government put their axe through the whole operation deciding that Gatwick would become the new airport for London. Surely this would be the end of the road for the 'spirit' that had endured since 1942? No.

AVM Bennett purchased over 300 acres of dear old Blackbushe and by 1962 the enduring spirit of Blackbushe was able to find its feet once again!! This time it was the spirit of survival, celebration that the name 'Blackbushe' would live on as an active airfield serving the needs of General Aviation perhaps long into the future. Over the past sixty plus years the enduring spirit of Blackbushe has not only survived but flourished amid her flying schools, the many owners of private home-based aircraft, and the life blood that flows amid the many who simply love the Airport and volunteer their time be it with the restoration of the Blackbushe Heritage Trust's Viking airliner, social occasions, and helping with various Airport events as volunteers, or simply meeting at Blackbushe and keeping the old spirit alive..the Pathfinder proving an excellent venue for such.

You can't see it, you can't touch it, but the spirit of Blackbushe remains firmly in place and hopefully shared by all who read today's 'Photo of the Day'!!




RAF Hartford Bridge personnel gather for a briefing on forthcoming D-Day...The spirit of the airfield would be called upon for maximum effort, it did not disappoint.




Safe home to Hartford Bridge. We can but imagine the spirit of camaraderie shared by these crews - and their ground crews.




Spirit of the fifties, an Eagle staff outing to Jersey..





..or men at work!



Bitten by the spirit, Three Counties Aero Club became a focal point for the exuberant spirit to flourish in the sixties. Later more flying schools opened and have ensured safe haven for the old spirit of Blackbushe 1964..Reg Venning, Mike Tunicliff, Peter Brown, Terry Jones, Jack Smith - and a Three Counties Tripacer.. Sadly Reg and Jack are no longer with us.




This year's 'Air Day'. The weather was not ideal but the spirit of Blackbushe was fully charged!




Two days ago, further spirit of resolve as participants in this year's Twilight Runway Challenge assemble on Blackbushe's famous tarmac..




Keeping the spirit alive, regular gatherings and talks hosted by Blackbushe Heritage Trust in Blackbushe's Pathfinder Cafe...



The name "Pathfinder", of course, reflects on AVM 'Pathfinder' Bennett who saved Blackbushe from ultimate destruction, the spirit that saved Blackbushe was the same spirit that lead the Pathfinders of RAF Bomber Command, improved their results and ultimately lead to a shortening of the last War.

When the current Land Exchange plans are finally approved, there is little doubt that the 'spirit of Blackbushe' will continue and thrive as the long hoped for developments will hopefully finally proceed.

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
24/09/24


Maybe, just maybe, this is the year that Blackbushe will receive the green light awaited for 64 years and thence be able to enhance her infrastructure as required... Such progress has been long awaited, six decades feels like quite a long time, almost a lifetime in fact!! But there is no doubt it will have been worth the wait!

Patience is a great asset in the field of aviation, for example if you had been waiting for English engineer Henri Giffard on this day in 1852. He's recorded to have flown a distance of 17 miles (27km) in a steam powered dirigible at an average speed of 6.2mph...(10kph)

By this day in 1987 there was evidence that things in aviation had improved in speed and duration, Tornado ZE155 returned from Arizona non-stop making the first un-refuelled flight across the Atlantic by a British fighter jet. 2,200 miles in 4hrs 45 mins after a series of tropical trials. I think Henri Giffard would have been impressed?




Some of Blackbushe's jet traffic in the 1950s. She has never hosted a Tornado or a steam powered dirigible...




21st Century, an example of the beautiful jet traffic that may be seen at Blackbushe Airport nowadays...



Progress in aviation is relentless, it's in our genes to progress, it's about time Blackbushe's genes were allowed to progress!!

Maybe soon?

PB

[PB]

"Photo of the Day"
25/09/23


Aviation's history is relentless, but for an airfield with unique history it would be difficult to find one that excels Blackbushe for the variety enjoyed during her eighty-two years of operation...

Bomber operations, fighter base, key photo reconnaissance action, FIDO base, famed 'good weather' record, transport base, excellent surface connections to the Capital being built on the London-Southampton trunk road, transition to civil airport becoming London's second airport, United States Navy base, closure and rescue by one of aviation's most famed pioneer aviators and war hero AVM "Pathfinder" Bennett - six decades of struggle against obfuscation and ancient laws, journeys to the highest courts in the land and now perhaps closer than before to becoming a key airport serving the needs of General Aviation in the London area...




One of the most enduring aircraft types to be seen at Blackbushe has been the de Havilland Dove. This particular example belonged to AVM Bennett and spent some while resting at the airfield having finished its flying days.Resident Proctor of Symon Biddulph G-AGTC is seen climbing out in the background. RBH was used in the 1962 movie "The Wrong Arm of the Law".



Today, 25th September marks the 79th anniversary of the Dove's first flight almost eighty years ago. Another triumph from the DH drawing boards..




Farnborough Week, 1962...The AVM was doing much to put the remains of Blackbushe into working order! A Fairtravel Linnet was rolled out to the road side, another Bennett project, and on the apron so long ago - a Dove!!



Seeing Blackbushe showing signs of aviation life again was the most amazing experience for a certain schoolboy whose fondness for the Airport had been fashioned by hours spent happily watching her in action until May 1960 - and the sound of piston powered airliners that routinely flew over his home...




Blackbushe's Re-opening Air Display in October, 1962. The Dove was represented by this example. First registered to Silver City in 1947 it was a most appropriate aeroplane to come back on such an important day! It later joined Helliwells Ltd and was a regular at Blackbushe through to 1959.




Under the name of 'Devon' the Dove served the armed forces, this Navy example is but one, RAF Devons were very frequent visitors.




The Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough agreed to release one of their Devons to attend the 1977 Blackbushe Air Festival. Quite a bit of discussion was required until we secured the Devon and a Wessex. The Hunter could have come had our runway still be its original length. But...




Hawker Siddeley later becoming British Aerospace Doves featured during our Farnborough Weeks of the seventies era




Way back in time, the sixties, the Dowty Dove arrived a number of times flown by Neville Duke - the personal transport of Sir George...




Breweries loved the Dove too.. Ind Coope on one of their visits in the early sixties, note how pristine the full length terminal was back then before the County Council stepped in. The AVM's Land Rover too in its ice cream vendor colours. I learned to drive in this machine, I did have an entire but almost empty airport for the experience...




Luxurious Dove, G-OPLC, providing pleasure flights during the Blackbushe 50th Anniversary weekend of celebrations. Farnborough based at the time, she had a busy weekend..



The de Havilland Dove, another chapter in the story of Blackbushe.

PB