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Post by graham on Apr 3, 2016 9:16:48 GMT
Superb photos Peter, it doesn't matter how many "lumps & bumps" you add to a Connie, it is still a stunning looking airplane.
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Post by peterbrown on Apr 10, 2016 7:23:27 GMT
Another donation from Blackbushe comes your way! More of the past, and who knows of the future?
"Photo of the Day" 09/04/16 Yesterday's "Photo of the Day" finished with a very small word. "IF". So far as Blackbushe is concerned the word "if" could be a very large word depending upon the context in which you take it. "Photo of the Day" earlier this week, the 3rd April... blackbusheairport.proboards.com/post/3882 ....reflected upon the many regional airliners that have visited Blackbushe over the years since its closure on 31 May, 1960. You know, the day our government ditched its second airport with the decree that flying would never take place here again.... Another government pledge that went the way of many others, flying did and does take place!. My photo collection referred to above was hardly complete, but served its purpose in showing the regional airliner and Blackbushe partnership...I'm indebted to help from Malcolm who wired over these superb shots of the "Formula One" BAe 146 during one if its calls into Blackbushe and adding yet another regional to the collection.. The 146 was for many years the shape probably most widely associated with commercial air services from London City. London City. Would you believe that this country with its NIMBY speaking self righteous, green spewing, environmentally obsessed objectors and protestors to roads, airports, railways, housing development, fracking, anything that smells of progress - have accepted an airport plum in the heartland of our capital city. I would have thought, perhaps, that the animal famous for its bacon rashers stood more chance of ascending over the City of London, but the old adage regarding pigs and their flying ability would appear mistaken. While the porcine species have so far failed to fly over the roof tops of London many regional airliners do, thanks to the ready market that is within its 'easy reach'... the bankers, the City boys, the pin stripes and braces, all are signed up to the convenience of air services close to their front door sans the struggle of our major London terminals. The regional airliner plays a huge role in the European transport infrastructure. Put the airport in the right place and we see what can happen. London City are aiming for 8 million pax annually, with nearly 4.5 million in 2015. This despite the high population, sky scrapers and other objects projecting from the local environment.. Purely out of interest it is fascinating to compare London City and Blackbushe. Both are of equal size with runways that are comparable. In fact Blackbushe would have the longer runway if it were not for the displaced thresholds imposed by way of an earth bank and car park at one end, and common land at the other. London City carries many passengers each day, including services to/from New York utilising a runway where the TORA is almost identical to that of Blackbushe. The Blackbushe LDA is slightly less than that at the City Airport.. What am I saying? Nothing that is not obvious from comparing the runways of both airports. Blackbushe is circled by a fast growing business population providing an ever richer and all important catchment area. An area from which I know many of our local regular travellers to Europe and around the UK would welcome the convenience of a London City type product well placed but clear of London congestion. Blackbushe's location stands out as suitable in many ways. It boasts the best approaches of any airfield in the south-east with east and west runway headings leading to open land, common and forestry property. It also offers easy surface access as BCA would be the first to admit! Were Blackbushe not nailed down by anachronistic ancient rights it could become another London City. Quiet, a good neighbour that would bring employment and new business to our area is just waiting to flourish, were that it could.. Easy access, good weather, excellent catchment area, the old airfield has it all. The revenue from a number of regional services would no doubt be beneficial toward the airfield's future viability? Fanciful dreams are inexpensive, but can we assume that the current air traffic flows at Blackbushe will support her longevity? It was stated back in the fifties that the London TMA is but a short distance from Blackbushe so far as ILS approaches were concerned. A long final to 26 would result in unpleasant scraping sounds as ones wings came into conflict with the mighty fence of the London TMA. I would venture to say that the navigation aids of today, and tomorrow, would permit precision, and if necessary curved approaches with accuracy and safety avoiding the TMA region while steering clear of the relatively small number of aircraft movements from/to Farnborough. There is still a lot of sky out there, and we can make steeper approaches too. Steep approaches may be entertained without serious consequence to the aircraft operator, but to further the benefits of quiet aircraft making curved and steep approaches a noise certification process would be needed relating to the actual behaviour of the aircraft involved and the location of any possible local disturbance/conflict. Something that would involve the airlines, air traffic, airport management and the regulators. One sees the need for a computer modelling session, or two.. So what am I saying?? Nothing more than how Blackbushe could add a degree of neighbourhood friendly regional services to the current traffic mix. I have heard so many times how Blackbushe is written off in glib conversation, "it'll never happen mate"...Rubbish. We flew to the Moon with no more than the power of a pocket calculator for guidance, what was London's second airport could surely handle a few small regional services in the 21st Century? Well, it could, and I will stand by that for as long as it takes. The airfield hosts a huge potential in its beating heart, and many would like to see it taken advantage of. Some would not. Normal state of affairs. Hopefully the sound of aero engines flying in and out of Blackbushe will be heard for many years to come - regardless of the aircraft type they are attached to? Blackbushe is home to the leading jet air taxi operator, but maybe it could also reach out to a broader market to which it is equally suited? "IF" is not such a small word.... it was asked of London City once, and look what happened! Whatever develops at Blackbushe - dreams continue to cost nothing. If they came true, so much the better....?? PB
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Post by graham on Apr 10, 2016 8:27:41 GMT
Many thanks Peter, a great deal of "food for thought" in your piece today.
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Post by peterbrown on Apr 17, 2016 5:58:57 GMT
Another week passes, another week nearer Christmas , oh and the Blackbushe Air Day... meanwhile some more recollections from the fabulous fifties... "Photo of the Day" 12/04/16Another day in the One-Stop editorial sweat shop...Selecting, scanning, trimming, uploading, downloading, and then the worst part...thinking! I try and launch each morning's offering with some kind of 'attention getter' that proves no more than the fact that I have - to a degree - woken up. It's quite odd how a notion some years ago whereby we lodged Blackbushe on the shoulders of another forum has lead to this daily search for adjectives, and hopefully not too many misplaced nouns as together we venture the road to Blackbushe past. Out of curiosity, and to see if anybody actually reads my daily scrawl, are there any other airfields in the UK that offer a similar daily blast from the past as we do for Blackbushe? If so I'd like to know, I might learn something as to how to improve our service to you... Do let me know... Meanwhile , it's another day as I was saying...Today we bring you four more. Four more with four. A further reflection on the military might that made Blackbushe such an unusual airport way back when men were men and flew aeroplanes that required flying. Oh, what am I saying, the days when aeroplanes required flying with somewhat more muscle perhaps? When FL350 was considered a bit on the high side..and aeroplanes sounded like what aeroplanes should sound like. They also flew at a speed whereby you had longer to appreciate them as they made the roof tiles rattle en route.. First up, it's 757 but not a Boeing. US Navy R5D-3 Skymaster, 87757, September, 1953. Tail prop in place, resting by the A30.Another US Navy R5D Skymaster, 39148 in 1953. Note the A30 in the foreground while a Lincoln taxies in the background. Just another day..US Air Force September, 1958. Douglas C-54, 44-9075 of JUSMG Madrid rumbles along the rather damp Blackbushe taxiway.September, 1959, US Navy R6D-4R of VR-22, 128425, enters the main apron. Eight months to go before all this would be just a memory as government and local influences destroyed one of our nation's assets.There's your daily dose from Blackbushe. Now time to carry on with the Air Day work, just another day doing what we can to give you some entertainment.... On that subject if YOU know the owners of (or are the owner of) aircraft that would make great additions to our July aircraft static park please let me know.. Sadly we cannot have a flying display, we are gathering some nice flying machines for the static park, but are always open to MORE!!! Size does not matter...the landing distance might though! Thank you in anticipation.... PB
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Post by peterbrown on Apr 24, 2016 5:02:25 GMT
Hello once more from the Blackbushe fraternity..This might be the last "Photo of the Week" for a while as the 'Editorial' team will soon be departing for distant horizons and adventures in the land of panda's, long walls, and an army built from terracotta.
Before leaving you with this week's specimen from the One-Stop Forum could I leave a begging note please? The Blackbushe Air Day gets closer, 30 July. We're looking for help in the way of manpower on the day - and the day before - and just as important, I am still in the process of building up our static park of 'interesting' aircraft for visitors to get a closer look at.... Please, if you know owners of such, or own one yourself, we'd love to hear about it and maybe see it at Blackbushe in July??
Our forums are a great way of getting to meet the right people!!! Also, of course, we have our fly-in on the same day. Two prizes are up for grabs for the first 50 arrivals. Two prizes of 200 litres of aviation fuel each...A 1:25 chance of winning!! Perhaps you could spread the word around the airfields etc etc.. The Air Day website will be live soon as will the provision of flyers to help spread the word...Details will be on the One-Stop forum soon.
Meanwhile.... "Photo of the Day" 18/04/16Merlin's magic moments.... One engine stands head and shoulders above others. The Rolls Royce Merlin, the power plant that has played its music at Blackbushe - and around the world - since the dark days of war to the air events of today, and no doubt tomorrow. Many Merlins have cast their magic at Blackbushe, attached to WW2 home based Spitfires, Mosquitoes and Lancasters to the civil types including Lancastrians, Tudors, and Yorks.. a royal history indeed! The last Lancaster landing. Neil Williams brings G-ASXX to an early air show at EGLK. She still lives and taxies at East Kirkby.The last Mosquito. Of the many Mossies that served from Blackbushe (RAF Hartford Bridge), Warbirds of Great Britain's beautiful Mosquito was the last. She left our shores for life in the USA. Seen here preparing to participate in D-Day celebrations on the Normandy coast.The last home based Spitfire. Owned by Warbirds of Great Britain who also rebuilt several of the Spitfires on today's air show circuit.December, 1958. Mosquito T3 of RAF Fighter Command Communications Squadron. Blackbushe Air Traffic's old home adds to the nostalgia of the moment..Crossing the boundary...Spanish built version of Hitler's He111 that blitzed OUR nation..enjoyed Merlin power in peaceful times. Warbirds of Great Britain brought the type to their Blackbushe home.The Merlin's air intake gives the game away when compared to the round and closed nacelle of the original Luftwaffe equipment...Dan-Air's Avro York, G-ANTI, one of numerous Yorks for which Blackbushe was home. Each provided home for four Merlins. Photo taken during Farnborough Week, 1956, with a Bretagne along side..The Avro Tudor played a part in the fifties air transport scene, four faithful Merlins providing the power. Freddie Laker's G-AGRH makes its way to the 08 hold in 1958. RH first seen at Blackbushe in 1948 crew training with British South American Airways...Passenger's eye-view of Tudor mounted MerlinAVM Bennett's Lancastrian acquired and rescued from Thame before being flown to Blackbushe and used on Berlin AirliftMerlin maintenance at Blackbushe.. long ago.The Merlin's magic returns in July... PB
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Post by graham on Apr 24, 2016 17:55:25 GMT
Fabulous Peter, great photos and narrative as always. Enjoy your trip to China, sounds like a holiday of a lifetime.
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Post by peterbrown on May 1, 2016 6:15:15 GMT
A very quick last blast before I head for distant shores... POTD returns in a couple of weeks.. Check out the Air Day website if you get a mo.. www.blackbusheairday.com "Photo of the Day" 29/04/16A few more images from long ago when Blackbushe was one of the country's big league airport players... Perhaps the next time you pay a visit to Blackbushe Airport you should stand quietly overlooking the scene, and imagine. Imagine the hangars, the buildings, the people, the aircraft, or just the buzz that once made this a very special airport. Not easy if you had never seen it in the first place, but look at the photo below.... 1957. Home based Britavia Hermes, G-ALDI, parked on Blackbushe 'south'..and some of the buildings destroyed by the 1960 closure....just one of the many Blackbushe based airliners of the fifties. As you stand on Blackbushe today, imagine the Hermes above. Fully laden, long haul flight to the Middle or Far East, the incredible sound of her four engines resonating throughout the Airport as she eventually separates herself from the runway and slowly gathers height across the common or forests that surround Blackbushe.. Believe me, it was a stirring sound whenever a heavy multi engined piston powered aircraft departed. It's hard to imagine now maybe, but it happened, many times a day as aeroplanes of the fifties played a music that today could only be considered a classic! Next time you're at Blackbushe, let your mind and imagination join up - maybe you'll find some feint echo of long ago? Blackbushe south, Britavia's Hermes G-ALDU and Whirlwind G-AOCZ. 'CZ being property of Westland Helicopters at the time. September, 1955.September 1953. Catalina VP-KKJ relaxes on Blackbushe 'south'. To the left, on Blackbushe 'north' the old Blackbushe tower before it had the new observation deck fitted, to the right bits of the Airwork complex. A visit to Blackbushe always produced Dakotas. Here's Jugoslovenski Aero Transport's YU-ACA on turn round framed by a bleak November day in 1954.PB
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Post by graham on May 1, 2016 12:29:05 GMT
Lovely shots Peter, thank you
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Post by peterbrown on May 22, 2016 6:41:37 GMT
Holidays and China now seem far away as I'm back to the duties presented by the Blackbushe Air Day & Fly-in on 30 July. Meanwhile, here's the weekly snippet from our "Photo of the Day" section on the Blackbushe forum.
Still looking for volunteers guys....... "Photo of the Day" 20/05/1605.30, the blackness is replaced by attempts of the conscious mind to propel me from bed to POTD while cranking serviceable eyelids into the 'open' position....Some mixed up dreams of China suddenly replaced by the dawn of reality and two words AIR DAY lit up somewhere behind said eyelids with glaring reality. Was I really climbing the Great Wall of China a few days ago? The camera says I was, but a couple of days home and Blackbushe has swept most other things into 'standby' mode. Yesterday morning was occupied by a manic scanning session stocking up the vaults and extending the sell-by date of POTD by a few more weeks.. So here we are. Friday morning and time for another blast from the past... At least the freshly scanned material is not covered in cobwebs yet as I venture into the vaults so as to bring anyone with nothing better to do than read my mixed up mind's meanderings another selection of old things. The air to ground below appeared yesterday. Taken around the time that enemy factions had dug up Blackbushe 'east' and Blackbushe 'south' had also suffered at the hands of its owners. Prob taken in the late sixties, it does not really matter too much when it was taken, but it does give a good illustration of how the removal of Blackbushe 'east' by alien forces truly screwed the airfield's viability. To the right the ruined runways and apron are a sandy yellow. The US Navy hangar was still intact at the time.. London's Blackbushe Airport. Despite all, she lives on, with a proud yesterday, and today signs of a future of which she may also be justifiably proud?The photo clearly shows where the apron was chopped and the main runway excavated under the direction of forces opposed to things with wings.... The ancient line of Vigo Lane was drawn across the deceased Blackbushe and anything to the east was granted the right to become a public open space. As all who have walked this area since 1960 will testify, the land was never adapted as the public recreational area promised by those who preferred the prospect of Blackbushe withering. Despite the destruction, owners of Blackbushe Airport's remaining operational acres offered land exchanges so as to recover some of the missing apron and make the runway safer. Numerous aircraft have been wrecked and lives lost as these bygone negotiations stalled and the runway was compelled to endure its reduced length. And Blackbushe 'east' remains Blackbushe 'east' although recent tree felling has improved the outlook somewhat. The aircraft accidents that have resulted from the current length of our main runway it must be said were not due to the available runway length but circumstances peculiar to those flights. Had the runway been longer the outcomes would possibly have been happier. Today, it has to be said, there exists a much more positive attitude toward Blackbushe and aviation. Attending a recent Blackbushe Consultative Committee Meeting confirmed that. Far removed from the dark days of the sixties.... Moving on... Previous Airport owner and his Spitfire..
Doug Arnold taxies his precious Spitfire back to the apron. The Spitfire could be tricky when taxiing in a cross wind, and when it's valued around £1.5M you need to take precautions! On this occasion Maurice Gosling has the starboard wing tip under control, on the port wing they might just be your scribe's legs whizzing back and forth. It was great exercise and our only opportunity to claim to have 'controlled' a Spitfire under power. Come July the chance may come again as aeroplanes of the era return briefly to our hallowed acres...It'll take more than a coronary stent to stop me! Fingers crossed. Back to the fifties, as a home based taxies past the Blackbushe control towerJust finishing today with a view from the long removed control tower that lived on Blackbushe 'east'... G-AMLZ, long time Blackbushe based Percival Prince of Stewart Smith Aviation rumbles between the Tower and the Airwork complex. Blackbushe 'east' holds many stories... Airwork carried out much work for the RAF at Blackbushe. Conversion work on the mighty Hastings and Javelin interceptors, for example....and now the call of the Weetabix can be heard, see you tomorrow! PB
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Post by graham on May 22, 2016 7:56:49 GMT
Your photo vaults appear to have unfathomable depths Peter, glad you had a great trip to China and thanks as always for your weekly jaunt down memory lane.
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Post by peterbrown on Jun 2, 2016 6:42:53 GMT
Better late than never, I hope, another clip from the Blackbushe Forum.... "Photo of the Day" 30/05/1606.00, Bank Holiday Monday...the bug has returned with a vengeance, POTD has also returned after yesterday's staff walk-out. Sometimes a chap needs a break from the aviation business and its peculiarities, but as my short span on planet Earth has confirmed it's impossible to stay away for long. Just hope this wretched bug does not interfere too much? Some of us have imagined Blackbushe to one day use more of its potential with a step toward commercial flying in the short haul regional airline 'category'. Some like the idea, others don't. I do, and for that simple reason, some views of regional airliner movements today taken during the years since our airfield was closed by HMG. Purely out of interest, but a look at the European Regional Airlines Association would confirm the essential role 'regionals' play in Europe. Irish Air Corps...CASA CN-235I know it's military, but the type played a role in the regional airline business if not very successfully. Transasia ATR-72, a long way from home.There was a time when Farnborough Week produced visits from the Air Show's demonstrators at Blackbushe - not to mention generous numbers of Farnborough 'visitors'. Sadly, those days have ended with Farnborough becoming a commercial enterprise along with changing times... Dash 7. Four engined turbo prop whose STOL performance left much of Blackbushe's main runway unused. I was fortunate in getting a demo ride in her and taxiing out with two big turbo props either side it was hard to believe we were still at Blackbushe! SD-360, Capital Airways commercial flight long ago...Regional airliner?It worked for Lufthansa...and others. Regional airliner?Miles over at Reading thought so. The splendid Miles Aerovan. Quite a few Aerovans used Blackbushe, but long before HMG closed the gates on flying here. Regional airliner supreme...The longest running regional airliner in the world.. City Hopper service from the Netherlands.The sound, the smell of kerosene, and an aeroplane full of passengers stirred the imagination. Nothing sad about this visitor, at all....Smaller, but effective. More Farnborough traffic originating from the Netherlands.Berni's bus..Regional contender from Oz..Pleasure flying 'regional', 1977AHH, another "airport moment" with Crossair's arrival... With that happy note time to rest fevered brow, hopefully we'll be back tomorrow? PB
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Post by peterbrown on Jun 12, 2016 5:17:49 GMT
OK AFA, another deposit from the Blackbushe forum....
We hope that many of you will be able to attend the Blackbushe Air Day on 30 July?? We will be having a volunteers 'gathering' at BB on 26 June at 1400. Anyone wishing to get involved is welcome to pop in, we'll be in the Aerobility hangar.
"Photo of the Day" 07/06/16The question often floats around my mind at this time of day..pre 6am. Where is POTD going today? The heady days of the fifties when Blackbushe's status was second only to Heathrow down here in the south, the shocking sixties when all hell was let lose but thwarted by the AVM's rescue mission, the seventies - the fun decade - when we had the occasional show, or all the other decades which slowly blend into some kind of mental blob? Or maybe a star player who over the years played a significant part in the theatre we know as Blackbushe? The Blackbushe stage has supported many a star player, none more pretty and sweet sounding than the Vickers Viscount? A sensitive subject, Eagle's G-ATDR was the last ever Viscount movement at Blackbushe. She came to be scrapped, a dreadful scene not for sensitive eyes...The last Viscount to arrive AND depart Blackbushe, Invicta's G-AOCB who came to play her part in some crime movie in March, 1969. They painted the IN out and created Victa Airways..As we know, the golden years of the fifties saw many a Viscount at Blackbushe....and so on... Viscounts were built at the Weybridge and Hurn factories, Blackbushe proved busy with Viscounts as a result with flight trials, demo flights and customer crew training, not to mention in service operations with Airwork, BEA, Eagle, Hunting Clan etc etc.. Like so many, the Viscount was a part of everyday life in the skies over the UK, Blackbushe included, her sound signature was like no other. Shrill maybe, but unmistakable....she was indeed a star! PB
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Post by graham on Jun 12, 2016 18:09:54 GMT
Superb photos and great background to them as usual Peter thank you.
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Post by peterbrown on Jun 19, 2016 6:14:16 GMT
Been looking at the "wilderness years" this week on the Blackbushe forum... As this snippet indicates, we are keen to recruit more to our team of volunteers to help the Blackbushe Air Day's success...
"Photo of the Day" 18/06/16June is now over half spent, six weeks to the Blackbushe Air Day. Now is the time to put together all the 'ingredients' gathered over the past weeks/months and hopefully end up with an acceptable result? "Photo of the Day" enjoys around 100 visits daily, as an average, so perhaps I could just put this request before all who descend upon my daily blast from the past? We need volunteer help with the Air Day. Lots of it. Lots of you lovely people to raise a paw and offer your services, to date we have very few names from the many who visit here on a regular basis..Mighty thanks to the guys currently on the volunteer list, it is only with folk like you that events such as this can go ahead. Could I please put another request for helpers come the Air Day?? If you are willing to spend the day supporting Blackbushe, supporting Aerobility and our efforts to raise funds for them, supporting those who have given so much time to get the Air Day 'off the ground', and would enjoy being a part of the 'buzz' that I feel will be come from the Air Day then PLEASE put your name as a comment either in the POTD comment section or the Air Day volunteers thread elsewhere on the forum. We have a volunteer briefing scheduled for July 2nd, currently three names from the Forum are on it. OK??? I'm sure we must be able to increase the Forum's volunteer force, even just a leeeeeetle bit? So, now back to recollections of the 'wilderness years'... Farnborough Week in the sixties..as the apron was being dug up by alien forces we enjoyed quite a few visitors from the UK and abroad.In those far off days sights like this were very rare, but VERY welcome. Not quite the old Blackbushe chain link fence around the grass, but a step toward a tidier future.An early "event", The Daily Telegraph Sky Diving championships..1968 I seem to recall. The Argosy being our largest visitor "for some time"...Visiting Helio Super Courier departs runway 19 on a typical looking day from the "wilderness years".. Aircraft movements during the week were on the rare to 'occasional' basis.One of those rare moments, and the elegant lines of our visitor..Mid sixties. We had our new fuel complex, as seen, and Three Counties Aero Club were in full swing, their much loved Auster 6's being a part of everyday life. Visitors like this were sensational on the Airport that the government tried to make vanish...while local alien forces still continued their efforts to destroy all they could.Our residents increased in numbers, but not necessarily size. I could write a book about flying in this beauty!Time for breakfast, I'll leave you with a sign of progress..and "Pretty Louise" our fabulous Three Counties Prentice. More stories... Blackbushe was coming back to life. Slowly...Have a great weekend, and if you can offer your services on 30 July this year, please add your name to our list of stars!!
PB
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Post by peterbrown on Jun 26, 2016 6:37:40 GMT
Another week nearer to RIAT, FI and BLACKBUSHE....(modesty forbids claiming anything like the status of the first two, we don't have a flying display for a start, hopefully an interesting static park!! Blackbushe only charges you a fiver to get in.).
Here's yesterday's bit from "Photo of the Day"... "Photo of the Day" 25/06/16A totally magnificent summer morning waited to greet me at 05.00, the dawn chorus having died back to a more acceptable sound level, life seemed almost perfect. Best not to let worries about the world infiltrate the grey matter wherein this feeling of tranquility was being formulated. Perhaps best to let the grey matter float back to a time when as a schoolboy one was not concerned about running Air Days, Europe, age, the speed the grass grows, Air Days, the speed weeds grow, keeping on top of emails, keeping the sun off your head, oh yes and things like Air Days... Did I tell you we have an Air Day at Blackbushe on 30 July? Before my calm exterior gives way to the turbulence within that stems from events planned for July, let us take a serene moment or two as we float back to the days when your scribe had homework waiting to be done whilst his bike insisted on being taken to Blackbushe - London's second airport! Farnborough Week's by the A30...Pure heaven!Big birds often crossed the A30...did it really happen? yes!Home based aircraft felt like old friends..The roadside chestnut paling left a permanent impression...you had to be careful!What if it rained some days? Blackbushe offered the best show on Earth...or just above it..The greatest show on Earth from my view point, and just a half hour bike ride from home..All shapes and SIZES!Excitement as new types arrived, and then flew round and round and round crew trainingThen they took it all away. My friend died before my eyes...BUT, we're all still here, and so is Blackbushe! Did I tell you we have an Air Day at the end of July? Have a sunny Saturday!! PB
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Post by peterbrown on Jul 3, 2016 15:39:46 GMT
Yet another week flies by...another clip from the One-Stop Forum"Photo of the Day" 01/07/16Cripes, it's July..Sorry for the LAA guys at Sywell this weekend if the met does not improve. Let us hope that at the other end of the month the sun gods smile on north east Hampshire - and everywhere else our Air Day aeroplanes will be coming from. To run any event in the UK you need to be a complete gambler or sadistic knowing that many months of effort can literally be washed down the drain.. I - and the Air Day team are sadistic gamblers? Have not lost yet in my dicing with the weather devil. Moving onwards to POTD.......the Air Day seems rather locked in my mind at the moment, so.............. Looking toward the Air Day, we hope to have a 'ground control' service..Not this one, but another representative from the same Hawker stable will be joining usThis eternal triangle won't be with us, but an Air Day prize winner will win a VIP tour of our most famous example..You don't HAVE to dress up... Who, what and why?? No idea!A bright yellow one of these will be provide a "big pull".. What's that? Part of NATS contribution to the day..British Airways will be running a passenger service. Not aircraft I'm afraid, but a coach shuttle service that will be obvious on the day.These guys won't be with us. I caught them quite a few years ago during an air to air sortie in the days when they did an aerobatic display at EGLF. Photo taken from G-FOTO.Army Air Corps used to be regular visitors to Blackbushe. The Army Historic Flight will be with us en masse come 30/7As I said at the beginning, let's hope the met improves by 30/7?? Big freeze effect.Wind effect...Aviation events have always been popular at Blackbushe. Space has required some innovative planning this time..1968 event captured from "the Tower".Finally, while some of us will move Heaven and Earth to support Blackbushe, others have had a distinctly opposite point of view... To them "*?!* *?*" and don't come back.
Meanwhile, have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend! Looks like more time devoted to sadistic gambling for some.. PB
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Post by graham on Jul 4, 2016 17:19:32 GMT
Great stuff as ever Peter, love all the cars in the car park shot. I distinctly remember that my dear old dad had a Bedford Dormobile with the sliding driver and passenger's doors. Love the Beaver too, what a rugged looking machine they were /are. We saw her sister ship XP820 at Middle wallop last week.
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Post by peterbrown on Jul 5, 2016 5:55:08 GMT
Graham, if Beaver is your thing you'll be OK on 30/7....
P
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Post by peterbrown on Jul 9, 2016 14:02:35 GMT
About to blast off to foreign lands and miss Farnborough!! Here's one of this week's editions of POTD with a bit of Farnborough flavour...."Photo of the Day" 08/07/16Farnborough Week. These two words mean different things to different folk, no doubt. Those who are old enough to remember the truly vintage years in the fifties when new types were in abundance, and dashing young men who were now test pilots demonstrated the results of exceeding the speed of sound in the latest designs from Hawkers, Vickers Supermarine, Fairey, English Electric, the days when we had a world beating aircraft industry. Such demonstrations of speed and daring often were to the detriment of greenhouses across Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire. The sonic boom made me jump I can tell you!! "Farnborough Week". Two words that put dread into the local residents, or quite a few of them, traffic delays, concern over ear drum integrity, and no doubt a necessary vacation somewhere far away? The English coast somewhere perhaps, the aeroplane dependent 'package' Costa Lot escape was yet to be invented, or in its infancy.. "Farnborough Week"...To me paradise, although once it was nearer paradise's opposite number. As a six year old I recall so clearly being taken by my parents and being totally entranced by all before me. Lots of tents with exhibitors within, their fabulous models really catching my eye. Aircraft models, that is, I was only six. That afternoon from the front of crowd line, Mum and Dad on either side of me, I watched John Derry's final turn in the DH110 and clearly remember the heat shimmers that followed this new DH design as it gently went into a left hand slightly climbing turn departing the 07 runway heading. The next moments are frozen in my mind for all time. She broke up somewhere abeam the Ively Road/RAE Fire sheds by now heading west. The image of bits of 110 falling like scraps of paper are still clear in my memory, as are the two engines carrying on their way. 28 people died behind me. I recall equally well the duck-egg green Hunter departing as Derry's friend Neville Duke decided that the show should go on. The rest we'll skip over. I prefer to remember from later years the RAF Black Arrows when in excess of 20 Hunters looped in formation, the magic of Bill Bedford in the latest gorgeous red Hunter variant against a pure blue sky as his white smoke trail rocketed towards the heavens. Scramble departures of English Electric Lightnings - ear shattering, V bomber flypasts, the new Blackburn Universal that became the Beverley, the Attacker, the Javelin and its howl, the mass RAF formations that flew over home in Berkshire every Farnborough as they started their run-ins toward the waiting SBAC crowds. The whine of the Gannet's Double Mamba, the FD2 and Peter Twiss, the little 707 deltas that accompanied the Vulcan through Hampshire skies. White Vulcan and the 707's one red, one blue. The flying Bedstead. A new turboprop airliner called Viscount, etc etc Classic times that are no more. After Shoreham's event last year the world of air displays has changed for ever - in the UK at least. Judging by the manic closure of roads in the area during Farnborough rehearsals and next week it would seem that future air display accidents are expected to take place on one of our highways. Even the canal is closed to keep floating observers out of harms way. All very 'safety conscious' I'm sure by reducing "risk" but how does that square with the ever growing residential population that surrounds Farnborough? Maybe those who look after safety feel that Shoreham warrants closing roads while the innocent local population are safe indoors? The Reds conducted their own risk assessment and concluded on their own that Farnborough presented too higher a risk factor. Despite local roads being blocked just in case... a fact confirmed by Farnborough International's Chief Executive at a meeting I attended a couple of weeks ago. This year's road closures follow the need to demonstrate risk assessments have been conducted, let's just hope the queues of vehicles waiting for the roads to open are in the safe zone? Farnborough Week, it'll never be the same. Farnborough Week - elsewhere! It was in the latter part of the fifties that the role of Blackbushe during the week of "Farnborough" became clear to me. The current Forum 'header' photo of the USAF Globemaster an indication of the part Blackbushe played as the official airport for Farnborough visitors. I'll pop a few more "Farnborough in the fifties at Blackbushe" photos below. By a terrible twist of fate I have to leave the country tomorrow and will miss the Farnborough fun for the first time since I was six! The magnetic attraction of Farnborough Week has to be overcome somehow, the ageing A320 that awaits at LGW will do little to temper my disappointment!! After 1960 and the remains of beaten up Blackbushe became sort of operational again, we hosted increasing numbers of Farnborough visitors, but that now has ended. TAG take 'em direct into EGLF or maybe the world has changed and less people fly here in light aircraft? Blackbushe and Fairoaks will probably pick-up some traffic but not like the pre TAG days. At least those of us lucky enough to remember the fifties and early sixties - IF still able to remember anything - can harbour the memories.... The 'other' Farnborough... Just a few of the images lingering in the memory of the "other" Farnborough at Blackbushe in those often balmy Septembers prior to 1960. It rained sometimes...naturally! Despite the storm clouds that swept across Blackbushe when the government's axe fell across the airfield and all who worked on her, the airfield fought back!! Never to be like the classic fifties, but with luck, a following wind and a lot of sweat Farnborough Week at Blackbushe resumed a fraction of its previous pride. Runway 14/32 filled with light aircraft on both sides while heavier aircraft stayed on the main apron.. a vision undreamed of as the excavators started digging up London's second airport a few years earlier. Back in a week, enjoy Farnborough!!!!!!!!!! PB
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Post by graham on Jul 9, 2016 16:11:25 GMT
Thanks as ever Peter for the superb photos and evocative and nostalgic narrative. I recall that my Dad took me to Farnborough when I was possibly 9 or 10. We grew up in Basingstoke so it wasn't that far to go. If I had been 10, then it would make it 1966. I found this report online from that year's show. Enjoy your trip and see you soon! www.historicfarnborough.co.uk/gallery/airpict1966p2.jpg
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Post by peterbrown on Aug 1, 2016 8:22:07 GMT
Some thoughts from POTD last week.... "Photo of the Day" 28/07/16Scuttling around the nest early this morning, one senses the dawning of a great day is in the offing... Our appointed weather God - Rob Belcher - alone holds the weather responsibility in his hands. We just hope the fact that his Air Day exhibit is inside the marquee is not indicative of what he has meteorologically up his sleeve? Last night's Air Day briefing at Blackbushe brought a host of familiar forum names into the light of a pleasant Blackbushe evening, and another "Thanks guys" to all who attended.. During conversation a number of references were made to our last "event" at Blackbushe where we inflicted a definite change to the daily fun and games at Blackbushe..This, in my case, was the Blackbushe 50th Anniversary celebration in 1992..nearly 25 years ago to my horror! Must mean that in 2017 another celebration is pending? ? A few snaps from the 1992 bash... VIP guests from the RAF and United States Navy occupied the northern section of the "Big Pull" taxiway complex for the two day period.Pleasure flying was conducted by a delightful DH product, this year's pleasure flying also courtesy of DH, but with more wings!Static display included some aircraft in current production. The Optica being one. I logged some flight time in her - fabulous being a flying goldfish amid that perspex globe!Older 'old Blackbushe' types were persuaded to leave their hangars for our weekend. This Pembroke traveled all the way from Farnborough, parked it near the A30 for max recall of the old days!Gary Numan and the late Norman Lees provided formation aerobatics during my brief air display.. plus a couple of gallons of Airport diesel to feed the smoke burners!This Spit was sponsored by my late and good friend, David Herrington..The late and much missed Spencer Flack rang up and offered us his Mustang for the weekend. Could hardly say, "No"....Had to pay for this one. Supreme aerobatics from the Soviet drawing board..Stuart shows, "the one that got away."..I'm still smarting at having to turn down the offer of an F-16 from the Netherlands government!!A new British type of the day..from FLS, the SAH1 I recall..Another soviet design! This one surrendered to certain phone calls that pestered the owner. It arrived with an entourage of smaller biplanes in tight formation. Wonderful moments!Hopefully a Harvard will be in our midst on Saturday..One of these classic Percival designs will be in the static park on Saturday..US Navy crew and new recruit. The US Navy were based at Blackbushe until 1960, (much larger aeroplanes)hence my determination to get them back again...Think that's enough. The 50th Anniversary celebration also saw the unveiling of our plaque in memory of the many who had flown from Blackbushe and, in the line of duty, failed to return. At exactly the appointed moment during the service of dedication the Spitfire and Mustang arrived with the sound of their Merlins to penetrate the quiet, and all I can say is it was hard to find a dry eye on the airfield as the Merlins told the story in their own language. The moment was the more special as we had invited diplomatic representatives of all the nations whose crews flew from Blackbushe (RAF Hartford Bridge as it was known then) in WW2...France, Poland, the Netherlands, Czechs. The weather, was kind to us too....even without Rob Belcher controlling it! PB
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Post by peterbrown on Aug 21, 2016 21:27:59 GMT
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Post by graham on Aug 22, 2016 7:00:34 GMT
Thanks as ever for your POTD Peter and enjoy your break. We shall miss you but health comes first.
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Post by peterbrown on Aug 29, 2016 9:52:21 GMT
A few more words from the Blackbushe side of things, and an image of the way we were...without any images!
"Photo of the Day" 27/08/16
Bank Holiday Weekend...the doorway to autumn, the next Bank Holiday and it will be Christmas. The years spin around with increasing disregard for my wish that they'd perhaps spin round a little slower?
Time, an extraordinary medium of no consequence in the big picture, but to us the most precious commodity there is after our loved ones - and aviation.. Today, lacking any particular idea for POTD thought I'd pick out a day long gone, 27 August, for example, in say 1957 - a mere 59 years ago - and relate what the observer would have seen on this day long ago.
Here goes, no idea where it will lead...
US NAVY assorted movements including R4D8, SNB5, R4D6, R5D, Israeli Air Force Mosquito USAF VC-47 RAF Gloster Javelin Indian Airlines Viscount West African Airways Canadair C4 BEA Ambassador Dan-Air numerous DC3 movements RAF Valetta Transportes Aeroes da India Portuguese DH Heron Orion, Independent, Eagle, Karl Herfurtner - lots of Vikings Dan-Air, Air Kruise, Silver City - various Bristol Freighters BOAC Constellation crew training Airwork, Air Safaris, Britavia HP Hermes Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, BOAC (crew training) Dove Dan-Air, DH Heron BOAC, DC-7 Westair Curtiss C-46
There we are, a selection from just one day in the life of Blackbushe, 59 years ago today... Maybe gives an impression of why Blackbushe was so missed when it was closed, and the ghosts of those days still linger?
Sorry, no photos time would not permit, not to mention going boss eyed down the the vaults digging that lot out!! Just create the photos in your imagination..some of us don't have to imagine - those 59 years have spun round that fast! At least they have for those of us still nursing a couple of active grey cells.....
Hope the sun shines for you this weekend! PB
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Post by graham on Aug 29, 2016 11:29:36 GMT
Happy Hols to you too Peter. Sometimes it can be just as visually entertaining to see these in "the mind's eye" rather than in photographs.
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Post by peterbrown on Sept 11, 2016 9:25:48 GMT
Some more memories from old Blackbushe.. a seasonal crop freshly plucked from the One-Stop Forum! "Photo of the Day" 10/09/16Long long ago, in a time unseen and unknown to those of a younger generation there was an air show at Farnborough's aerodrome, the SBAC Show, it was held every year and for as long as it was able it featured British built aircraft and British built instrumentation and equipment only. We have moved on from those heady days, it seems a long while since 100% British built aircraft circumnavigated the globe. We're still up there with components but the world has moved on... Farnborough's SBAC Show was always held in September, it gave something big to savour before the onset of autumn and being condemned to dark nights. This week would have been that one and only "Farnborough Week", and what a week it was. Big formations, invariably a new type making its debut, sonic bangs, test pilots whose names became house hold legends, and the names, Avro, De Havilland, Bristol, Blackburn, Vickers, Handley Page, Hawkers, Westland, Saunders Roe. All were burned onto the minds of anyone slightly 'air minded'... Darker evenings, and sometimes dubious weather, but this weekend would mark the final days of another annual Farnborough Week. A couple of days ago "POTD" mentioned the various "ages" of Blackbushe, and nothing does better than "Farnborough Week" to distinguish the ages of Blackbushe!! Today's 'header photo' indicates something of Blackbushe during Farnborough in the fifties with assorted military hardware making its way to the 08 hold... September could give Indian summers, it could also give English monsoon equivalents..but that was Farnborough WeekBlackbushe would be covered in SBAC visitors giving a show on a par with Farnborough itself.....all shapes and size would appear at Blackbushe during Farnborough WeekMonsoon conditions? Who cares?Farnborough Week at Blackbushe afforded some extraordinarily 'close-up' views of visiting aircraft!! Nuclear capability comes to the A30..Events in 1960 precluded much Farnborough Week activity at Blackbushe that year..Despite the odds and opposition, Blackbushe lived to breath another day, and play a small role with "Farnborough " traffic again. 1963.cc Farnborough Week mid sixtiesBy 1968 even had our own air show!!Daily Telegraph Air Display 1968..Farnborough visitors arrive at Blackbushe....A scene undreamed of after May 31st, 1960 and the ensuing Blackbushe blitzkrieg. The dark clouds of uncertainty still hung over Blackbushe, but for quite some years we filled up runway 14/32 with Farnborough visitors. Blackbushe lived again!Today the Farnborough visitor is pretty much a thing of the past at Blackbushe, they've disappeared or go direct to TAG, and the runway awaits her fate, sad and forlorn..The ongoing "ages" of Blackbushe.As the traditional date of the first week in September comes to a close, it's hard not to let the memory slip back to those amazing days in the late fifties as Farnborough visitors were stacked overhead Blackbushe in the hold. I shall never forget one morning in particular. My new school was a week late in opening (hurrah..). I had Farnbrough Week free!! I lived some eight miles away in Berkshire. The morning was traditional September. Early morning misty cloud cover, with all the signs that it would burn off before too long. The sky, however, offered a strange and ongoing rumble. I'd never heard such a sound before. The planned bike ride to Blackbushe took me through Yateley village and as I started the climb up Cricket Hill the clouds began to thin. The clouds thinned to behold the most amazing site anybody who held a modicum of aviation interest could not but be amazed by...Above was a sky full of silver shapes, all in the 'pattern' as they took their turns to land at Blackbushe. A sky full of piston engined aircraft, civil, military, you name it, stacked up to what appeared a considerable altitude...That scene - and the sound - are frozen in my memory and will be until my dying day. PB
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Post by peterbrown on Sept 18, 2016 8:56:49 GMT
It must be Sunday? Some more thoughts from Blackbushe long ago..."Photo of the Day" 17/09/16The days of temperatures nudging the upper 20's are a thing of the past as at 05.30 this morning even the still acceptable 15C suggests the chill of autumn is none too far away. For those in circulation at this hour the still night sky offers an amazing moon casting its glow across islands of high cloud - the sky is indeed an amazing place even if you just stand and stare. "Stand and stare", something I did a lot when a mere yoof who pedalled furiously upon his bike to visit London's second airport - in those days known as Blackbushe. One would stand either in the lee of the then full sized Terminal or on the grassy edge to the A30, the major trunk road that unusually intersected a major airport. Happy and wonderful memories that to this day still excite the memory bud, but if the memory should fail one always has the photos to fall back on.... Today one can "stand and stare" across the acres still known as Blackbushe. A little different to the view offered in one's 'yoof', common land now overgrown that was massacred by the local authority and then sold to the county to prevent the airport owner getting his grubby hands on it..or you can stare across the remaining Airport and the many home based aircraft that happily live upon it. Talking of 'home based' aircraft, the types on offer for those would just "stand and stare" in the golden years of the 1950's offered a guaranteed feast for the eyes... I give you some of Blackbushe's home based aircraft of the fifties... The Hermes.. the type served Airwork, Britavia, Falcon and others..Home based DC-4Early days and the home based Halifax, or Halton, would be regulars on the eye's pleasure!Yes, the Lancaster lived and flew from Blackbushe long after war days were over, Eagle flew her for the Ministry of Supply.Eagle's Rapide, she lived here in the mid fifties.The Viscount, another Blackbushe based beauty. They served with Eagle and Airwork.The Dakota and the Viking. The hard working twins that were so much a part of Blackbushe's resident aircraft fleet..Part of the Blackbushe diet, always a good serving of Vikings available..The little guys lived here too. This Argus belonged to a Pan-Am pilot who was working with EagleDan-Air, and Skyways were names seen on Blackbushe based Yorks..Home based Avro Tudor of Fairflight..The mighty home based DC-6s were a treat for eye and ear!Smaller, but just as exciting, Blackbushe based Hawk Speed Six.The Blackbushe based unit of the United States Navy, FASRON 200, gave those who stood and stared plenty to look at!!Neptune, the old man of the oceans played his part at Blackbushe too!All home based players on yesterday's stage..A visit to Blackbushe produced no shortage of Bristol's beauty, the "Freighter". Dan-Air and Silver City being the names on most Freighter ops from Blackbushe..Well, hopefully you get the picture, Blackbushe was a total joy for those who would just stand and stare. I certainly did my share! Then they were gone..........May 31st, 1960 did no favours to those who would simply stand and stare.. ...how could they do this? Now was the time to stand and sob as our much loved friend gave in to the wreckers.Wouldn't it be fun to recreate just a fraction of the sights we used to stare at long ago? Well, wouldn't it???PB
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Post by davidallum on Sept 19, 2016 11:12:19 GMT
It certainly would Peter,I didn't start spotting until 1968 therefore missed all the stuff that you so fondly remember but I do remember fantastic fly in's during the 70's and all those overseas visitors during Farnborough week,happy days.Now that we've had the success of the Blackbushe Airday,hopefully this lovely airport can move forward again with the apron full of interesting aircraft although it will be virtually impossible to recreate those scenes that you so fondly describe,all the best mate.
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Post by peterbrown on Nov 6, 2016 16:36:02 GMT
Another contribution from the One-Stop forum... at last!
06.00, Saturday morning..tonight the clocks slide back to their winter setting, soon the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness will also slide away as bleak winter presents itself - again. The head scratching syndrome becomes more apparent as on these dark mornings with candle and quill at the ready, I wonder what can come forth from the mist of my memory that presents a new angle on our single POTD subject..Blackbushe! It must have all been said a hundred times, possibly more, but I know at least three souls tune in to POTD each morning as they are kind enough to leave a "like" regardless of my repetition or mashed up use of the English language.. Thank you dear followers, if not for you POTD would soon end up in the scrapyard! A tiny smidge of appreciation does go a long way.. With regard to head scratching and things coming out of the mist of memory, suppose you were driving down the A30 through the remains of today's Blackbushe when out of the morning mist emerged... a ghostly vision belonging to some time in the 1940's... So many Mosquitoes once served our nation from RAF Hartford Bridge, long ago, but they were there and many of their crews paid the sacrifice that is called for in war. On a quiet misty morning as all is still on the airfield I often imagine what it must have been like walking the Hartford Bridge/Blackbushe turf in the 40's? Mosquitoes parked up in their dispersals, the peace shattered when a distant pair of Merlins crackled into life, RAF issue bicycles wherever you look, grey blue RAF uniforms, smoke drifting from the many nissen huts on an autumn morning such as today.. The airfield far larger than today with the RAF camp stretching down into Yateley village. When known as RAF Hartford Bridge, Blackbushe covered many many more acres than it does today. Not only Mosquitoes, Spits, Bostons and heaven knows what else would have added to the scene that now stretches beyond the living memory of most.. Often I've stood and wondered what it must have been like. The most poignant moments I recall were in the early 1960's, shortly after the Airport was closed, wandering through the forest to the north west of the airfield. The silence was deafening, just the trees' wind driven stories, as I wandered amid old huts and the now very abandoned bomb dump. Imagination I am sure, but one could almost sense the souls who strived, lived and sadly died while living amid the camaraderie that once possessed RAF Hartford Bridge.. PB
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Post by graham on Nov 7, 2016 15:29:53 GMT
Welcome back Peter and as always, thanks so much for taking the time to post on AFA for our benefit. And what an evocative return today.....
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