Round Blackpool Tower for 7/6

Squires Gate was my home airport too. Many happy memories from the 60s and early 70s – Autair Ambassadors, etc…

Once blagged a freebie round the Tower in a Cherokee 6 – pilot took pity on me I think!

I remember Clive Hodgson well – pretty sure he’s still around. He was called Clive but some people called him Cliff. He always drove particularly dreadful cars – three-wheeler Reliants, rear-engined Skodas etc!

Mark

Sorry for ‘LET read ‘LEJ

I think also that ‘AJKX, ALEJ, AKOD, ALET, AJEX, AKNV were up at Squires Gate doing pleasure flying September ’49. Maybe Aerovan ‘AIIG as well. ‘From my Father’s logbook’

Nostalgia aint what it used to be

I was at Palatine 1964 to 69 and also got chased out of Air Navs place !
Sadly I never got the idea of hanging around Westair, a mate of mine John Cartmell did and he ended up flying the 337 GRORO for the owner, then onto the Warton Cessna shuttles.

Yes it was indeed Clive not Cliff. Several of the older spotters used to turn up in all sorts of vehicles, Walls Ice cream van, three wheeler and mopeds, I just used the 22 bus !

G-ACIT was still there on 18 October 1960 when I saw it over the beach. Also G-AKRS on the same day.
I paid a fleeting evening visit to Squire’s gate on 18 Nov 1962 and Rapide G-AJKW was there. See attachment for that evening’s log which may interest someone.
Jim

Scotavia………

Is he not Cliff Hodgson rather than Clive? As far as I know he is still around in Blackpool.

Planemike……….

Scotavia, what era were you at Palatine? I had a couple of chums there, although I was at Arnold which was only a 5 minute bike ride from Squires Gate. Chris Whyham was in my form and of course his father owned Air Navigation and Trading. Despite that we still got chased out of his hangar on a regular basis. He did have some goodies though, including a GA Cygnet G-AGBA that he ofered to me for £25 including engine. Must have been around 1957/8. He got really mad when I bought an Austin-Healey Sprite in 1962 for £450. He wanted to sell me a Hornet Moth and teach me to fly for £400. That Moth has recently been up for sale at c£40K which goes in to my “if only” file.

Ozplane, I was also a regular at the airport , I lived in Layton but later my school moved(Palatine) and I could cycle down each lunchtime. I recall the senior spotter was Clive Hodgson a teacher from Kirkham school. He had logbooks going back to when Warton was B.A.D in WW2. I recall the yearly chore when a new issue of Civil Aircraft Markings came out, transferring all the underlined aircraft which you had logged. In Clives case he would just underline a few on each page, they were the ones he was waiting to log !

Just being picky but the photograph is a DH 84 Dragon, not a Rapide but thanks for the link as Blackpool was my home town and I spent many happy hours hanging over the fence at “Squires Gate”.

A bit more history with a pic of a Rapide and the tower
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/lancashire/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8271000/8271142.stm

Rapide G-AJBJ was still in Air Navigation and Trading colours when we (the Midland A.P.S.) acquired it from Northern A.P.S. about 1971. It had been in use for flying holidaymakers around Blackpool Tower – I understand the term given was “the Tower treadmill”. MAPS/MAM sold it to John Pierce at Chirk were it remains today.

Roger Smith.

Another surviving Blackpool pleasure flyer is under restoration at the Brussels air museum, excellent weblink
http://users.skynet.be/BAMRS/dh89/dh89-en.htm

early pleasure flights Blackpool

There where also a number of Dragon Rapides in use. I recall that at the tramway terminus called Starr Gate about a mile from the airport was a small booth where you could book flights. Dozens of large monochrome photos were plastered all over the booth showing airviews of the tower but mostly of the aircraft .Oddly this was still the case in about 1968 and the biplanes were still shown even tho the flights were then using Tripacers, and Cherokees. Another oddity was the Aermacchi AL60
Heres a page which lists the ANT fleet in the sixties
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1965/1965%20-%202123.html
And here is the aircraft with its fate listed
http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1095363/

And finally proof of my distant memory , there certainly were four engined biplanes among the pictures at that booth !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1186016/

In 1949 I would think you are talking about a dH Dragon. Two operated from Blackpool about that time G-ACIT and G-ADDI. I think that ANT were the owners.

Thanks for the information.

I’m amazed that both these aircraft survive, G-ACIT at Wroughton and G-ADDI (N34DH) in airworthy condition in the United States.

Do you know when G-ADDI started flying around Blackpool Tower (or were similar aircraft flying earlier than these two) as information from the web suggests that G-ACIT wasn’t acquired by Air Navigation and Trading until 1952?

My father-in-law took his first flight in one of these as a child (for free) but he thinks it was in 1949.

About £10! 🙂

35p! Does anyone know what the conversion to modern value is?

D.H. DRAGON AT SQUIRES GATE

QUITE RIGHT IN 1955 I FLEW IN D.H. DRAGON G-ACIT FOR 10 BOB ( 50P)
THERE WAS A D.H. EXPRESS DOING JOY RIDES AT THE SAME TIME .
I AM PRETTY SURE THAT THE DRAGON HAD 8 SEATS.
MY BEST AND CHEAPEST FLIGHT WAS IN TIGER MOTH G-ADWL FROM SHERBURN IN ELMET IN 1953 30 MINUTES FOR 7/6D THATS 35P.
HAD HALF AN HOUR IN A BOEING STEARMAN IN SOUTH AFRICA EARLIER THIS YEAR BUT IT COST RATHER MORE THAN 35P.
THANKS BRIAN C D

In 1949 I would think you are talking about a dH Dragon. Two operated from Blackpool about that time G-ACIT and G-ADDI. I think that ANT were the owners. As to the number of seats I’m not sure though.